skyway

Starving to get back to the state finals…..

Jesuit should win handily at Largo. “Dillard’s theme”was, what would b the biggest upset. Largo beating Jesuit. 
 
yeah Lakeland should win but Armwood is no pushover. Naughts shoulda grabbed a game in SFL. 

brother first of all… aint no west fans “starving”. very weird use of that word. 
but anyway the west aint losing to them guys. only team that might beat the west this year is central. 
Largo over jesuit? why you say that?
LAKELAND will beat armwood but they still overrated. Shoulda put somebody real on they schedule

Both sides are talking alot of trash, so no don't think they will just be going thru the motions.  Jones wants revenge and MNW wants to embarass them.  Sounds like they will be fighting to get that win.  

It's been getting a whole lot of hype on social media as the Soul Bowl 

This is what I figured: your opinion of CAI is based mostly (entirely?) on what you saw in the plague year. Make no mistake, if CAI is going to be a facsimile of the 2020 team, I wouldn't be the least bit worried. Unless Lakeland-playing, presumably, by this same set of new rules- is a facsimile of its 2020 team, in which case all bets are off!
Point is, neither school will be bring their 2020 teams to Bryant Stadium for this game.CAI was 3-6 in 2020; in 2021 their two losses were road games to state champions. Word is, the 2022 team will be their best ever, perhaps by far. Certainly, they have awesome size in the trenches. They have good looking Canadian QBs.  I was at UF when Jesse Palmer came down and threw it around the Swamp for Spurrier, so the Canadian part doesn't automatically tell me they are lesser players. 
Above all else, I am extremely suspicious of anyone who speaks with total confidence about what their 2022 team will look like given the abundance of players they have none of us have ever seen (unless we were watching football in Canada, Sweden etc). The more confident one seems when speaking of this particular team, the less regard I have for their takes. Because I know they're full of it, much more so than all of us already are when we talk about teams with American-born players.  

This is what I figured: your opinion of CAI is based mostly (entirely?) on what you saw in the plague year. Make no mistake, if CAI is going to be a facsimile of the 2020 team, I wouldn't be the least bit worried. Unless Lakeland-playing, presumably, by this same set of new rules- is a facsimile of its 2020 team, in which case all bets are off!
Point is, neither school will be bring their 2020 teams to Bryant Stadium for this game.CAI was 3-6 in 2020; in 2021 their two losses were road games to state champions. Word is, the 2022 team will be their best ever, perhaps by far. Certainly, they have awesome size in the trenches. They have good looking Canadian QBs.  I was at UF when Jesse Palmer came down and threw it around the Swamp for Spurrier, so the Canadian part doesn't automatically tell me they are lesser players. 
Above all else, I am extremely suspicious of anyone who speaks with total confidence about what their 2022 team will look like given the abundance of players they have none of us have ever seen (unless we were watching football in Canada, Sweden etc). The more confident one seems when speaking of this particular team, the less regard I have for their takes. Because I know they're full of it, much more so than all of us already are when we talk about teams with American-born players.  

Well, we shall see!

My impression of the Kowboys in 2021 was that they were a bunch of nice, happy young men coached by a nice staff. Really nice guys. Not the type to play with much anger or rage. Apopka doesn't entertain much these days, but they are meticulous and precise. As others have said, this is a toss-up. I'll take Apopka 14-6.

It's certainly no Atlantic-PBC, but I'll say either Lakeland-Armwood is called due to lightning, or Lakeland wins 28-0. 
IMG over Venice 49-0, with the game being 42-0 at half.

These 2022 rankings are as useful as a 2021 almanac.

Jesuit at 3, Venice at 4, TBT at 6,PF at 8, Bucholz at 9 and Lake Gibson at 15 suggest these rankings are just continuing on where last season left off. In that case, Lakeland should not be in the top 10. If, on the other hand, the idea was to make an educated guess as to how good the 2022 teams will be, it's a stupid list. No Chaminade is further proof of it.

Well, I haven't offered my opinion on Dillard-STA yet. And I won't until both teams have played games. The exercise detailed above just suggests STA is much more loaded throughout the roster. I do think that, once you get up to 14 or more really good players, you start to get close to being able to field a team good enough to win on any given Friday. STA doesn't figure to use all ~36 of those players in a tight game. So, this is a case where two things can be true at the same time: 1) STA has much more talent throughout its roster and 2) Dillard has enough talent to allow other factors (being more hungry, HFA, coaching, team chemistry etc) to lead them to a win in the 2022 game.
Also, feel free to check out Dillard's roster on hudl and make sure all of their ballplayers are listed!

Well, I haven't offered my opinion on Dillard-STA yet. And I won't until both teams have played games. The exercise detailed above just suggests STA is much more loaded throughout the roster. I do think that, once you get up to 14 or more really good players, you start to get close to being able to field a team good enough to win on any given Friday. STA doesn't figure to use all ~36 of those players in a tight game. So, this is a case where two things can be true at the same time: 1) STA has much more talent throughout its roster and 2) Dillard has enough talent to allow other factors (being more hungry, HFA, coaching, team chemistry etc) to lead them to a win in the 2022 game.
Also, feel free to check out Dillard's roster on hudl and make sure all of their ballplayers are listed!

There have been no games played in Florida in 2022. So, they haven't lost to anyone so far.

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!

No doubt, there isn't any sort of direct link between page views and quality of player. There is a sense that, in general, more views equals more interest, usually among college scouts and fans. But, not always.
IF there is anything to this, it would have to be true that the likelihood of players with more views than deserved and/or players with less views than deserved is roughly equal from team to team. There are likely over-viewed and under-viewed players, but that is the case with most all teams.
You're correct, if this is a valid way of evaluating teams, IMG will blow out Central. Other predictions that would come true would be that Miami Northwestern isn't all that loaded; Dillard is still a clear underdog vs. STA; Clearwater Academy International is fairly beastly and should be favored in all its games except Lakeland, and that one looks like a toss-up; and so on.
I'm certain that this approach, like any other approach to projecting high school teams and game, is not so accurate as to be worth betting money on. There are many variables in play with determining how good teams are, and how a game between them would turn out. IMG can't gain much if any benefit in playing 51 players in a competitive game. You never play more than about 30 kids in a close game. And, with 12 minute quarters, you can often get by in a single game with under 20 players (some going both ways of course).

An idea I had to try to evaluate the strength of teams was to look at their rosters on hudl and count the players with a lot of views of their highlights. It's certainly not a fool-proof way to go about evaluating teams. Some great players may still be relative unknowns and some guys who aren't very good may have gamed the system to rack up a lot of views. And some schools may have some guys missing, or extra guys on who don't belong. If the player was class of 2022 (or deceased in one case) I didn't count those. But, in all, I think it may be the best way to get an idea for the mixture of talent and experience teams have (more inexperienced players have fewer views obviously). I went with a somewhat random number of 1,000 views as a minimum. So, of course players with over 950 views, but less than 1,000, get shortchanged this way. But, have to draw a line somewhere! There are some surprises, though people can obviously interpret those as proof this isn't a great way to evaluate teams. The season will reveal whether that's correct or not.
Here's what I've found so far, I will try to add more and make corrections if needed in time:
Players with at or more than 1,000 views:
IMG- 51
STA - 36
Chaminade Madonna- 23
Lakeland- 21
Clearwater Academy International- 21 (4 also over 950)   
Mater Dei- 18
Saint Frances - 17
American Heritage- 17
Cardinal gibbons- 16
Dillard- 14
Miami Palmetto- 11
Seminole- 11
Venice- 10
Miami Central- 10
Tampa Jesuit- 10
Kiss. Osceola- 9
Edgewater- 5
Miami Northwestern- 5 
Lake City Columbia- 5
Madison County- 0
St. John Bosco- error, players clearly missing
It will be interesting to see if this list ends up telling us anything about how good these teams will be or not.

This idea would be considered thinking outside the box.  As you posed the question does it have any validity at all.  I can only comment as it pertains to our team that you pointed out has 9 individuals with over 1,000 views.  Within that small group sample I can tell you that several with more views relative to their teammates are not the better players and in some cases it isn't even close.  Some like to be on social media thus drawing attention to themselves, more followers, more views, etc.. which may make one think he has superior talent but that is not necessarily so.  Plus you did point out younger players that may be ready to bust on the scene and be great contributors are at this point unknowns.  If this calculation to predict success has merit, then IMG should blow out Central with a 5 to 1 ratio advantage in this metric yet some people are favoring Central.   That game may provide the answer you are seeking. 

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!

An idea I had to try to evaluate the strength of teams was to look at their rosters on hudl and count the players with a lot of views of their highlights. It's certainly not a fool-proof way to go about evaluating teams. Some great players may still be relative unknowns and some guys who aren't very good may have gamed the system to rack up a lot of views. And some schools may have some guys missing, or extra guys on who don't belong. If the player was class of 2022 (or deceased in one case) I didn't count those. But, in all, I think it may be the best way to get an idea for the mixture of talent and experience teams have (more inexperienced players have fewer views obviously). I went with a somewhat random number of 1,000 views as a minimum. So, of course players with over 950 views, but less than 1,000, get shortchanged this way. But, have to draw a line somewhere! There are some surprises, though people can obviously interpret those as proof this isn't a great way to evaluate teams. The season will reveal whether that's correct or not.
Here's what I've found so far, I will try to add more and make corrections if needed in time:
Players with at or more than 1,000 views:
IMG- 51
STA - 36
Chaminade Madonna- 23
Lakeland- 21
Clearwater Academy International- 21 (4 also over 950)   
Mater Dei- 18
Saint Frances - 17
American Heritage- 17
Cardinal gibbons- 16
Dillard- 14
Miami Palmetto- 11
Seminole- 11
Venice- 10
Miami Central- 10
Tampa Jesuit- 10
Kiss. Osceola- 9
Edgewater- 5
Miami Northwestern- 5 
Lake City Columbia- 5
Madison County- 0
St. John Bosco- error, players clearly missing
It will be interesting to see if this list ends up telling us anything about how good these teams will be or not.

My lasting memory of Central (other than the 35-12 loss at SJB I watched in person) is of an offense that spreads the field with speed so as to run the ball about as much as Bill Castle runs it with a huge OL and awesome RBs. Can't recall many crucial decisions that had to be made during games for Central over the years!

Certainly an interesting list. NW over Central is maybe the biggest surprise. Though Dillard over STA is also surprising. It seems STA may have some questions with their QB throwing the ball. If they do fall a bit, it seems that will be why.

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!

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!