ExplorerHomer2

The year actually ended better than I had expected. Congrats to the Indians on the win and a much more exciting and close game than I had anticipated. For anyone who hadn't watched, Columbus got on the board early, and the teams switched leads after our stout defensive from closed up the run game in the middle and held the potent Venice offense to 4 field goals. Columbus actually mustered a few offensive drives on their own with some creative plays designed for this game - namely the wildcat with a receiver (Fitzgerald) and linebacker (Chavez) taking direct snaps for a few big key plays. While opportunities were lost on both sides, one of the difference makers was the Indian's solid kicking performance. While we have a stud of our own, Venice's kid didn't miss and had a key punt at the end of that game that pinned us with no real chance on that final drive. Also hats off to theOline on this FG attempts becuase PAT and FG blocks are something I know the boys work on and have had success with this season. While the loss sucks, I am happy with the way the boys played and the outcome of this season that I had low expectations for. I had us out of playoffs last week and figured we'd get a beating playing on the road against a top 20 team. I'll see everyone next season. Good luck to Venice. Right now it's off to basketball where my Explorers are facing Gonzaga this afternoon in a #1 v #2 national matchup. So I have a healthy distraction to ease the pain. LOL

What's good about it? Every time he posts I think the entire refereeing profession collectively winces.

Agreed. And this is the least productive offense (against quality opponents) we have had in years. We have found ways to win, but got trounced by STA who is probably comparable to Venice. Quarterback play is what has held us back. And that has been getting progressively better. In fact, the one measure of common opponents gives me some hope it won't be a blowout: MNW. No lie, we actually had that game against the Bulls at Traz. Dropped TD pass by our 4* receiver was the difference maker in that loss. Other than that, I think the last minute win over a quality Western helps the kids to believe in themselves heading into Venice. Still thinking something like 35-7 Venice is likely. I will see how banged up we are in our key positions when I see the guys on Monday.

Was an wild final quarter. Hats off to the Western QB who threw a couple dimes into double coverage to make the long plays. I was not expecting this outcome, but you are right: defense gives us a fighting chance most games. And our kicking game is strong. But Venice is another animal. I'm gonna stay pessimistic on this one as it seems to be working for my guys. LOL Thinking a similar outcome to the last visit we had in Venice - 35-7 range.

I am pretty confident that the 7A champ this year will come from central FL. Overall, Dade/Broward teams in most classes have not lived up to expectations so far this season. And what I am seeing up north is pretty impressive this year relative to most. Let's see...

That STA game was painful. We need a solid win over Palmetto to stay in your rankings. It is a strong district rivalry and they always play us tough. If we drop to them it will be an LOOOONG season with MNW next week. I am going to go out on a limb and predict the offense finally gels and gets some offensive points together: 24-13 Columbus.

Looks like we are healthy, but we also are playing on STA homefield, so I wouldn't make any grand projections. Your score seems about right. I'm more like 35-13. And at least one of those scores for us is either special teams or defensive scoring. lol. But anyway, let's go!!

Thanks - looks like your Panthers took care of business. For us, I am happy with the outcome. We held our own and had a shot to win it against a talented ball club. FINAL GC 14 Columbus 10 Ugly start with GC taking it to the house on the first play from scrimmage. Eventually we took a 10-7 lead with our defense playing some inspired ball. QB play was hit and miss, but we were able to move the ball a bit against a pretty stout defense. Ultimately, two INTs sealed it for us. We had a decent final drive with 2 min to go but threw a pick. Overall, GC was not on the level of STA who we have next week, but a very good team. It was their first game and involved significant travel. So I'm sure they will improve and be an even more challenging bunch in the weeks to come. Either way, nI am really proud of our defense and definitely saw improvement over last week's game. Next week's match up against STA will be the real test. Let's see how healthy we are, and another week of coaching will go. I know our boys felt bad about losing a close one at home, but I also know this will remind them they they deserve to be on the field with top programs and they can overachieve if they keep their mind to it.

While not on the pickems, this is one of the bigger games tonight in more ays than one. First, Good Counsel comes in ranked in the top 20 in nationally in two polls and is a signature game this season for us. Aside from next week's game with STA, this is the highest ranked team we face. The other reason this is important is that it will set the tone for the rest of the year. An ugly game last week against Southridge led to an intense week of training and some position changes on the field. How the boys respond to this, at home on our school field will let us know what our potential is. You guys know I have been down on our club this year. It is definitely a rebuilding year. But a close game played well, even if we don't pull out the win, will do wonders for our spirit as we face a tough slog with MNW and then get into district play with Palmetto. GC has several 4 stars, but a fun matchup to watch will be 4* WR Bryce Fitzgerald against 4* SS Faheem Delane. We need get the ball to him to have any shot Hoping the weather holds, as well as the fighting Columbus spirit! While I am under no illusions as to how outgunned we are, I hope we can represent the state respectfully. I also plan on drinking heavily.

Anyone at this game? weather is pretty ugly down here and looks to stay that way for another hour or so.

ah, gotcha - I overlooked that.

Tough night, Dillard. Hope is becomes a learning experience for everyone involved. Not like you don't already know, but your panthers gotta get ready for an Ely team that hung 70 points on a weak BA team. But it looks like Ely's program been turning around. Keep your head up and get ready for the next one!

Props to central Florida teams having a week against the south. Gotta say that you have a point here. It is week 1 though for Central and let's see where everything falls as the season progresses. But holding central to 8? with a home crowd? That's an accomplishment any year. I just think folks are weighing a Dreadnaught 2-score victory over a typically weak Plant City team in the calculus. Made them look less impressive. And to be fair, I had my questions about Norland, even last year I thought they were overranked, but they clearly are a quality ballclub with a lot returned from an impressive squad. So Armwood putting 51 points on that team is crazy. Norland looks like they got their bearings back this week against a solid Miramar team - but then again, too early to tell how good Miramar really is. LOL. a couple more games in and we will know for sure who is down, who had a week start, and who is sandbagging!

We pulled it out. With 23 seconds on the clock. Final was closer to my prediction though: 16-14. In what can only be described as an U G L Y game, the Spartans and Explorers combined for close to 7,000 yards of total penalties. More undisciplined than usual for a Columbus coached team, but just horrendous for Southridge. Big home crowd for the Spartans and some talent, but shot themselves in the foot much of the time with unforced errors. I don't think we have settled out QB debate exactly, but with Barket driving the offense in the final three minutes the length of the field, I can see him getting the nod for next week's game against Good Counsel. Defense showed flashes of dominance but way too inconsistent. This can be forgiven this time of year. But I'm not gona lie, we could have lost that game easily. Luckily no one was hurt - but there was cramping all night! We have work to do.

True - they will be coached up and as disciplined as any week 1 team can be. Just a tough year to have this schedule. Love your optimism tho!

Columbus v Southridge Thursday night game down in Southridge to kick off the season for the Explorers. This is going to be a tough one. First, we will likely be running two QBs to see who gets the edge for the rest of the season. And while our line is pretty big and fairly experienced, we lack proven confidence at the signal caller position. If we can settle early there, we have a good shot. Defensively we lost a lot and may struggle with our front 4. Otherwise, I know the Spartans are fielding a stronger team this year and hungry at home. My real concern is that if we don't get a good game here, it will be a long month ahead: with powerhouse Good Counsel next week and STA the week following, we could easily go 0-3 to start the year. MNW the week after and an always talented Palmetto after that scares the crap out of me. Not a schedule to build rookie QB confidence. But let's have faith. Southridge hung 35 points on a weak Killian team in their opener, and didn't allow a score. Unless Cane commit Fitzgerald gets the ball in his hands as WR or in on some INTs, it could be a low scoring effort by Columbus. We need special team to get us some points... I'm thinking 17-10 Southridge. Prove me wrong boys!! Let's go!!!

Crazy. But to be fair, Columbus really isn't "active" with transfers this year like CC (I wish we were). On that list we had a grand total of 3 transfer in and 1 transferred out - none of them starred players. By comparison Carol City had 13 transfer in. We really could use a few transfers this season! LOL! Just want to put that out there, because I know some folks on this site, particularly those upstate, who love to complain about how the privates (at least in BROWARD) have this perceived unfair advantage when it comes to transfers, in DADE it is the super publics who dominate at this game. Not taking away anything from the fact that the privates are usually better funded with better facilities, but Columbus has NEVER had more than maybe 7-8 transfers in a single season ever and usually its 3-5 max. MC and MNW are on another level altogether. But to your point, what the hell is going on in Sarasota? Sounds like there is more to that story? Sleepy town politics? That's so messed up.

And that is the main issue right there. How in the world does this get enforced? With no enforcement, those stipulations on who can do what matter little. I agree this will end up being best abused by the already top programs. The rich get richer. Competitive and fair HS football in this state if not dead already, is clearly in its death throes with this decision.

I cold be wrong, but I'm thinking there's no way this team competes with Good Counsel, MNW or STA this year. At least right now. So that's three losses right there. Throw in South Dade or Miami Palmetto who always plays us tough - it's not hard to see 4 losses on the season right now before playoffs. But it's early. On the positive side, we do have a stud receiver returning in Bryce Fitzgerald, I just hope we can settle in on a QB to get him the ball. Young kid from Palm Beach transferred in this spring looking for a starting QB job, but he was the least impressive of the 4 I saw. We have 1 or 2 notable playmakers on defense (including Fitzgerald who plays DB too) - but we graduated 8 starters (3 playing D1 next year) and our best returning player Chavez was out injured - and they are moving him to a receiver/slot back position anyway, so let's see if that opens things up for 4* Fitzgerald at WR. We just have limited playmakers and smaller OLine than we have had in a while. The coaches always do well with what we have, so I should be careful not to overstate how much of a rebuilding year this is - but when you lose your Dade County player of the year QB and the majority of an impressive defense, I need to be realistic. If you watched it, you'd feel similar. I do feel a bit better after reading BV's QB Carter Smith is apparently the #1 rated QB in the state. That explains why he torched our young guys so badly with 27 straight points before the boys had an answer. But it's clear we had some real inconsistencies on offense. I'm hoping with time and the selection of a starter, things will settle down there.

Oh, they tried we just looked bad. Looks like a big drop off this year. We have a 4 QBs battling for a starting position and our OLine lost quite a bit. Defense was suspect against a scrambling QB all night. We need a lot of work if we want to survive this schedule we have coming up. If you asked me right now, I'm thinking 7-4 season on the way.

While we are updating the last three years, Columbus beat GA 4A champ Benedictine 21-22 season and AGAIN in 22-23

Yeah, tough to get a final list here. I see you have Columbus ranked above both Norland and Homestead, who although they both lost their title games, both beat Columbus. I'd argue, not while Columbus was at their best, but Homestead beat us pretty bad. Hard to square that. I agree that Berkeley should be higher but I really don't know who you should move around to make that happen. FWIW Maxpreps has BP in their top 25 now with Central and Norland mid 30's. Columbus is like 50. I think most teams in the top 15 there could almost all best one another on any given Friday with the exception of Nade.

Nobody gave Berkley a chance? didn't you see @DarterBlue2predict this potential upset? I happened to agree with him. Congrats on the win. Salty? We are state champs. Again. LOL. I stand by it. Norland was not the 11th best team in the country, And after beating AHP at home, Berkley should have been top 30. I granted you it was an upset. But after beating AHP at their place one could hardly say this was one of the greatest in history. But whatever. Fantastic finish given the improbable start.

Would not call this the one of the biggest upsets in HISTORY. While I didn't know anything about Berkeley until this year, I have been saying Norland - while solid, is a bit over hyped. I know they notched some big wins over some big programs this season, but tbh they won against BTW, Central, and Columbus when all three teams had lost their starting QB. And I know beating Central twice was def something not to overlook - but I been hard on Central too ever since they played a great game against BG. Not saying I called this upset, but Norland is in no way the #11 team in the nation. Congrats to Berkeley and great season Norland.

Revenge Match from 2018. Now Back to Back titles. Congrats Explorer Nation! Adelante! #305