ExplorerHomer2

I agree with Ray that this should be Venice's game. The main things Columbus has going for them right now is their coaching and scrappy nature. They don't have the size this year to go man to man with the Indians. As for the BT game, I will say that that was Columbus' 2nd back to back 7hr+ road game (they played Benedictine in GA the week before), and played that game without our starting RB. We played an ugly game there (2 turnovers and sloppy execution on offense overall). But the past few games, the ugly spots have been smoothed over by some real grit. I am impressed with how they have turned their season around since that Palmetto loss. All this said, Columbus needs to score on nearly every possession in order to keep pace with that Venice O. The size of this team looks on par with the kids from CM. And yes, we were up on them 17-10 in the first half, but their size were too much for 4 quarters for our guys. I see Venice as much the same. My heart says 30-28 Columbus win with a field goal. My head says 21-35 Indians. Should be a great game. Go Explorers!

Gotta admit - didn't see this coming. Western got up on top quick, had opportunities, but two turnovers. Great defensive battle for most of the game until Columbus broke it open in the 4th. Nice team grit, great pressure on a great Western QB. Sloppy field conditions slowed down the passing game a bit, but this was anybody's game through 3 quarters. Next up: Palmetto, we have already played each other twice in this season in two low scoring games and split the outcomes. Tonight, no injuries, good handshakes after the game. I'm having a beer.

Went out right at 10pm. Must be a timer. Someone lost a job. What a long and tiring game - lightning delay and now darkning delay. LOL

lights out...

Bulls are down this year overall. Not a good year to book an IMG game.

Just to clarify, Columbus is at home for this game.

yes, first home game. First two were 24 hour round trip bus rides to Savannah GA and a 10 hour round trip bus ride to Jacksonville. Will be nice for the kids to stay home this week. Can't wait to see them play in person.

8A Explorers traveled to GA a couple weeks back brought back a win and an injured starting running back. It showed in a loss last week as they travelled to Jax. Now playing in their backyard against the #1 team in 3A - coming off a close loss to AHP and a solid win over a tough Western squad. Who wins? If we don't get stopped due to lightning, Columbus will need to establish a running game without their #1 tailback, otherwise force everything on Sr. QB Mendoza who shows flashes of brilliance at times, but needs to not force the pass on the run. Home field advantage but only 500 fans allowed to attend. If we have a wet field, could get ugly for the Explorers who may need to force it too often in the air against a formidable secondary. Of the first three games this season, I feel least confident about this one. Definitely the toughest opponent Columbus will see outside of the playoffs this season. Let's go Explorers! Gametime 7pm Friday...

I lied. Bartram Trail will be in charge of the broadcast and play-by-play for tonight's game on NFHS. The kids missed too much school already. LOL https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/bartram-trail-high-school-st-johns-fl/gam453292818d

Yeah, I can confirm that the Columbus students do both the video and the commentary, even occasional sideline reporting and interviews. They even do the away games. Kids traveled to Savanah GA for the Benedictine game last week and are headed up to Jacksonville today for the Bartram Trail game tomorrow. Then again they have a nationally competitive news broadcast program AHP used to have their student news kids do it, but not sure what happened there. They were clearly not doing this year's IMG game.

Two top 10 teams slugging it out. IMG is HUGE. Patriots hanging tight on their homefield. And South Florida fans at this game?

You are right - it's 9/3. I was thinking the Columbus game against Benedictine (Savannah) was week 1.

Well in week 1 we will see a North/South 8A matchup between two on that list: Bartram Trail hosts Miami Columbus. Should prove a good game.

Don't want to take rain on a legit Dillard win, but in full disclosure, Coach Dunn benched our starting QB and another player for a half due to missing practice. We missed an extra point in the last 20 seconds of the game - the difference in the game. But Dillard came to win. Dillard had an awesome run. That said we have a kickoff right now with NMB, so let's see if we reloaded what we lost this year.

I fell you, Dillard. Columbus was in a position to defend their title this year, but it wasn't meant to be. The Tri-Country title is nice, but it is no state title. I know the boys are proud that they got to do the best with what they had. Coaches are happy too. Overall, I'm still glad it was played to give the young men a few games and some film for recruiters. Fans like me were happy that we got something. Let's just hope that we are the first and the LAST Tri-county winners ever.