OldSchoolLion

Class 3A top teams going into week 9.  This is the first week there is major shake-up as 2 of the top 5 teams in 3A lost last week.

#1) Chaminade-Madonna.  C-M moved back to the top spot after an impressive win over Booker T. Washington. The Lions lead 28-7 at one point before winning 35-28. The Lions of 2018 are following the same path as the Lions of 2017. Lions should cruise until week 11 showdown with University School.

#2) Clearwater Central Catholic.  Going into the season many news agencies and message boards felt Calvary Christian would finally topple the Marauders. Despite having 2 weeks to prepare for CCC, the Warriors were overwhelmed by the Marauders as CCC quickly took a 28-7 lead and never looked back.

#3) Sarasota Cardinal Mooney. With AHD and King's Academy both losing- it came down to Benjamin, Florida High or Mooney to ascend into the top 3. Ultimately, Mooney was given the nod due to wins against Bishop Verot (who went on to beat AH-D), Berkeley Prep (who has gone on to beat everyone) and Bradenton Southeast.  I think they have the most complete body of work outside of the top 2 teams.

#4) Benjamin School. Benjamin is on the heels of Mooney in our book. Despite King's Academy losing last week the rivalry game should still be epic in 2 weeks. This week against an over matched St. Andrews should see Benjamin well prepared for that contest.

#5) Florida High (FSU School). My family's hearts go out to those impacted by hurricane Michael. Due to the bye week, the Seminoles benefit from AHD and King's losing to regain a footing in the top 5. The Seminoles have an epic game this week against Wakulla. A win here would go a long way to securing home field throughout the playoffs.

#6) American Heritage Delray. The Stallions are still a formidable team, but the 5-3 loss to Bishop Verot is perplexing. Sure, the Vikings are a solid team but AH-D should have one this one. The schedule doesn't get any easier with Glades Central and Key West still up.   Despite falling in most polls, the FHSAA still has AH-D as the top ranked team in Region 4 from a points perspective.

#7) Tampa Berkeley Prep.  The Buccaneers are on a rampage after defeating a very solid Mitchell school 43-42 in 2 OT's. Since QB Josh Youngblood has returned the Buccaneers have defeated Mitchell, Miami Edison and Tampa Catholic. The Buccaneers should be fine this week against IMG-White before finishing their season against Tampa Sickles in an interesting private/public matchup.

#8) Tampa Catholic. The Crusaders may have suffered a few losses, but they have a chance to finish the season very strong. Games against Bishop Verot (this week) and Jesuit in week 11 could allow the Crusaders to make a late season push for a first round bye week.

#9) King's Academy. King's may have dropped a game to Gulliver Prep, but they're still around.  Interesting game this week vs Key West to build momentum for their rivalry game next week.

#10) Baldwin.  Despite being undefeated you can make the argument that they should be ranked higher- I certainly did! The issue is the schedule has been weak. The game that will tell us where the Indians stand is the West Nasseau game, but don't overlook Santa Fe this week. If Baldwin wins the next 2, they'll have the quality wins (along with Dixie County) to jump in the rankings.


GAMES OF THE WEEK
Clearwater Central Catholic (8-0) at Tampa Jesuit (7-0)

Tampa Jesuit is a traditional mid-sized school powerhouse that has won a state championship in its schools history and has recently gone blow for blow against the Bishop Moore and American Heritage-Plantations of the world.  Lead by Kiael Kelly, one of the top QB's in the country for his class and a host of D-1 prospects the Tigers gained attention when they defeated Tampa Jefferson 23-20 early in the year. Jesuit would go on to grab state headlined when they defeated 8A power Kissmiee Osceola 21-7.  Since that win, Jesuit has turned the corner and is playing dominating football.

THE PICK:

I think if both teams were 100% healthy and the game was played in Clearwater, I would take CCC by 14- but, CCC has too many key guys out likely to return for the playoffs- key among them Jr. Johnny Newton and Brandon Kennedy.  I think CCC is taking the right approach not rushing anybody back for their inevitable long playoff run, but Jesuit playing at home simply has to much momentum.  I still expect CCC to finish with the highest average point value in 3A when its all said and done, but this one could get ugly as Jesuit is likely to run up the score.

Jesuit 35, CCC 7


Tampa Catholic vs Bishop Verot

Bishop Verot has quietly put together an amazing 6-1 record capped by last weeks 5-3 win over American Heritage Delray. The Viking defense has really been stout since an opening season loss.  Tampa Catholic has rebounded nicely their 2 losses and still has a competitive schedule remaining with Bishop Verot and Jesuit.

THE PICK: When asked what team could potentially upset Chaminade-Madonna in 3A, I've always felt the team with the tools to do so is Tampa Catholic, but they haven't been able to get out of their own way. What Chaminade has in polish, and south Florida swag the Crusaders just haven't been able to achieve.  I think TC picks up a big win over a good team that provided momentum heading into their yearly rivalry game with Jesuit.

TC 21, Bishop Verot 14.

OTHER GAMES
Berkeley Prep over IMG White by 35
Cardinal Mooney over Avon Park by 3
Chaminade-Madonna over Doral Academy by 35
American Heritage Delray over Glades Central by 10
King's Academy over Key West by 7
Benjamin over St. Andrews by 35+
Ft. White over Dixie by 3
Ocala Trinity over Providence School by 17
Lakeland Christian over Lake Highland by 10
1st Academy over West Park Prep by 35+



 

Imagine how much FBS talent the Broward County private school powers(St Thomas Aquinas, American Heritage, Chaminade-Madonna and Cardinal Gibbons) have churned out over the past few years.  How many of them are currently on the rosters of major Florida universities?  The answer is 21.
Being college prep schools, kids graduating from these schools likely have a higher-than-average chance of succeeding in college and the benefit of better-than-average coaching in high school.   
UM-STA(3), AHP(2), CG(1)
UF-AHP(5), STA(2), CM(1)
FSU-STA(1), AHP(1)
USF-STA(2), CM(1)
UCF-STA(2)
Imagine how much talent from these schools alone have left Florida.  James White, who played at St Thomas Aquinas, played at Univ of Wisconsin 2010-2013.  He had over 4000 career rushing yards, despite splitting carries with 3 great running backs during his time there.  He was a 3-star at STA and had what it took to make it to the NFL.  It's amazing how many kids like this the FL universities have lost over the years.  
 
 

Mike Ford- Sarasota HS........................At one time Sarasota seemed to always put out great RB, Rosie Snipes, Jimmy Dubose, Tony Waters and Herb Haygood come immediately to mind.................. All of those backs were coached by either Charlie Cleland or Tom Whitehurst two of the best coaches Sarasota has ever had.
 

Man he did  lmao!! But pastor Richt is tripping.. We love him as a CEO of the team. You be the HC , run the program right and recruit good.. But him being a OC ? Miss me with that.. I still want him here but with that last stunt he just did against UVA and bringing 12 back in boy we’re looking side eye at him. I’m convinced, he doesn’t like Perry and love Rosier...

5'9" 135 and feminine..I know some boys who would probably tolerate the shortcomings to have her around

Appreciate your honest comments Peezy.  In the posts below, I speak of some issues with recruiting.  The Noles' and Canes' recruiting strategies have changed over the years, and I question some of the kids they are bringing in.   Bowden was a master at getting the "right" kids to come there.  It's interesting that gaps on their teams are also gaps in FL hs football in general, ie OL and QB play.  
 

Naples is not playing S Fort Myers this week?

Jesuit is 7-0

...interesting tidbits.  Booker T Washington has beaten Carol City 8 of their past 9 meetings.  Carol City won last season and is likely to do so this year.  Demonstrates what a great program BTW has to have dominated Carol City all of those years.  
Central and Northwestern have split their last 18 meetings...what a rivalry.  If the Bulls lose, they will have to win their last two games against Norland and Jackson to avoid a losing season.  Remember, Norland upset them last year.   

...observations
Bishop Verot proves it is for real in 4A with tight win over AH Delray.. Cocoa offense puts up 44 points 2nd week in a row.  Bloomingdale proves it is for real with win over TB tech. Dwyer's offense is putting up some gaudy numbers. Dillard's win over Western keeps looking better, as Western beats undefeated Plantation.   Riverview takes out Manatee after being upset by Newsome last week...so much parity in 8A.

South Florida
7ADoral Academy(8-1) @ 3AChaminade-Madonna((5-2)     C-M won 41-5 last year.
American Heritage Plantation(6-2) @ Miami Jackson(4-3) in a 5AD16 matchup.     AHP has won the last 5 meetings, including a 47-9 win last season.
5ABooker T Washington(4-4) @ 6ACarol City(7-0)   BTW has won 8 of the 9 last meetings.  Carol City won last season 39-7
Miami Central(7-1) @ Northwestern(3-4) in a 6AD16 matchup.   These 2 teams have each won 9 of their past 18 meetings.  NW has won the past 3, including a 21-7 regular season win and 24-18 playoff win last season.  
South Dade(7-0) @ Miami Palmetto(6-1) in a 8AD16 matchup.     South Dade has won 11 of the past 14 meetings.  Palmetto has won the past 2, including a 17-7 win last season.
Southridge(5-2) @ Homestead(5-2) in a 8AD16 matchup.     Southridge has won 10 of the past 14 meetings, including a 41-12 win last season.
Charlotte(6-1) @ Cape Coral(5-2) in 1 6AD10 matchup.     Charlotte has won the last 5 meetings, including a 37-12 win last season.
7AKathleen(4-3) @ 6ALehigh(5-1)     Kathleen won 28-12 last season.
 
Central Florida
3AClearwater Central Catholic(8-0) @ 5ATampa Jesuit(7-0)     CCC won meetings in 2013 and 2014.
Bloomingdale(7-0) @ Plant City(7-1) in a 7AD9 matchup.    Plant City has won 3 of the past 5 meetings.  Bloomingdale won last year 36-29.
Wesley Chapel(5-3) @ Zephyrhills(7-0) in a 5AD8 matchup that will likely decide the district champion.  Zephyrhills has won the past 7 meetings, including a 28-6 win last season.
Sebring(6-1) @ Lake Wales(6-1) in a 6AD8 matchup.     Sebring has won their last 3 meetings, including a 31-14 win last season.  Lake Wales last won this matchup in 2009.  
Winter Park(7-1) @ Boone(4-2) in a 8AD3 matchup that will likely decide the district champion.  Each team has won 7 of their past 14 meetings, and most of those games have been close.  Winter Park won 27-7 last season.
Deland(6-1) vs Palm Coast(7-1) in a 8AD1 matchup. FPC has won 6 of the past 11 meetings, including the past 3.  FPC won 38-16 last season.
7ABartram Trail(5-2) @ 4ACocoa(5-2)     Cocoa won 38-21 last year.
Merritt Island(4-3) @ Rockledge(6-1) in a 5AD14 matchup. Rockledge won 37-14 last season.  Merritt Island won the 9 meetings prior to that.
  
North Florida
7ALincoln(4-2) @ 6AEscambia(6-1)     Lincoln won 28-20 last year in Tallahassee.
6APine Forest(5-2) @ 5AGodby(6-0)     These two teams split playoff games played in 1999 and 2004.
Mainland(5-3) @ New Smyrna Beach(6-1) in a 6AD13 matchup that will likely decide the district champion.  Mainland has won the last 5 meetings, including a 65-0 win last season.
Fletcher(6-1) @ Columbia(6-1) in a 7AD2 matchup.     Columbia has won the last 3 recent meetings, including a 42-27 win last season.
Trinity Christian(8-0) @ Ponte Vedra(6-1) in a 5AD4 matchup. TC won 21-3 last year in the only meeting between these 2 programs.
1AMadison County(6-1) @ 2AUniversity Christian(5-2)     Madison County won 37-14 last year at Boot Hill.
Oakleaf(4-3) @ Buchholz(5-2) in a 7AD3 matchup.     Buchholz leads this series 3-2 and won last year 25-22 in OT.  4 of the 5 games have been decided by a TD or less. 

Below are the year-to-date records for some of the out-of-state teams that played Florida teams earlier this season.  Most are proving to be reasonably good teams, if not very good teams.  
Dematha(MD)-lost to STA 38-0; 6-2 record; LOST 13-7 to nationally-ranked St John's 
St Joseph Regional(NJ)-lost to AH Plantation 20-17; 7-2 record (only other loss was by 4 points to ranked Bergen Catholic) WON
St John's(DC)-beat Central; 8-0 record WON
Milton(GA)-beat Cardinal Gibbons 42-17; 7-2 record WON
North Gwinnett(GA)-lost to Wekiva 28-14(NG's lowest offensive output of the year) ; 8-2 record WON
Buford(GA)-lost to Deerfield Beach 19-14(Buford's lowest offensive output of the year); 7-2 record WON
Westlake(GA)-lost to Deerfield Beach 41-16; 7-2 record (only other loss was close game with Grayson) WON
Lee County(GA)-beat Dr Phillips; 9-0 record WON 
Lowndes(GA)-beat Lincoln 51-15; 7-2 record WON 
Muscle Shoals(AL)-lost to Chaminade-Madonna 28-21; 8-2 record (only other loss by 1 point to Top 10 AL team) WON
Bob Jones(AL)-beat Mainland 39-36; 6-4 record WON 
Clay-Chalkville(AL)-beat Niceville 58-14; 9-1 record WON
Fort Dorchester(SC)-beat Viera 31-28; 8-0 record IDLE
Louisville(MS)-beat Navarre 14-6; 10-1 record WON 
Holmes County Central(MS)-lost to Niceville 35-7; 9-1 record WON
 

...observations
Bishop Verot proves it is for real in 4A with tight win over AH Delray.. Cocoa offense puts up 44 points 2nd week in a row.  Bloomingdale proves it is for real with win over TB tech. Dwyer's offense is putting up some gaudy numbers. Dillard's win over Western keeps looking better, as Western beats undefeated Plantation.   Riverview takes out Manatee after being upset by Newsome last week...so much parity in 8A.

...observations
Bishop Verot proves it is for real in 4A with tight win over AH Delray.. Cocoa offense puts up 44 points 2nd week in a row.  Bloomingdale proves it is for real with win over TB tech. Dwyer's offense is putting up some gaudy numbers. Dillard's win over Western keeps looking better, as Western beats undefeated Plantation.   Riverview takes out Manatee after being upset by Newsome last week...so much parity in 8A.

..so ironic to hear that...their football team lacks a game plan but their cheer squad does complex routines good enough to win big titles.

Below are the year-to-date records for some of the out-of-state teams that played Florida teams earlier this season.  Most are proving to be reasonably good teams, if not very good teams.  
Dematha(MD)-lost to STA 38-0; 6-2 record; LOST 13-7 to nationally-ranked St John's 
St Joseph Regional(NJ)-lost to AH Plantation 20-17; 7-2 record (only other loss was by 4 points to ranked Bergen Catholic) WON
St John's(DC)-beat Central; 8-0 record WON
Milton(GA)-beat Cardinal Gibbons 42-17; 7-2 record WON
North Gwinnett(GA)-lost to Wekiva 28-14(NG's lowest offensive output of the year) ; 8-2 record WON
Buford(GA)-lost to Deerfield Beach 19-14(Buford's lowest offensive output of the year); 7-2 record WON
Westlake(GA)-lost to Deerfield Beach 41-16; 7-2 record (only other loss was close game with Grayson) WON
Lee County(GA)-beat Dr Phillips; 9-0 record WON 
Lowndes(GA)-beat Lincoln 51-15; 7-2 record WON 
Muscle Shoals(AL)-lost to Chaminade-Madonna 28-21; 8-2 record (only other loss by 1 point to Top 10 AL team) WON
Bob Jones(AL)-beat Mainland 39-36; 6-4 record WON 
Clay-Chalkville(AL)-beat Niceville 58-14; 9-1 record WON
Fort Dorchester(SC)-beat Viera 31-28; 8-0 record IDLE
Louisville(MS)-beat Navarre 14-6; 10-1 record WON 
Holmes County Central(MS)-lost to Niceville 35-7; 9-1 record WON
 

The Bloomingdale Bulls from Hillsborough County also kept its great season intact with a nice win over Tampa Bay Tech and remains undefeated!

In a nail biter that was very entertaining from a fan standpoint, Apopka defeated West Orange 27-21. It was far from a perfect game by Apopka, but the team did show something that had been missing from at least its last two outings: intensity! They wanted to win, and, I suppose, want to be playing in November. That is a good sign. 
All the points were scored in the first and fourth quarters. At the half the score was Apopka 21 West Orange 14, which had been the score at the end of the first. Apopka did fumble the ball away twice; but there were no interceptions this time. And while they were penalties, they were not as pervasive nor did they come at critical moments, for the most part, during the game. 
WO's wide receiver Harding is the real deal and I wish him well at Duke and beyond. The defense, despite giving up three scores, played as well (actually better) than I have seen it play in any other game this year and made critical stops when it mattered most, not least of which in WO's final drive when they turned the ball over on downs at the Apopka 22 with less than 40 seconds left in the game. 
Next is a week off which could not come at a better time as the team is banged up and depleted; then a critical district game against Wekiva.
Apopka goes into the Wekiva game with its playoff destiny in its own hands. Win and they win the district and get home field advantage in the playoffs. Lose and they probably still make the playoffs, but as a wild card, as I suspect Wekiva would get the district championship as they would have fewer losses overall and an equally tough, if not tougher, schedule. For the second year in a row, WO is now in danger of not making the playoffs even though they will finish the district with no worse than a second place finish unless Evans shocks them. 

...just some perspective.  Back in the 1970's, North Florida was a heck of a lot more rural than it was now, and the Panhandle schools gave the rest of the state all if could handle, regardless of class.  Even when playing schools in the same class, the difference in access to talent pools was huge and worked against the north FL schools.  For instance, one 4A final was Miami Carol City vs Choctawhatchee.  How did they do it?  ..by being mean and nasty. 
The vast majority of 5A schools today are in the vicinity of highly populated areas with access to a substantial talent pool.  Amongst the more "rural" 5A schools might be Wakulla.  Wakulla County has about 30,000 people.  For some around the South, 30,000 is a good-sized county.  Georgia has about 100 counties with less than 30,000 people.  And some of them routinely take on schools from the big city during the regular season.  5AWakulla with 1500 kids competing against current 7A Lincoln with 2100 kids....I don't see that being an insurmountable barrier to win.  Wakulla could likely beat many of the Miami teams in 7AR4 now.     
It's all relative.  Tift County in Georgia has about 40,000 people...about the size of Levy County in FL.  They have a school with 2100 kids.  They play in 7A with Atlanta schools that have over 3500 kids.  Coach Buddy Goins, who coached Miami Springs many years ago, had a team in the early 90's that went undefeated and gave eventual champion Southridge it's toughest game of the playoffs.  They had less than 30 kids.  Talk about nasty kids.    
At some point, the kids and coaches just need to buck up and get nasty if they want to win.  
  

There will be a four-screen setup at the XDC compound this evening. 
St. John's-Good Council, Heritage-Gibbons, Vero Beach-Treasure Coast, and the local game on CW, Seminole Ridge-Palm Beach Central. 
A little take-out, a few adult sodas, and some High School Football, NFL RedZone-style. Life will be good in a couple hours!

He did make some bad decisions after his college career, but he has rebounded like a champ. His son graduated from Osceola HS in 2017 which he was very involved in. He has since married and is expecting a child any minute, he has spent many hours with the youth in Osceola County discussing the positive impact that sports can have on your life. Willie has spent many hours over the last couple years doing free football camps for the youth in Osceola County. He is doing his best to give back to Osceola County! Thank you Willie Green.

Almost upset them in 2006 until Rainy busted off a 70 plus yard run to beat us 7-3

Chris Rainey
 
Probably STA, but every program that played him had nightmares.

Right now football is the last thing on people's mind.  Some of the kids probably wondering where they are going to sleep tonight.  I know because after Hurricane Charley in 2004 many families were living in shelters until FEMA brought in trailers for temporary housing; many folks still living in them 2 years after the storm.  Our stadium had got destroyed so we played every game on the road that year.  Football became a way for the kids to feel normal again, at least for a couple of hours.   Just reflecting back.  Irma wasn't nearly as bad. 

Hey.. You act like the ACC was hard to compete before the addition of my canes and other teams.. Remember ACC was always a Basketball Conference... That’s why y’all had that conference on lock and you damn right I’m gonna have fun with this while y’all struggle with the black Al Golden... I hope y’all give him a ful 5 years but  you n I know they gonna Charlie Strong his ass lmao..