OldSchoolLion

Pahokee

Those are very profound words, young man.  Think of life as a dance.  Why we do we dance?  We do not normally dance to win.  We do not dance to get to the end of the dance(goals).  We dance for the sheer joy of dancing and live in the moment we are doing so.  A lot of old folks don't figure this out until the end. 
Some kids today are afraid to play football or do other activities because they will not be good at it.  We've drilled into their heads that life is about being "good" and "winning" instead of teaching them to find joy in the sheer act of doing things.  You'll miss out on a ton of fun stuff in life if you are afraid to fail.         

Another year another Thanksgiving and it's a good time to reflect and acknowledge what we have to be thankful for even in a year as tough as this one has brought to people, one thing I learned quickly this year is nothing is guaranteed and one minute you could be having a normal life and then within a moment you can have it taken on a rollercoaster with no end in sight as sometimes things will come around that cause a major change to your daily life
 
As much as this board has changed and even though I don't get along with everyone on here I don't regret joining in the first place because I have met a few people on here I am glad to call a friend
 
As we head towards the end of this challenging year I feel like it won't be long before we cross over into something resembling a more positive normal than the normal of this year but it made me realize you can't take things for granted because nothing will be guaranteed and you got to enjoy the ride more so than just the winning and losing of life because nothing will be perfect and those challenges is what makes life truly worth fighting for 
 
Before the school season I set 2 goals, one unfortunately fell short but I still look forward to goal number 2 in the spring and I'm very confident I will complete that one but in the mean time I'm just enjoying the ride and seeing many young leaders and people grow into the type of people who will change the world and I'm hoping for the best as they travel this journey 

Here they are.  Did any of the teams below surprise you?
Lakeland     197-23 (90%)
St Thomas     214-25 (90%)
Bolles     192-32 (86%)
Naples     171-32 (84%)
Cocoa     178-39 (82%)
American Heritage Plantation     166-40 (81%)
Columbus     164-41 (80%)
 
...and some teams with consistent winning seasons who fell short of 80% winning percentage.
Apopka      172-48 (78%)
Bishop Moore     153-47 (77%)
Niceville     152-46 (77%)
Wakulla     150-47 (76%)
 

You can add Evans in Orlando to the list above. In the 1980s through 2001, they were one of the best teams in the greater Orlando area and shared the 1991 large class state title with Southridge. Except for two brief seasons when Chip Gierke was head coach, they have not made the playoff since. It's a pity as there is still a lot of talent in the school zone. Unfortunately, the cream of it goes elsewhere these days. For a good coach willing to put in the work and commit four years minimum, this would be an excellent opportunity to turn around a program as there is no reason this school should not make the playoffs with frequency. 

Here are the worst programs of the 21st century. All of these schools have participated each year (2000 - present) and have less than a .250 winning pct.. They are consistently sub-bar. To Nolebull's point, notice how many of these teams are on OldSchoolLions' seven year list.  
Leto (Tampa) Poinciana (Kissimmee) Spanish River (Boca Raton)  Interlachen Stanton (Jacksonville) Miami Coral Park  Cypress Creek (Orlando) Bronson Lecanto Forest Hill (WP Beach) Pine Ridge (Deltona) Lake Placid *Englewood (Jacksonville) comes in right at .250
 

In years to come, we may look back at today as a transitional time when we shifted our way of thinking about education and athletics and the way we have intertwined the two.  Right now, hs football is faced with something relatively new, ie IMG and certain private school powerhouses, and is not quite sure what to do with them.  What this transition could look like over time is a fascinating topic itself.   
 

Bolles

...some comments
IMG-I typically don't include IMG in these discussions
Oxbridge-I only considered active programs
Armwood and Central had forfeited seasons
Dwyer, Madison County, BTW, St Augustine and Plant have not had winning seasons every season during the specified time frame

Fun fact. Fernandina Beach beat the Undefeated Georgia State Champ Adel,GA (Cook County) in 1949 in a post season game called the Turpentine Bowl.
https://ghsfha.org/w/Special:SchoolHome?season=1949&school=Cook#teams

So that means that neither are on the list.

...and people talk about Madison County needing to move up in class. 

I thought it was the private schools who were the bullies?

Probably Vero Beach
 
Of the teams listed they have the most reliance upon home games during the season and usually have a reversal of fortune in playoff games 

Old School, this one has me stumped.  Cocoa is the only team I can find that has as many as 3 playoffs wins by 65 or more points since 2010 (65-0 over Clewiston in 2011, 70-0 over Labelle in 2013 and 67-0 over Avon Park in 2014).  Since then, they've also racked up big wins over Bishop Verot (64-0 in 2016), Lake Placid (63-8 in 2017), Avon Park (62-7, also in 2017) and Hudson (62-0 this year).   But I can't find another playoff win for Cocoa of 65 or more points. 
I'm waiving the white flag. 

Cocoa?

You're "waiving" the white flag, so that means you cannot give up

Yes.  And that's where I have always seen the irony.  Imagine owning a business and the government dictating to you that some of your product line cannot be advertised or, if so, only with certain restrictions.  We would never tolerate that as a society.  
Yet that is exactly what we do to private schools.  Sell education all you want, but don't sell athletics.  We want free enterprise as long as it doesn't interfere with my son's public school team getting beat out by a private school.
I am not a private school homer.  I just call it how I see it.  
 

Gulf High is 11-57 the past seven seasons thanks to an eight win season in 2014.
Other than that, they are 3-54 the past six seasons.

Columbia got busy and caught the crabs.  I heard they got excellent penetration but their protection was suspect.

I thought it was the private schools who were the bullies?

The question is not whether we should have hs recruiting or not.  We already do.  The question is to what extent we should try to regulate.   If it is unhealthy for grade school kids to be solicited by hs coaches, what are we doing as a society from a regulatory standpoint to protect the kids from college coaches and scouts?

I'll go with Fernandina Beach (beating West Nassau 34-22).  Bolles then stopped the Pirate playoff win streak at one. 

Cannot speak for this year, but in the past I did deep dives on the IMG roster at the time.  If I remember correctly..
There were a number of elite players.  There were out-of-shape lineman who had great potential and IMG was likely asked by one or more Power 5 schools to get them in shape so they could play his freshman year in college.   There were a number of 3-star players. There were some very marginal kids on the roster who saw regular playing time.  I am guessing that some of these players came from families of privilege trying to fulfill their son's dream of playing. My point is that the IMG teams I looked at were not stacked with 4 and 5-star players at every position.  Sure, they are much better than your average hs football team.  But they were not some world-beaters good enough to beat a Power 5 school.  Some years they seem better than others.  
     

We got change. I would not necessarily call it progress. Indeed, regress seems more appropriate to me. But I am just a poor, old, third world type. So what would I know?