HornetFan

Regular season football didn't generate any money for Orange County schools this past season. Tickets were distributed to players, cheerleaders, band members, and dance teams (2 per student per game) at no charge; stadiums were pretty empty at a few hundred fans per game. It was only when the playoffs began that the FHSAA collected money for tickets.

If you're in it for the money, maybe you shouldn't be coaching. I love watching high school football, whether it's a HS game, a practice. or going out to see the kids play 7v7 in the off-season. When my grandsons were coming up through youth football, I admired the dedication that coaches showed being out there every evening after working a full day at their regular job. Then, on Saturdays, they'd be out there coaching the kids, manning refreshment stands when needed; helping to run car washes to raise funds for their youth leagues, whatever it took, all for the love of the game and helping the kids. I see the same dedication with some of the coaches at our local high school. They'll go the extra yard and work with kids on their academics and physical conditioning, as well as improving their football skills. They provide guidance for kids that may not necessarily receive it at home. I don't think the best HS coaches are in it for the money; I believe they love the game and truly want to have a lasting positive impression on the kids.

Spring games may not be a big deal to fans, but to players, it's their first chance since the Fall 2019 season to impress college scouts and possibly earn a scholarship. The class of 2021 lost last Spring (2020) to Covid. College programs closed down football camps during the Summer of 2020 and visits to colleges were eliminated. Attendance at HS games this past Fall were severely restricted and college scouts were staying back at home. To totally kill recruiting for the class of 2021, the NCAA granted another year of eligibility to all current college players without increasing scholarship levels. So, Spring 2021 is big for kids in the classes of 2022 and 2023. Kids will always be exposed to injuries playing football; my oldest grandson broke his forearm in Winter Park's 1st playoff game playing defensive end. His reaction; it's football, injuries happen, He was thankful he got to play his senior season.

Edgewater loses several of their best skill players to graduation this year. Orange County is not like Seminole County. Kids tend to move between teams more frequently in Orange. With Boone making a move towards being a good team, and with Jones, WP, DP, and Bishop Moore being relatively close neighbors of Edgewater, it's easy for kids to transition. Also, Evans has just hired a popular new HC. Competition for players in Orange can be intense. Seminole doesn't really face that in Seminole County where they are usually the elite team, and the kids in Sanford are very loyal to Seminole HS. Both schools, Edgewater and Seminole, have great coaching staffs, but I think Seminole is the best fit for Luke if he gets the starting QB position, which I think he will..

Luke and my youngest grandson , both QB's and juniors next year, are friends and spoke a few weeks ago about the Seminole opening. Aidan asked Luke if he was transferring and Luke was a little evasive, but it was obvious he was going that way. They were both trying out for QB of a 7v7 team loaded with Seminole kids and Luke was asking those kids a bunch of questions about the Seminole team. I don't think he would have been as good a fit at Edgewater. I think Seminole will be more accepting of him coming in. His competition will be Andrew McClain, a senior and Timmy's younger brother. They also have a very good freshman QB at Seminole.

Luke has an offer from FAU already, and I'm sure more will come, especially playing at Seminole. At 6'3", he has good size and an accurate arm. He should have a better pocket at Seminole than he did at Oviedo, but if he gets flushed out like he did at WP, and a team like Apopka will have the talent to apply that pressure, he throws some wayward passes.

I think Luke is more accurate than Timmy, but Timmy has a cannon for an arm. Timmy was always a threat to run where Luke is more a pro style QB. No doubt he'll be better off football wise at Seminole; his receivers will be very good. My youngest grandson has 10 of Seminoles skill position players on his 18 and under 7v7 team this winter and he says throwing to them makes the game easy; they're that good. And, their DB's, including the Henderson twins, are amazing.

I went to the Oviedo - Winter Park game this season and WP totally ate Luke's lunch. Luke does well if he has time to set up and look downfield. If he's hurried, he has problems. My oldest grandson, the DE at WP (11 sacks this past season), had about 8-10 good pressures on Luke, including a sack for a 15 yard loss. Three of the pressures led to off balance throws and three interceptions by WP. Luke will have better pass blocking at Seminole as once again, they will be loaded at just about every position. He's a good kid; I hope it turns out to be a good move for him. His transfer totally devastates Oviedo's offense[ I think their next QB in line is about a 5'8" freshman.

Luke Rucker, highly rated sophomore QB at Oviedo, has transferred to Seminole HS starting this semester. It looks like they found a replacement for Timmy McClain, who has committed to USF for college.

For the schools in Orange County, football was a "non-revenue" sport this past Fall. Each player, cheerleader, and dance team member received two tickets at no cost to each game. It wasn't until the playoffs, that the FHSAA inserted itself and charged admission to the playoff games. Other "non-revenue" sports are being played right now.

I saw something on their Twitter page that Seminole's varsity, JV, and Freshmen teams all were undefeated last year; that's impressive, even with limited schedules.

I haven't heard anything in the past few months about a freshman or JV season for the 20-21 school year. When everything was in doubt about Fall football, Orange County decided to go with varsity in the Fall and possibly FR and JV in the Winter/Spring. As the varsity system played out, many JV kids gained some varsity experience and I think the idea of a Winter season disappeared. I think a lot of 9th and 10th graders lost out on playing time because of the uncertainty.

My youngest grandson (QB) plays on a very competitive 18 and under 7v7 team during the Winter and Spring with two of Lake Mary's best players from this past season, a WR and a DB. He says they are both very talented. The team also has 8 of Seminole HS' top skill position players. After practicing with the Seminole kids for the past three weeks, he said it's no surprise they won the 8A state championship.

Lake Mary usually fields a good team, plus their feeder system from youth football is very good. They're never an easy win for any opponent.

I would add Jones, Apopka, and Winter Park to that list. Maybe drop DP and WO.

Merry Christmas; stay safe.

High school football helped many, if not all of us, to maintain our sanity during this virus. Next up, I look forward to several months of 7v7 football to fill the time leading up to Spring football. Thank you to all the administrators, coaches, and players that allowed football in Florida to provide us with a taste of normalcy.

MaxPreps ratings rarely make any sense.

Even more ridiculous is the team that lost to #2 STA by 10 points in the 7A State Championship game, despite outgaining STA by 100 yards and committing 5 turnovers (2 inside STA 10 yard line), is ranked 11th.

Week 15 Results (Semi-Finals) 1. Keem 6-2 2. Fishspinners 6-2 3. HornetFan 6-2 4. Muckboy 5-3 5. Venice 5-3 6. Columbia 5-3 7. Joshua 5-3 8. SubZero 4-4 Week 16 Results (State Championships) 1. Muckboy 8-0 2. SubZero 7-1 3. Venice 7-1 4. Columbia 7-1 5. Keem 6-2 6. Joshua 6-2 7. Fishspinners 5-3 8. HornetFan 4-4 Overall (Final) 1 @SubZero 136-37 2 @muckboy561 132-42 3 @Joshua Wilson 130-42 4 @fishspinners 122-40 5 @HornetFan 118-46 6 @KeemD321 113-61 7 @VeniceIndiansFootball 112-52 8 @ColumbiaHighFan2017class112-61 9 @Hwy17 75-54 10 @nolebull813 67-33

For those of us from Central Florida, we're making picks with our hearts in the finals. Lake Minneola was always a long shot, but they had a great season. There are very few 6A schools in Central Florida, so I didn't really follow them through the season except when they played Orlando schools. Edgewater, Seminole, and Osceola gat more coverage here in Orlando.

Champagnat Catholic Chaminade-Madonna Cardinal Gibbons Hawthorne Lake Minneola American Heritage Seminole (Sanford) Edgewater 27-20

Great win for the Kowboys and Central Florida; an all-Central Florida final in 8A. Travelling to South Florida and coming home with a "W" is fantastic for Osceola; congrats! Good luck in the State Championship game.

Week 14 Correction: Joshua Wilson total is 119-37 and he is in 2nd place overall. Muckboy 25-3 Subzero 24-4 Hornetfan 24-4 VeniceIndiansFootball 23-5 Joshua 23-5 Columbiafan 21-7 KeemD 21-7 Fishspinners 21-7 Overall 1 @SubZero 125-32 2 @Joshua Wilson 119-37 3 @muckboy561 119-39 4 @fishspinners 111-35 5 @HornetFan 108-40 6 @KeemD321 101-57 7 @VeniceIndiansFootball 100-48 8 @ColumbiaHighFan2017class100-57 9 @Hwy17 75-54 10 @nolebull813 67-33

I think this is correct for Week 14: Muckboy 25-3 Subzero 24-4 Hornetfan 24-4 VeniceIndiansFootball 23-5 Joshua 23-5 Columbiafan 21-7 KeemD 21-7 Fishspinners 21-7 Overall 1 @SubZero 125-32 2 @muckboy561 119-39 3 @fishspinners 111-35 4 @Joshua Wilson 109-37 5 @HornetFan 108-40 6 @KeemD321 101-57 7 @VeniceIndiansFootball 100-48 8 @ColumbiaHighFan2017class100-57 9 @Hwy17 75-54 10 @nolebull813 67-33