VeniceIndianFan

Again........take some random team. 
Deland has great home grown talent. And whenever they have had great "color blind" coaching they have been a winner.

Crazy that Darlington can wreck shop for Apopka for years, then go to Alabama and do nothing, then come back to Florida and take some random team and turn them into a title contender overnight. 

Vanguard beating Lake Wales 52-15 was the surprise of the night. I thought Vanguard would win by a score of 24-17 or similar to avenge last year's loss; not a thorough domination from start to finish. Those kids in Vanguard have to be very excited right now. 

Congrats 181! It's great to see Plant back in the mix! Get the upset next week!

This has literally happened before.. why are we surprised? Its only been a handful of times Central has ran the whole dade county. In the early 2010s Btw was king of miami, mid 2010s it was a combination of west , cc & cent & btw. late 2010s central & northwestern. Its always been like this, nothing is wrong. You’re just not used to no Norland winning is all cause if this was the west doing this it would be normal 

Gotcha, It is puzzling how they went downhill after that performance but I could say we’re looking at it from the wrong pov. BG Chaminade & Norland are all Top 15 teams. It’s weird tho seeing that they were all games a single play decided. All winnable games by many accounts. 

Right.  There so many great games this round and a couple major upsets

Master vs Apprentice, Old (sorry Mr. Darlington) vs New, Single wing vs Single wing. 
Don't have the dates, but at one time Deland's head coach Rick Darlington helped Treasure Coast's coaching staff  incorporate it's now winning single-wing offense. Coach Darlington ran his version of Pop Warner's 1907 offense too perfection with three Florida state championships while coaching at Apopka High School. It's rarely seen today, on the gridiron, with all the high powered sideline to sideline shot gun spread passing offenses. There in lies it's uniqueness and difficulty to defend with only a week's worth of practice from game to game in a typical season. Two of Daytona Mainland's football greats Jeremy Bell , now head football coach at Atlantic High (Port Orange,Fl), and Antwaun Wyatt, son of NFL'er and Bethune-Cookman Hall of Fame player and head coach both were on T.C.'s staff during those early years of running the single-wing. This is a very intriguing match up. Particularly for my part of the state. Both coach Bell and coach Wyatt are 1st cousins, along with Mainland's head coach Travis Roland. It's all in the Daytona family.     

History is on your side and so am I, Flotech! To hell with the odds! Go Vero! Get the upset! 

History is on your side and so am I, Flotech! To hell with the odds! Go Vero! Get the upset! 

Manatee vs Sarasota Riverview not being on this list should be a crime! 

This game has alotta history and fun facts about it.....
Treasure Coast has never beaten Vero in the playoffs when ever they met up, 2016 Vero won a rematch 35-0 and in 2019 Vero won another rematch 22-14, the question is can TC beat Vero in a playoff game, as of now history is against them.....
Vero on the other hand has never traveled to South County Stadium in the playoffs, and that might hardy Indians because they haven't beaten TC @ South County since a 2019 overtime game for the district championship which Vero won 31-30.....
Another thing to note is that Vero has never won more than two playoff games in a row in a single season, this may play a key in the outcome as well.....
All in all, I think we're in for another close game and I'm being bold picking my Indians to win in a down to the wire game, but next week season will be halted by legendary Rick Darlington....
Score prediction: Vero 28 TC 21

By the way, isn't it ironic that TC had that "GAUNLET" schedule last year that everyone was second guessing them on as they ended the season 4-7, identical to us this year. Now with a heavy senior class returning against that "GAUNLET" schedule they are sitting at 8-2 poised to challenge for a state championship.  Congrats TITANS!!

This whole discussion about scheduling began because of our record this year.  The so-called "GAUNLET SCHEDULE" we signed up for last year, to get these teams we had to make a 2 year commitment which I have previously alluded to.  We knew last year we could compete with anybody and felt we had a chance to win "EVERY GAME" on that schedule.  As it turned out, we lost to a total of 3 teams on that schedule of 10 games; a loss to Seminole by 1 in OT which we should have won in regulation had it not been for a missed extra point. Then a 3 point loss at Lakeland, mind you a ghost from our past known as Skyway claimed they would beat everyone by 40, including us.  I laughed at him knowing we could win and they not only wouldn't win by 40, but they wouldn't get 40.  This was all posted on this site last year for everyone to see, so it should be obvious to anyone with a functioning brain those 2 games were winnable.  Lastly, we committed 6 or 7 turnovers at Jones uncharacteristically and lost another game we clearly were the better team.  It happens.  Thinking ahead to this year when that scheduling was decided, we felt we were blessed with a great incoming freshmen class of 2026 (which happens to be correct) and knew it would be tougher to navigate but the talent would be there to compete although not as confident we could win them "ALL" like the previous year.  For a myriad of reasons without boring you with them all, we lost more games than we would have liked.  Our HC does participate on this forum at times and I know he would echo my sentiments that he has no regrets regarding the scheduling which will only serve these sophomores that carried a monster load to be better next year.  The other missing element in all this was the "SUPPOSED" added incentive called STRENGTH of SCHEDULE", which didn't play as big a role as we thought it would.   With FHSAA discussions underway for next year, the mindset just as always is to do what we feel benefits us the most and best prepares us for a championship which is always our goal.  Each HC for FL schools decides how the scheduling can help achieve that goal depending on the level of talent, ability to compete, etc... and thus choose different routes to their desired goal.  Someone that knows little about our team wanting to criticize our HC for his decisions because you know better is asinine for the simple fact you know little.  Final Point to address your concerns Perspective.  We have never considered devising a schedule to help you "RECRUIT"!   More idiocy.

If BunJam is a Manatee fan, I hope he has the night off on November 24th! 

Lakeland was competitive until the end in the Norland game and kept themselves respectable against SJP for 2.5 quarters before the wheels fell off. Don't sell your Dreadnaughts short. They didn't schedule those games with getting their butts kicked in mind and it showed. Venice matches up poorly with Armwood. Cocoa is a top 15 team nationally. But, playing those games helped to expose our weakness this year: our defensive line. Does losing to a better team hurt, yes. But a good coaching staff will find a way to maintain cohesion in their locker room, address the issues that appear on film, and correct them moving forward.

Lakeland was competitive until the end in the Norland game and kept themselves respectable against SJP for 2.5 quarters before the wheels fell off. Don't sell your Dreadnaughts short. They didn't schedule those games with getting their butts kicked in mind and it showed. Venice matches up poorly with Armwood. Cocoa is a top 15 team nationally. But, playing those games helped to expose our weakness this year: our defensive line. Does losing to a better team hurt, yes. But a good coaching staff will find a way to maintain cohesion in their locker room, address the issues that appear on film, and correct them moving forward.

You are underestimating Cocoa. They are totally capable of hanging with anyone in the state of Florida. Just ask St. Thomas Aquinas. 

Excellent topic. Double edged sword both ways.
 Playing superior teams that execute well and that are talented helps coaching staffs game plan for future quality opponents and teaches the players the value of focus, hard work, and assignment football . But if a team doesn’t have the talent, desire, or coaching acumen to execute what it learns against quality opponents then a team is just piling up Ls.
Sometimes teams learn and get better by winning bc confidence built by winning will make hem work harder to get better. They like the feeling of winning and want to hang onto  it.  But when they run into a next level opponent they get beaten easily.
Schedule should be a mix of winnable games and very challenging games. But more winnable games bc teams need confidence building and self belief. 

If BunJam is a Manatee fan, I hope he has the night off on November 24th! 

When you have a team with state championship aspirations, you need to play at least one game in which you won't be favored to expose some weaknesses and try to improve. Doesn't have to be a national powerhouse, though your Dreadnaughts did just that and could very well win 4S again. This idea isn't obsolete by any means.

Being on the other side now sadly most admins don't care what you do for kids or care about wins or losses as long as there are no issues they have to deal with they are happy.  I'm sure they have their reasons for letting you go.  I'm guessing it has nothing to do with football.  Thanks for making a difference in kids lives.  You might not be appreciated by the admin but lots of people do appreciate you.  Thanks Coach

I am glad you found a new home. I suspect it's not a big hike from where you are now. I wish you success in the new job. 
As for Poinciana, although I don't wish ill on the program, I can't help but think that they will revert to where they were. 
Wekiva did the same thing with their head coach recently. They let him go with two games left in the season. As far as I can determine, it was not for something inexcusable, but due to tension/disagreements between him and members of his administration.  
To me, the correct way to make a change except in cases where the coach committed an a very bad offense, is to wait till the season ends, especially, as was the case with Wekiva, if you were still in the playoff hunt. 

Open 32 is the most ridiculous proposal we have come up with.  If you support it, you do not understand high school football. Forcing the top 32 teams to compete for one state championship actually takes away the opportunity from many teams that could have won their classification but could never even make it past the 2nd round in an open 32. 
We care about competitive balance now? For years while public schools couldn't get transfers we watched private schools dominate every sport and every classification. 
 
This isnt that hard...
Make all transfers count as 1.5 students
All private schools go to 1.5 for every student.
Get rid of rural... we cant say rural needs their own class if we put metro and suburban together. 
or hey don't change anything this past year's metro suburban state championships were the closest games in recent history.. 
 

There are definitely kids out there transferring to get a better fit/opportunity, but to suggest that kids aren't being recruited (by coaches, parents, boosters, other players, etc.) is disingenuous, at best, and flat out wrong, at a minimum.