OldSchoolLion

For some perspective...in 1982, St Thomas Aquinas finished 6-1 in district play.  They were in a district with 7 other Broward County teams(6 public and 1 private).  Of the 6 games against public schools, 4 were decided by 2 points or less and one was decided by 14 points.  That same year, 14/28 first round playoff games were decided by a TD or less.
Back in the day, one could go to any hs football game during the regular season and have a reasonable chance of finding a competitive game.  Nowadays, even in the early rounds of the playoffs, one has to search to find a competitive game.       

For some perspective...in 1982, St Thomas Aquinas finished 6-1 in district play.  They were in a district with 7 other Broward County teams(6 public and 1 private).  Of the 6 games against public schools, 4 were decided by 2 points or less and one was decided by 14 points.  That same year, 14/28 first round playoff games were decided by a TD or less.
Back in the day, one could go to any hs football game during the regular season and have a reasonable chance of finding a competitive game.  Nowadays, even in the early rounds of the playoffs, one has to search to find a competitive game.       

I am not one to make excuses...especially against referees after a loss.  I always found it counter-productive in the long run.  Those striped shirt guys have to make decisions in a split second, and I am sure the human factor comes into play more often than not.  Its not like they have replay (to look back on) to see if it was the correct call or not.  Beating them over the head on one call will virtually assure you you will not get the next close call if it presents itself...just my opinion.  
That being said, there were some questionable calls last night as there always are.  I am sure Coach J wont be challenging any calls after the fact...he does a great job of getting his point across during the game.  We lost...we will move onto next year.  
We did not line up very well.  

I cannot see Palmetto winning with their one-dimensional office.  If they advance, Apopka or Seminole will likely shut them down. 

In that sense, they are a little bit like some of the south Florida teams that will start the season slow and hit peak in October through the playoffs. Last year, if you had seen them through game 5, you would have said no way they go more than two rounds in the playoffs unless they get an exceptionally weak draw. And yet they came within seconds of winning the state title when all the smoke cleared. 

Jesse is gonna be gone til new years day lmao

I remember this very well. Growing up watching brevard heavyweights playing each other each week but times have changed. I'm not saying playing locally is detrimental to improving. All in all you just run into a team that's hitting on all cylinders at all phases of the game and just can't get any momentum going.

You should put up the first quarter and halftime scores from those teams that lost to Cocoa and Rockledge. It makes it even worse

Putting the historical question aside, us Orlando area folks are not that surprised. The southwest part of Lake County: Clermont, Minneola, Groveland, are now its most populated. And the area has more Orlando characteristics than traditional Lake County characteristics. Not surprising, as that part of Lake County, like Apopka and to a degree, Kissimmee, has become more of an Orlando bedroom community. Size and changing demographics have transformed the area.
Former world class Jamaican sprinter, Veronica Campbell-Brown, lives there and trained in the area during her peak years which included Olympic Gold. Assuming the talent is stacked, there is room for at least one state caliber football team in southwest Lake county. 

Besides Rockledge and Cocoa, these are the notable high schools playing hs football in Brevard County and their records this season.
Does anyone see a problem here?  
 
Astronaut    5-2 (lost 27-7 to Satellite)
Bayside     4-5 (lost 53-8 to Cocoa and lost 35-7 to Rockledge)
Cocoa Beach     0-8 (lost 63-0 to Satellite)
Eau Gallie     7-2 (lost 27-13 to Cocoa)
Heritage     1-7 (lost 49-0 to Cocoa and lost 54-7 to Rockledge)
Melbourne     2-6 (lost 46-0 to Cocoa and lost 40-0 to Rockledge)
Melbourne Central Catholic     3-5   (lost 35-0 to Satellite)
Merritt Island     4-2 (lost 22-8 to Satellite)
Palm Bay     1-7 (lost 56-0 to Cocoa and lost 41-0 to Rockledge)
Satellite     7-1 (lost 41-7 to Cocoa)
Space Coast     2-5 (lost 37-0 to Satellite)
Titusville     1-6 (lost 42-6 to Satellite)
Viera     6-4 (lost 36-10 to Cocoa and lost 41-18 to Rockledge) 
 
 
 

The purpose of this thread is to show the significant disparity in talent in Hillsborough County.  Of 29 public schools in Hillsborough County, there are arguably...  
5 "Have's"  4 "In Betweens" 20 "Have Not's  And we wonder why certain teams are having difficulty finding "local" teams to give them legitimate competition.  As I have stated elsewhere, this is Florida's dirty little secret(lots of poor/marginal teams), and it is not just an issue in Hillsborough County. 
The Have's
Armwood 5-4
Berkeley Prep 7-2
Bloomingdale 12-0
Gaither 11-1
Jesuit 13-0
Tampa Bay Tech 8-4
 
In Between
Hillsborough 8-2 (lost 56-10 to Armwood)
Jefferson 7-2
Newsome 7-3 (lost 38-10 to Bloomingdale)
Tampa Catholic 7-3
Wharton 7-2 (lost 21-7 to Newsome) 
 
The Have Not's
Alonso 2-7 (lost 56-7 to Steinbrenner)
Blake 1-7 (lost 49-15 to jefferson)
Brandon 0-9 (lost 72-0 to Hillsborough)
Chamberlain 6-4 (lost 34-6 to Gaither)
Durant 5-5 (lost 30-0 to Bloomingdale)
East Bay 2-7 (lost 47-6 to TB Tech)
Freedom 0-9 (lost 47-8 to gaither)
King 5-4 (lost 52-18 to Hillsborough)
Lennard 4-5 (lost 26-7 to Newsome)
Leto 1-8
Middleton 4-5 (lost 25-0 to Hillsboorugh)
Plant 2-6 (lost 45-7 to Armwood)
Plant City 5-4 (lost 37-20 to Bloomingdale)
Riverview 1-8 (lost 75-14 to TB tech)
Robinson 5-4 (lost 55-14 to Jesuit)
Sickles 2-6
Spoto 3-6 (lost 62-0 to Hillsborough)
Steinbrenner 4-3 (lost 34-10 to TB Tech)
Strawberry Crest 1-8 (lost 62-0 to Bloomingdale)
Sumner 7-1 (played an Independent, weak schedule)
 

In 2011, Cooper City played St Thomas Aquinas.  CC"s schedule that year is below.  In the meantime, St Thomas had already faced 3 nationally ranked teams (Prattville(AL), De La Salle(CA) and Miramar(FL), as well as a tough Cypress Bay team.  The result...one of the most shocking upsets in Florida history, as Cooper City defeated Aquinas at the Raiders home field.  Strength of schedule meant nothing that day.  That was a gritty team taking care of business.  
Non-district game
*Everglades 4-6
*West Broward 1-9
*Monarch 3-7
Nova 3-7
Plantation 5-5
*Western 5-5
South Broward 4-6

I was really surprised by that result as well.  Gaither has been on a team on the rise in recent years.  Guess it goes to show that improvement is not always linear.  

There was a time we normally only played "local" teams during the regular season.  And before computers, one might know relatively little about your playoff opponent.  Heck, 50 years ago you might not find out a certain playoff opponent had a new coach until the game.
I mention this because there is a lot of emphasis today on strength of schedule to get one's team ready.  And I find it curious because in the old days a coach basically had to have his team ready for anything at any time. 
I hear some folks today talk about the need to schedule south FL teams to get exposed to their level of speed.  In the late 1970's and early 1980''s, the big school final often featured a south FL team vs a north Fl team.  In those matchups, the north FL schools won more than they lost.  They did it though gritty determination and good fundamentals.  
As an example, the 1976 and 1977 Carol City teams were excellent.  When they played Godby and Choctawhatchee in the finals, the speed of Carol City must have been awe-inspiring to those north FL schools.  Yet, Godby won and Choctawhatchee lost via a last minute field goal.   
Sorry if I sound preachy.  Just trying to present another perspective.           
 

Besides Rockledge and Cocoa, these are the notable high schools playing hs football in Brevard County and their records this season.
Does anyone see a problem here?  
 
Astronaut    5-2 (lost 27-7 to Satellite)
Bayside     4-5 (lost 53-8 to Cocoa and lost 35-7 to Rockledge)
Cocoa Beach     0-8 (lost 63-0 to Satellite)
Eau Gallie     7-2 (lost 27-13 to Cocoa)
Heritage     1-7 (lost 49-0 to Cocoa and lost 54-7 to Rockledge)
Melbourne     2-6 (lost 46-0 to Cocoa and lost 40-0 to Rockledge)
Melbourne Central Catholic     3-5   (lost 35-0 to Satellite)
Merritt Island     4-2 (lost 22-8 to Satellite)
Palm Bay     1-7 (lost 56-0 to Cocoa and lost 41-0 to Rockledge)
Satellite     7-1 (lost 41-7 to Cocoa)
Space Coast     2-5 (lost 37-0 to Satellite)
Titusville     1-6 (lost 42-6 to Satellite)
Viera     6-4 (lost 36-10 to Cocoa and lost 41-18 to Rockledge) 
 
 
 

If Bama lost to LSU today the boy would need an intervention.

I was really surprised by that result as well.  Gaither has been on a team on the rise in recent years.  Guess it goes to show that improvement is not always linear.  

Cocoa seems to sore a lot more points, but lost focus on their defensive game.  And defense wins championships.

and Rockledge lost last week.  Life is good for Muckboy.

You nailed it.  Looks like 6 will survive.  Just think, if Cocoa would have won, you would not have gotten it right. 
 

I think u like Cocoa losing more than GC winning.

1A Hawthorne advanced to its first state title game ever by defeating Madison County.  hawthorne had only won 5 playoff games before this year.

1A Hawthorne advanced to its first state title game ever by defeating Madison County.  hawthorne had only won 5 playoff games before this year.

Edgewater’s first trip to the central time zone and it's to Niceville....yikes...not many places in the state are as hard to play at for opponents than Eagle Stadium. Looking forward to a classic next Friday! The Eagles, the ones from Niceville, would love to return the favor from last year....

LOL I had Lincoln in my first post before I edited it, but I was thinking of the 2010 Lincoln vs Armwood game so I was like "Oh no, STA didn't play Lincoln in 2010"...  D'OH!!!!!!!