Perspective

Nah, they'll just change the metric from "population density" to something like "total number of students less total number of cows in the county divided by whatever number keeps Polk out of the Top 10."  

Why do you contradict yourself?  You say the changes were done behind closed doors (which they were) to help Lee and Polk.  Lee I can certainly see as they would've rounded out the top 8 based on population not to mention they had 2 board votes whereas Polk had 0 votes and came in a #9 and would've missed the cutoff.  So how does Lee get around that? Change the criteria to population density which saves a struggling Lee county (which actually performed better thanks to those changes).  Polk does what it does.  As already documented, Polk does not need any help getting to the finals and out of 67 counties, Polk is #5 in all time appearances (excluding this season) beating out half the metro counties.  Try again son!

Nah, they'll just change the metric from "population density" to something like "total number of students less total number of cows in the county divided by whatever number keeps Polk out of the Top 10."  

i did live in pinellas for stetson, but that’s it. otherwise a tampa native 

Perhaps Pinellas County doesn't have a history of "Citrus, Phosphate and the railroads."   

Phosphate - Never
Citrus - Dead
Railroads - Almost dead
Again, it depends on your @Perspective 

Hawthorne 13  Northview  2.  Can't say it was pretty, but the young men left it all on the field. 100% start to finish.
Hawthorne lost in the 2000 Final and the 2001 Final.....Not tonight. 

Jambun, any idea why CCC called the timeout?    Injured player?  A chance to regroup?  An opportunity to sub some guys in and let some seniors jog off the field to an ovation from the CCC fans?   Clearly, CCC didn't call the time out because they still thought they had a chance to win the game.  
In any event, why not be the bigger man if you're C-M and simply take a knee (even if it's 4th down and it means you turn the ball over on downs).   The outcome of the game already has been decided.   Instead, it's "how dare you call a timeout; just for that, we'll run the ball down your throat for a meaningless TD just to punish you (and hope that no one on either team gets injured on this final play)."   
I'd love some insight on this.   
 

Why not?  Is Lakeland sponsored by State Farm or Allstate?  

Your eyes did not deceive you.  Also, Pinellas County did not sink into the Gulf as expected.

That's it, no, no, no CM passes the ball with 15 seconds, runs to the line for another play and scores as time runs out. Cheap, cheap, score.  Cm 48-14. Unless this was payback from a previous slight, Chaminade didn't finish with class. 

It’s a good thing we went to suburban idea. Eliminates all blowouts in state championship games 

It could be the radiation in the water.  I'll give you the short version without cliff notes, lol.  Four things brought African Americans to Polk County:  Spanish-American war, Citrus, Phosphate and the railroads. 
You have to go all the way back the the start of the Spanish-American war when the 10th Calvary (1 of 4) all black Buffalo soldiers was stationed in Lakeland.  During that time, Lakeland and other outlying areas of Polk County amassed large numbers of soldiers that were awaiting deployment to Cuba.  They (and their families) were set up and eventually settled around Lake Wire near downtown in what is know known as the Lake Ridge community all the way north to the Washington Park area near the hospital.  This includes central city where Bryant stadium is now located all the way up to the old Tiger Town air force base on Lake Parker once stood.  Just to give you an idea what I mean when I say "central city", central city  Every town at the time had pockets of African-Americans that were associated with the war with the largest concentration in Lakeland & Bartow.
Citrus is another not thought of industry and back then, Polk County was the largest producer of Citrus in the state all the way until a few years ago.  Before other ethnicities came to be in Polk County, African-Americans were the top choice for menial back-breaking labor and picking trees all day in the Central Florida heat was about as rough as it got.  That further spread African-Americans all over the county especially those with endless groves (Winter Haven, Auburndale, Haines City, Lake Wales and Frostproof). 
Phosphate mining was another hot industry beginning in the late 1800's and is still prevalent today starting in South Polk (Ft. Meade) and eventually working its way north to Bartow, Mulberry and parts of South Lakeland now known as Lakeland-Highlands where George Jenkins HS resides.  More so than Citrus, phosphate mining was laborious work and was downright dangerous, both short and long term.  Again, trying to be politically correct but what group was favored to do what others didn't want to do?  
The railroad industry is big business in Polk now but it was really big back in the day.  When you take into account the man power to establish and maintain the rail infrastructure to move Citrus, cattle and phosphate to points north and to/from the port of Tampa, the railroad probably had the largest noticeable impact on Polk County.  Bone Valley (Mulberry and Ft. Meade) consists of an intricate rail network that crisscrosses Polk County before heading west to Tampa, north to Winston in Southwest Lakeland using either the Seaboard Air Line or Seaboard Coast line where they meet at Diamond Junction in Auburndale.  Polk County was one of the few places in the state where both companies were in direct competition with each other before deregulation and consolidation into what is now CSX.  A few miles northeast of Winston, there was a 180 acre rail repair and refurbishing yard on the edge of downtown Lakeland bordering Kathleen Rd.  That area is now home to the recently opened Bonnet Springs Park.  That area is also located in central city where large swaths of African-Americans still reside generations later.  Winter Haven, Lake Wales and Haines City also had burgeoning rail industries and a few have railroad museums that chronicle how the railroad impacted their communities.  The next time you're in Polk County and you happen to be in a town/city and you notice railroad tracks, there's a good chance there's some African-American history behind it and it probably shows.    
How that translates into what you deem as continued D-1 success, I can only contribute that to the grind and historically, it wasn't hard to do being surrounded by Hillsborough, Pinellas, Osceola and Orange.  No disrespect to anyone affiliated with a school in those counties.  However, those are the facts.  The first Lakeland school to capitalize on integration was Kathleen given their new location and proximity to the defunct all black Rochelle High School and the neighborhood in which it served.  Lakeland was better in basketball and Kathleen was the football King.  Fast forward a few decades and both schools have swapped roles.  However, Lakeland was a little more resistant to change as it was known as the more upscale of the two.  When I was in high school 91-94, a popular chant at games against Lakeland was "Sink the Snobs" as the school pulled from wealthier, more established South Lakeland neighborhoods including Lakeland Highlands until George Jenkins opened in 1993.  The rest of the county for a long time were one schools towns so there wasn't a massive tug on talent like it is in Lakeland.  After that, Winter Haven lost some personnel when Lake Ridge opened (1995).  They have always had a decent amount of athletes but Winter Haven bleeds into Auburndale.  The 2nd city to truly suffer was Haines City with the opening of Ridge (2005) and if you take a look at their records, you can see the shift when the Oak Hill community that once drove Haines City was split.  What also happened around the same time (2003) is the city of Lake Wales created it's own charter school system and although in Polk County, operated independently of Polk County school district.  That really made things difficult talent wise in East Polk as Lake Wales was able to take in students from anywhere but primarily up US27 into Haines City/Davenport and 540 into Winter Haven.  The Blue Devils are one program I do not envy in football as they are literally smack in the middle of most of the high schools in Polk County.
Winners
1973 Haines City
1974 Frostproof
1977 Bartow
1985 Bartow
1986 Lakeland
1992 Frostproof
1996 Lakeland
1996 Bartow
1999 Lakeland
1999 Frostproof
2004 Lakeland
2004 Ft. Meade
2005 Lakeland 
2005 Evangel Chr. (Lakeland)
2006 Lakeland
2014 Victory Chr. (Lakeland)
2018 Lakeland
Runner-ups
1967 Auburndale
1968 Kathleen
1971 Haines City
1972 Frostproof
1973 Ft. Meade
1981 Frostproof
1991 Haines City
1991 Frostproof
1993 Lake Wales
1993 Ft. Meade
1994 Lake Wales
1996 Frostproof
1999 Ft. Meade
2000 Ft. Meade
2001 Ft. Meade
2003 Lake Gibson
2003 Ft. Meade
2004 Lake Gibson
2005 Ft. Meade
2006 Victory Chr. (Lakeland)
2008 Lakeland
2008 Ft. Meade
2013 Victory Chr. (Lakeland)
2016 Lake Gibson
2019 Victory Chr. (Lakeland)

Yeah, I always kind of imagined Columbiafan was a little on the scrawny side.   

Does Daytona Dan get to hoist the trophy?  If Columbia predicts a victory for Lake Wales and they win, does he get his account back?   Who wins this match-up?

Thanks!
This recap makes me think the title game between Lakeland and Venice will be a shootout.  I know both teams have offenses that can score points, but it sounds like the Venice defense might be a little more susceptible to giving up the big play.   Slight nod to Lakeland if I'm handicapping this game with an over/under in the 60's, if not 70's.   I'll vote this one "Most Likely to go into Overtime." 

Thanks!
This recap makes me think the title game between Lakeland and Venice will be a shootout.  I know both teams have offenses that can score points, but it sounds like the Venice defense might be a little more susceptible to giving up the big play.   Slight nod to Lakeland if I'm handicapping this game with an over/under in the 60's, if not 70's.   I'll vote this one "Most Likely to go into Overtime." 

Actually he’s a giant!!!!

Venice was up 28-0 with about 4 minutes left in the first half, when Creed Whittemore rushed for a touchdown at the 5 yard-line to pull within 21. Venice got the ball to start the 3rd quarter, but had to punt at the 43 after picking up 2 first downs. That's when the Bobcats caught fire. Whittemore drove them down to our 40-yard line, and then launched a bomb over the head of Deylen Platt to his receiver to pull within 14. When Venice got the ball back, they drove the ball down to the Bucholz 12-yard line but threw an interception on 4th down, and the Bucholz crowd went insane. On the next play, Bucholz triple-teamed Damon Wilson and doubled Trenton Kintigh, and their running back burst through the hole for an 88-yard touchdown and Bucholz started to gain even more momentum. On the next drive, Venice picked up 1 first down but then had to punt, giving Bucholz the ball at their 38-yard line. This time, they drove the ball to our 48 before Whittemore threw a ball over Elliot Washington's head to his receiver to tie the ball game and Bucholz's crowd was screaming the loudest I've seen in a long time. On the next drive, Venice had a long run with Alvin Johnson that set up a touchdown pass to Keyon Sears. Bucholz then went 3 and out and Venice put the game away with their running game, making the score 42-28 before Bucholz scored one final time to make it 42-35. Crazy game. I feel sorry for the seniors on Bucholz as they put up a valiant fight but fell short in the end.

Yeah, I always kind of imagined Columbiafan was a little on the scrawny side.   

VIF, can you give me a quick recap of the Buchholz game?   I thought I saw an early score that made it look like the game was a blow-out in the making.  But the final score showed otherwise (7 point difference, I believe).   Did Buchholz claw their way back into or did Venice take its foot off the accelerator pedal?    Thanks in advance. 

Aquinas beat Broncos by 6 TD’s last year. Broncos were blindsided by the moment. Now in the finals, how will they handle that pressure? I think they’re better than last year. I don’t know if Aquinas is better than last year, but they’re different. Their defense gives up more yards but their red zone D seems better. Their ability to hit home runs rips games apart. A quick start by the Broncos could make it a good game……

Media access, FHSAA access/attendance, sponsor access/attendance, hotel availability, etc.   Clearly, the FHSAA does not want two games being played at two different times in two different locations.   Unless they want to go back to trying to squeeze in 3 games in a day, with 9 games being played, they either need to spread it over two weekends or start games on Tuesday night (and play all 9 games, two games per day,  at one location). 
I can't answer all your other questions right now, but you certainly ask some good questions. 

Are these the two best teams in the state?  Who comes out on top? 

Does the home-town advantage give Florida High a puncher's chance against Cocoa?  Who wins?