OldSchoolLion
-
Posts
5,957 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
199
Posts posted by OldSchoolLion
-
-
#55 is Davoan Hawkins-3 star DE committed to Kentucky. Also committed to Kentucky from Chaminade this year are 3-star WR's Marvin Alexander and Akeem Hayes. Hayes had 4 receptions today for 89 yards. Kentucky also has a commitment from junior Keontra Smith, a 4-star DB, who had some good hits today.
Kentucky got a 3-star WR and 3-star DE from Chaminade last year. Here is an article on the pipeline Kentucky is building to south Florida.
Looks like they are following Louisville's lead. Including the three seniors above, Kentucky has six, 3-star commits from Broward County this year. Great strategy to come to south Florida and get these kids with upside potential who do not get attention like the 4 and 5-star recruits.
-
...in case you didn't see/hear the game and are interested.
In the first half, Oxbridge was having success running jet sweeps. Once Chaminade adjusted, Oxbridge's running game was pretty well shut down. There was nothing to be had running inside the entire game. Chaminade's D-line was stout and got a fair amount of penetration. Davoan Hawkins was impressive.
Oxbridge's qb played a fantastic fourth quarter and their coaching staff did a nice job getting creative after their running game got stuffed. Shaun Shivers played hurt(knee) the second half. But he turned it up a notch on their final drive to help Chaminade win the game. He had a fantastic first half, helped by some poor tackling by Oxbridge.
Oxbridge's kicking game definitely hurt them. Oxbridge failed on 3, fourth-down conversions, and am guessing that at least two of those were caused by lack of confidence in their kicker. Also, Oxbridge gave Chaminade some good starting positions on kickoffs, whereby Chaminade's kicker was good for touchbacks most of the day.
Both teams showed great composure. Neither team seemed to get rattled after momentum changes. It's a shame someone had to lose. The referees let the kids play. I don't recall many, if any, holding or pass interference calls the entire game.
-
I believe Oxbridge fumbled twice and was intercepted twice. Outside that big run, Shivers only gained about 40-50 yards. Impressive how Oxbridge contained him for the most part, muddy field or not. Would guess Oxbridge will be just as fast or better on defense this year, but think Jessica is likely right that Shivers will pop through at some time. When he does, it's often a big run and/or TD. Video below is first play from scrimmage in last year's state championship game. Like how he breaks loose just as the commentator is talking about him. Chaminade has two 6'3" 325ish pounders on the o-line this year who can make holes.
I noticed how Chaminade made an effort to spread the ball around to some different receivers again Clearwater. Maybe a hint of things to come. Focus too much on Shivers and they have some burners in the receiving corps.
Chaminade's d-line is stout and should be tough against the run. I think the key for them will be the performance of their secondary, especially considering Oxbridge's big-play ability. Was a little surprised at how vulnerable Chaminade's secondary looked against AHP, considering how good they are supposed to be.
We are so lucky to have such great football in Florida. Not many fans in the US get treated to a weekend like this.
-
...highlights from last year's game
-
2 hours ago, FLFB said:
It seems you are contriving this idea they have historically struggled vs SFL teams in the playoffs by nitpicking facts.
Why would you arbitrarily start at 2007? You conveniently left out 2004 and 2005 when Armwood beat BTW (including on the road in 05').
2007= BTW's second best team in school history
2008= Not a SFL team
2009= Dwyer's best team in school history
2010= W vs. Dwyer you conveniently left out (as I stated in the other post, forfeits are irrelevant in evaluating teams performance)
2011= W vs. Miami Central you conveniently left out
2012= Not a SFL team
2013-15= MC, the only SFL team/years you can say Armwood has truly struggled with
2016= Not a SFL team
That's 4-5 vs. SFL elites in the playoffs, not good, not bad, you win some you lose some, about what you'd expect
2-1 vs. BTW
1-1 vs. Dwyer
1-3 vs. MC
Also them not having a close game all season is more a testament to them this year than a slight to their schedule as Plant, TBT, and Hillsborough (x2) were all pretty good this year, better then the last few years.
And do you really think none of the teams Armwood faced this year "are remotely as fast or physical across the board" as Naples?! That is asinine. Naples is not that good. The 3 aforementioned teams would all easily beat Naples as would Vanguard and St. augustine.
The game this year will be close, just like CC-LG last year but higher scoring. And I give the West the edge due to being more battle tested vs. elites and having engaged in close games
There was no hidden agenda here. Why start 10 years ago? ...nice round number. I actually spoke of Armwood's excellent 2004 team in another post related to this topic. But why stop at 2004? Let's go back even further in the decade, when Armwood visited the Muck in the 2000 state semis and beaten by Glades Central 41-15. No matter how you slice the pie, one can plainly see that Armwood has had a tough time(either losing or winning very tight games) with south Florida teams. That's probably not a big surprise for most.
And why did I "conveniently" leave out 2010 and 2011 and "disingenuously" list Armwood's "loss" to the Nevada team? I was simply going by the record books, nothing more and nothing less. I am not that familiar with all of the circumstances surrounding the forfeiture of those games. I wasn't willing to assume that five ineligible players on a team had absolutely no impact on Armwood's performance those seasons, so I did not include those scores.
But let's include them now. Armwood beat Dwyer on a last-second field goal in 2010. In 2011, Armwood struggled to win against Central. If their defense had not made a stand in the fourth quarter, they could have lost that game. Armwood won both games against Booker T in 2004 and 2005 with last-second scores, and gave up big points in each. Both of those teams struggled with each other. For me, a struggle is more than just a big loss.
So, since 2000, Armwood against south Florida teams (oops, I conveniently picked that date, didn't I)
:
6 losses (5 of 20 points or more and all 14 points or more)
5 wins (3 won in the last seconds of the game, one tough game vs Central, and 1 big win against Booker T in 2003 )
...judge for yourself.
As a side note, those years Armwood beat Booker T, BT and Armwood were in 4A and BT was not playing the better teams in Dade County. There were numerous teams in Dade arguably as good or better. On paper, I had the Armwood teams in 04 and 05 as solid favorites. And when you looked at the teams, Armwood looked much bigger. But BT's speed made it very tough. And now Armwood is facing a school known for its speed. Check out their track history and you''ll see what I mean.
And finally, I was speaking of Northwestern, not Naples, when I commented previously that Armwood has likely not faced an opponent that fast and physical. ...fast-look at NW's track dynasty. ....physical-if you have never been to Liberty City, you wouldn't understand.
Have a nice evening, all!
-
Miami NW was a combined 6-0 versus Columbus, Booker T, Central (2 wins) and Carol City (2 wins). On average, their defense gave up only 10 points per game in those games. This feat is along the lines of a Big Ten Team going undefeated in conference play AND winning the championship game-extremely difficult . The last 3 years Central won a state title they could not pull off the same, and those were some special Central teams.
NW was beaten soundly by IMG this year, but who wasn't. And the fact that they were beaten by Norland speaks to how competitive football is in Dade County. Numerous teams could beat others on any given night. Again, speaks to how special that 6-0 mark is.
In 2015, Armwood easily won all of their playoff games and all were played at home, only to get trounced by Central in the state finals. It's the same scenario this year, with Armwood easily winning all of their playoff games at home.
One thing I haven't seen from Armwood in the past 6 seasons is a dominant road win against a really strong team in the playoffs. Armwood played on the road in the state semifinals in 2013 and 2014 and barely pulled off the wins. And the teams they played those years were not even ranked in the Top 20 in the state.
I followed Armwood's 2004 state championship team closely. That team was very talented on both sides of the ball, particularly its defense. Their offense put up some gaudy numbers, including a huge rout of Jefferson, who was state runner-up. When their defense faced Booker T,' they got lit up. Booker T's offense was small, but very fast, and Armwood's D had fits with them. The only reason Armwood won was that their offense put up so many points. Ever since then, Armwood has typically had strong defenses, yet has never been able to hold one of the good south Florida teams under 20 points.
So, I believe the only way Armwood beats NW is by putting up big points on offense-at least 24. Even IMG's offense could not do that against NW. The offensive numbers I have seen for this year's Armwood team are not nearly as impressive as its 2004 team, so am not sure they will be able to pull that off. Granted, those numbers don't always tell the whole story.
If indeed Armwood is limited who it plays, that's really a shame. I think some of the blowouts against Central were a function of a strength of schedule. Even just one very challenging away game each year against an opponent outside Hillsborough County would go a long way toward preparing them for the playoffs.
-
According to the records, below are the scores from Armwood's final game of each season over the past 10 years. Excluding the years they had to forfeit, Armwood has not had good luck with teams from south Florida in the playoffs.
One has to wonder if their schedule prepares them well for such competition. Armwood has not had a close game all season. Northwestern has had a number of them, and even tasted what it is like to lose a close one. I saw Miami Northwestern destroy Naples last week and cannot imagine any of the teams Armwood faced this year are remotely as fast or physical across the board.
2007-Miami Booker T Washington 34-14 LOSS
2008-Plant 17-14 LOSS
2009-Dwyer 41-15 LOSS
2010-forfeit
2011-forfeit
2012-Gainesville 42-10 LOSS
2013-Miami Central 52-7 LOSS
2014-Miami Central 24-10 LOSS
2015-Miami Central 48-13 LOSS
2016-Lake Gibson 18-15 LOSS
In 2015, Armwood waltzed their way through the regular season and the playoffs. The highest ranked team they played in the playoffs was #24 in FL and none of their playoff games were close. Central had to beat 3 Top 20 FL teams to make the finals that year. Central played a tough regular season schedule, including Dematha. ...and then they met Central
This year, once again, Armwood has had a relatively easy regular season and faced only one Top 20 team in the playoffs. None of their playoff games were close. Northwestern had a brutal regular season schedule, including IMG, and had to play 2 Top 20 teams to make the finals, and both games were close. I could see the same result as 2015, with Northwestern winning big.
-
Thank you for the replies. I could see some great rivalries between Hillsborough(city boys) and Polk County(country boys) schools, just like Dade and Broward County folks in south Florida like to argue who is best. I remember going to a Kathleen vs Lakeland game one year and standing outside the fence with a bunch of other folks just listening to the game. I could see crowds like that for an Armwood vs Lakeland game. In Georgia, it is quite common for "X" County to play "Y" County in games, and you get some tremendous rivalries...and crowds. As much as Florida high school football suffers from low attendance, would think AD's would be getting more creative to drum up ticket sales. Seems odd that games against teams from Nevada and Washington could be justified, but not for a team 30 minutes away in the next county.
- DarterBlue2 and peezy28
-
2
-
Used to live in the Tampa area back in the early 2000's and watch the area teams play. I remember back then wondering why Armwood would rarely, if ever, play anyone from outside Hillsborough County in the regular season, especially when you had good teams like Lakeland, Kathleen, and Lake Gibson right down the interstate in Polk County and a number of good teams not too far away in the Sarasota/Bradenton area. From what I recall, they might have only 1-2 close games per year, against Hillsborough and Plant, and all of the rest were blowouts.
Back then, this practice seemed to hurt them come playoff time when they might have to travel and play much tougher teams than what they were used to. I see that is still the trend today to play local teams, many of whom are much weaker. Does anyone know why this is the case?
Just for kicks, I looked at their schedule since 2005 and looks like they only played a handful of teams from outside their area, and only one of those was an away game:
2008 Bothell, WA-HOME-WON
2011 Bishop Gorman, NV-AWAY-LOST
2012 American Heritage-Delray(3A school)-HOME-LOST
2013 Cooper City (3-8 record that year)-HOME-WON
I have experience with high school football in south Florida and a team in Dade or Broward County could build a brutal schedule playing just county teams-no need to travel far. Judging by the scores of many of Armwood's games, things are not as competitive there, even now.
-
New to the forum. Really enjoy the spirited discussions on here. Father played football in south Florida in the 1940's, and I have history from the 70's.
Believe there were 2 classifications when my father played and I recall four from my day. Recruiting by private schools back then..sure. Big disparities back then..sure. "Big" teams routinely playing "little" teams...yes. All of the discontent I hear today...not so much.
Went to a private school that opted to play up in classification versus the big boys. Routinely got killed in some sports, but excelled in football due to great coaching and gritty players. Success was measured in progress, not just "wins.".
As a small business owner, I have to compete against Walmart. Do I have the option to "play" in different classifications in the business world? Do they have advantages in recruiting talent?
At the risk of sounding preachy, what I see in our youth today is an expectation that life be a level playing field and a belief that life is intolerable if it is not. And if I don't like my coach, I'll just quit and go to school down the road. How many of us wish we could quit our jobs that easily if we did not like our boss?
I dealt with blatant coach-player favoritism back then, but transferring was not an option. I am so thankful I had to stick it out, because that taught me what the real world was about.
We need to ask ourselves why we are so driven to level the playing field. Are we afraid our kids cannot handle losing? Or is it more about coaches and parents not being able to handle it?
...words of wisdom from an old man. Our youth is the best time for us to learn about inequity. "Failure" on the field is usually not life threatening, like it can be in adulthood. Learn the wrong lessons, and we are set up for a lifetime of unrealistic expectations and disappointment.
So, let the kids experience adversity and learn how to deal with it. I truly believe we are doing them a disservice by some of our current efforts with all of this classification stuff, sending a subtle message that life owes us a level playing field and I can take my ball and go home if I don't like the cards I am dealt. If we are no longer playing high school football to teach life lessons, I think we have lost perspective. I'll get off my soapbox now.
Have a great weekend all.
Attendance
in The Huddle
Posted
In Texas, not unusual to get 30,000-40,000 attending ONE of the state final games. And you know with a state the size of Texas, some of those fans have a long way to travel to get to Dallas.