skyway

is Clearwater Academy International. Most all of their players are from other countries, and are complete unknowns within Florida. The team may not win a game at all, or it may be about what it was last year (blew out Raines at Raines, lost in OT at Trinity Christian) or it could be a monster. Looking at their hudl roster, they have more than 20 players with over 1,000 views per player. That's about the same as loaded Lakeland, and is more than most every other team in the state (STA has 36). They also have a unique style of play from what I've seen. They go for two all the time, and kick onsides a lot as well (though maybe they just lacked a reliable kicker last year?). I'm hoping they win all of their early games, and come to Bryant stadium undefeated. Could be a big game!

The potential of Lakeland and Osceola playing each other twice brings back some memories, some good, some not so much! Recent experiences informs that we won't have any clue what the rosters will look like until everyone is accounted for Monday afternoon. Still noticing some movement on Twitter, hudl etc. It is the wild west!

Lots of good ballplayers for the Kowboys! I'm finishing up watching last season's Youtube documentary now. It's interesting to see the coaches be very aware of the disparity that existed between that team's offense and defense. The "self-esteeem" of the defense was much higher than that of the offense. I guess the young OL had a lot to do with that?

To remind everyone of some of the rules pinned at the top of the board: "4. No posting foul language. 5. No posting anything that could fall under privacy issues such as maters involving any players. Due to so many broad laws in Florida we have to approach this topic very carefully. We understand when another source reports it, but that is a risk associated on their end that we cannot control. 6. No talking politics at all on the forums unless it is placed under the Off Topic Board. If you post in a thread that is one subject and then you start talking politics, it will be locked and/or deleted, no questions asked by the administrators or board mods. The only exception to this rule will be if talking politics relates to something going on with high school football or high school sports in general -- like a bill that is being heard or passed in a state, for example. 7. No posting anything that is not fit to be read by a minor. We have many minors who view this board and do not want posts being created promoting strip clubs, drugs and anything else that can fall under this category. 8. No posting in all caps. Using all caps is fine in moderation, but not an entire post or reply. Using all caps comes off as yelling in the internet world and is considered rude by many people. Please keep this in mind as you post. 9. No attacking other board members. We all have our own opinions and have the right to exercise that opinion."

What's interesting is how you can flagrantly violate several rules of this board, as highlighted in a pinned thread at the top of this board, and not be removed. Proof, it seems, that @Joshua Wilson is no longer with us here.

By now, you should realize Columbiafan ALWAYS gets the last word. Probably best, after he responds to this comment, to let him have another last word and just move on from the board.

I don't recommend anyone drive a long way for an August game in Florida. The threat of lightning cancelling the game is significant.

Armwood-Lakeland should be of interest for those outside of Dade/Broward.

I agree with you. That's why I cited historical results, when Dade and Broward teams were regularly beaten by teams from other parts of the state. There have always been great players there; there haven't always been such dominant teams.

Fact Checker is YOUR other persona on the prepgridiron board. Perhaps you wanted to be incognito, having left previously to wash Shyster Joe's balls on his board.

I'll try one more time to point out that you're mostly just concerned with a couple of "super" teams. Central and STA are responsible for probably 90% of the blowouts you dislike. And it could be argued that most of those wouldn't have happened with consolidation of classes: Why should STA and Central NEVER face off in the playoffs? One could argue the system was a bit rigged to produce the maximum number of state champs from Dade and Broward with the way most of the best teams were in their own classes. (Coming from someone who also hates "metro" and "suburban" classes.)

Have to push back some here. Obviously, there are considerably more good players in Miami than in Gainesville (or any other city in the state). But, this doesn't necessarily explain the results in state playoff games. Historically, there have ALWAYS been a ton of great players from Miami/Dade. However, they haven't always been dominant in state playoffs. We can go back in time and find MANY examples of teams from many other parts of the state knocking off Dade and Broward in the playoffs. The last 10-15 years has seen a major shift. And that's due to the completely wide open, unchecked recruiting and transferring of players, which has reached levels not at all resembling the way things were pre- about 2007. South Florida seems to be a more chaotic scene, with so many schools and players and not much oversight. The other areas of the state are not as wild, though it looks like Polk county is getting there. When there is little player movement, meaning not more than 1-2 transfers a season, EVERYWHERE, that is more like about 1995 and then we didn't have the Dade dominance and blowouts like we have now. That's because all of the amazing players in Dade were spread much more thinly across a bunch of schools. Then, you had many good teams but not necessarily any great teams.

This is true. Transfers and out of state games are two highly overrated things now. Both are often automatically assumed to be upgrades. Often, neither really are that.

I think "Perspective" gives a hint of how it could potentially (not very likely) happen. Someone like Shyster Joe puts together a national tourney, mostly for his pets SFA and IMG, then joined by Mater Dei/SJB and a handful of other programs choose to make themselves eligible. In Florida, that's STA, Central, AH, Chaminade and maybe a couple of others depending on the year (Lakeland may opt in for a year like 2022). So, those few teams would opt out of FHSAA to play in a national tourney. That's not very many teams, but, if those are gone, the blowouts in state title games are mostly gone. The blowouts are almost entirely from a handful of teams. The remaining teams- the vast majority of the state- aren't likely to blow through state title games. Remember, even Jesuit, an elite team to be sure, did not blow out it's state title game opponent. This all boils down to STA against a 7A without any other power teams (let us not forget that from 2017-2020, STA lost twice and won two hard-fought titles) and Central against a bunch of "suburban" teams in over their heads.

There are just too many "suburban" places where super teams are possible, which makes it impossible to legislate the parity you want. The Pensacola, Bradenton/Sarasota, Brevard and Polk county areas all have the potential for "super" teams that most from any county couldn't compete with. Pine Forest, Bradenton Southeast, Manatee, Sarasota Riverview, Venice, Lakeland have all had nationally elite teams in my lifetime. PF and Lakeland both have national championships following blow-out wins in state title games. Venice blew out "metro" teams in both the state semis and finals just last year. Any of these programs could raid all the other local schools and build a team untouchable in their class (and it looks like one has done just that for 2022.) The real difference is between programs who are able to build super rosters and those who can't. It's mostly the rural schools that can't do this. Fun fact: if IMG ever was approved to play for FHSAA titles, they'd be "suburban".

We could end up with 20 classes and 20 champions. I think what many want is for those programs that regularly poach players from other schools to all battle it out among themselves.

We need an "open" division of sorts, where the major powers can opt in to win the really big prize. Then, below that division, they can do as they please.

There's definitely no guarantee that the metro champ is the best in that class size. Venice (suburban) blew out a couple of "metro" schools in the last playoffs. Lakeland has a long history of beating many "metro" schools, with three consecutive decisive wins over such schools in their last title year alone. Pine Forest very nearly knocked off Jesuit last year. I could go on.

I certainly dislike the way the FHSAA has done things. But, if a Miami Central can beat Baker and Merrit island and call that a state title, than whoever wins 3S can claim one, too. I'd agree that both are very watered down and shouldn't be as significant as they are. But, if you're not going to take titles away from a Miami Central, than you can't take one away from the 3S, etc, winner.

Yeah, it's a new program. They need to have a few "tuition payers" initially until they can recruit free agents.

Looks like it's another one of these new schools popping up mostly just to become football powers. Hard to say what style team they will be, since it's just another recruited up pop-up team. Most likely, the coaches bring little/nothing to the table as far as innovation or style goes. So, it's probably a good bet they will be a "copycat" of the things en vogue today. I suppose one could visit their hudl page and look at the QBs film to get an idea. Sight unseen I assume they're in the gun 90% of the time, field spread, fast tempo. Defense probably has two down lineman, two "Edge rushers" and is fairly basic schematically. LOL Rock Creek pop-up

The reality is that we don't have any reliable way to examine rosters for teams, at least not until about September. 24/7 should be nothing more than a very basic starting point. Sure, I can see where all of those teams have a chance in 3S.

I'm not getting into the merits of those teams you listed. I'm just cautioning against over reliance on the 247 player lists. I gave my arguments above.

Actual charting of player movement, listed by school, is the only way to begin to make sense of who's really helped or hurt themselves in the free agent market. I don't care to spend the time needed to do that, but it's the only way to really gauge the net impact of the transfers. The occasional link to random players' Twitter feed is unhelpful. Also, making a cute graphic and "announcement" on Twitter does not mean a player is actually any good. I remember last year a kid from New York state made a big announcement about transferring to Lakeland. Watched his hudl. Meh. Poor kid could never get on the field and mostly lost his junior season. He left for Jenkins and now looks like he'll be one of their better players. Point is, Twitter announcement or not, neither he nor Lakeland were able to help each other.

What stands out to me here is that it appears your "analysis" of teams mostly amounts to going to 247 sports, searching for a school, and then counting how many guys with stars come up. I understand the allure of this approach. I, too, do the above. BUT, once again, I have to caution you about actually using this as THE analysis for teams. And not just because 247 can sometimes be wrong in their evaluation of players. And not even simply because some of the names may be wrong, though they are sometimes wrong. But because the overwhelming majority of players on prep teams do not have a profile with stars next to their names in 247sports. AND, the greatest disparity in quality of players is seen between the best "0 star" players and the worst "0 star" players. None of those zero star players are able to be evaluated via the above approach. I'm seeing more and more players skipping certain recruiting camps, having no profile and no stars, yet the kid takes a trip to major schools, including Big Ten and SEC schools. I've seen such kids then commit on a "committable" offer, and only then do they end up with the profile and stars. On the other end of the stick are zero star kids whose participation against major teams amounts to a safety risk to the player and nothing more. Using the above approach- counting players with stars in 2023 and 2024 classes- Mater Dei is not able to distinguish themselves from Lakeland. Yet, dare mention that to anyone and they'll lose their minds in objection