HornetFan

Publics eventually began to try and counter that thru whatever means necessary. I can't speak for the rest of the State, but here in the Orlando area, it's pretty hard to name more than a few starting QB's that are still at the same high school where they started in 9th grade. Recruiting is the norm, rather than the exception that used to get coaches and programs in trouble.

Glad that you have come around to my way of thinking when it comes to 7v7 tournaments translating to great success in 11 man football. It seems that, in this day and age, most teams are looking for athletic QB's that can throw a strike at 50 yards and also pull the ball down and pick up valuable yardage on the ground. It's hard to evaluate a kid's scrambling ability watching him stand in the pocket in a 7v7 game; same goes for the Twitter videos of a kid throwing to a lone receiver 20 yards down field. The true test of a QB's ability can only be seen when he has to play under pressure of a "real" football game.

Transferring to Cocoa, he should definitely see an upgrade in the talent around him. The guys in the trenches are going to be very important. In 7v7, it's basically a passing drill with no one in your face, so it's hard to draw too much from 7v7 college camps; same goes for "all-star" teams playing 7v7 in the off-season. There's not a lot of parity in local tournaments. With tackle football, it usually comes down to how the QB reacts under pressure when under a pass rush from opposing DL's and LB's

I was at the Seabreeze vs Winter Park Spring game expecting to see an offensive battle with two of the higher rated QB's in Central Florida. Blake Boda did not look impressive going "3 and out" on Seabreeze's first four possessions. At the half, WP was up 20-0, clearly outplaying Seabreeze on both sides of the ball. At 27-7, early in 3rd quarter, WP pulled almost all of their varsity players. Final score was 34-14. Blake was not the best QB on the field that night. He should have a stronger supporting cast at Cocoa, but it makes you wonder if the Seabreeze HC is still hyping Blake as "the best QB in Central Florida", now that Blake has moved down the road.

In a perfect world, that would be the case.

One of the best weapons a QB has to slow down an aggressive pass rush, especially a potential blitz, is to use an occasional "hard count" to catch the defense jumping offsides. How is this any worse than calling a false start on an offensive lineman for a slight flinch prior to the ball being snapped or a DB grabbing a little piece of a receiver's jersey to throw off his route? The players know the rules; they try to gain an edge. If they get away with the offside, flinch, or grab, They feel they gained an advantage. If they get caught, they should accept the penalty without complaint.

I appreciate the last word; thank you. I think all teams ranked in the Sentinel top 10 are worthy of their ranking; no disrespect meant to Osceola and the others that have played DP this season. My remarks have been that DP is not that good this season, that's all. Have a good day.

You conveniently fail to mention that when DP and WP went head-to-head in the Week "0" Jamboree, WP beat DP 12-0 in only one quarter of varsity play. As for your opinion that "Winter Park wouldn't be sitting pretty either if they faced off against them", it's exactly that, an opinion nothing more. By the way, the teams that beat WP this season, those being Lake Mary and Edgewater, are both ranked ahead of Jones, Apopka, West Orange and Osceola.

You also defended the schedule WP had and felt it was as good as any in central Florida. The only two teams on their schedule that were upper echelon both beat WP. The big blowouts against West Orange and Lake Mary were self inflicted in those games. Blowouts were self inflicted? I think WO and LM had something to do with determining those blowouts. But, I won't dwell on DP's performance this season; I predicted that out earlier and it's come to fruition. As for WP's schedule and it's difficulty, I believe that I said they had no control over determining their District opponents, but hey have a good out of district schedule; I don't think that I said it was "as good as any in Central Florida". As for their two losses, they were to Lake Mary (38-14) and Edgewater (41-35) (LM and Edgewater are currently ranked #1 and #2 in Central Florida by Orlando Sentinel; WP is #9).

Am I surprised at DP's performance this Fall? Back on August 23rd, after DP was whipped decisively by Lake Mary in Week "O", I posted the following comment on DP's prospects for this season: "DP showed nothing in the Spring Jamboree against Apopka or Winter Park. Apopka's varsity played without new transfer QB Andrew McClain and had their way with DP to the tune 0f 21-0 in just less than a half. WP varsity played one quarter against DP and had then down 12-0. I expect that Apopka will have DP on a running clock early in the 3rd quarter when they play September 10th. It may even be worse for DP when they play at West Orange on October 1st, Cocoa the following week, and then Osceola a week later. All of those games may be blowouts."

I don't see my score for this past week posted. I believe that I had the following winners: 10. Riverview (Sarasota) 9. Miami Central 7. Tampa Bay Tech 6. Berkeley Prep (Tampa) 5. Miami Killian 3. Bolles (Jacksonville) 2. Mobley BONUS GAME: Northeast (St. Petersburg)

10. Riverview (Sarasota) 9. Miami Central 8. Seminole (Sanford) 7. Tampa Bay Tech 6. Berkeley Prep (Tampa) 5. Miami Killian 4. New Smryna Beach 3. Bolles (Jacksonville) 2. Mosley 1. Cardinal Gibbons BONUS GAME: Northeast (St. Petersburg)

Scorestream relies upon fans attending a game to voluntarily report scores as they occur. It's not a perfect system but it does allow those of us that can't be at the game to follow the scores. I try to attend all Winter Park games and post or track the posting of scores by others. There is a way for people at the game to "confirm" the accuracy of a post and make changes. I can't be at next week's WP vs Evans game, so I'm thankful that fans accessing Scorestream will keep me up to date.

I hope that none of the football platers were involved. If they were involved, it would probably be all over social media by now, and their Twitter page doesn't mention it.

Must be something in the air in Central Florida today. Fox 35 also had a report this afternoon that there was a big fight today among a large group of students at Seminole HS in Sanford that was so out of control that faculty had to call in the police to break it up. No report as to how many students were arrested.

September 17th Apopka @ Ocoee Football Game Cancelled. As reported this afternoon on local Orlando Fox 35 news, tomorrow's (Friday) Apopka @ Ocoee game has been cancelled due to a number of Covid cases at Ocoee High School. They didn't say if it will be rescheduled.

4. Blountstown 10. Seminole 5. Lakeland 9. Miami Northwestern 7. Cardinal Gibbons 3. Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville) 8. Apopka 6. Lakewood (St. Petersburg) 2. Gulliver Prep (Miami) 1. Miami Edison

4. Tampa Bay Tech 3. Ponte Vedra 10. Venice 9. Jesuit (Tampa) 7. Jones (Orlando) 5. St. Thomas Aquinas (St. Lauderdale) 8. Miami Central 6. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) 2, Creekside (St. Johns) 1. Foundation Academy (Winter Garden)

I wouldn't overlook Jones HS (Orlando) when considering the best teams in 6A; they moved from 5A to 6A this season.

7. West Orange 6. Osceola (Kissimmee) 1. Dunbar (Fort Myers) 9. Columbia (Lake City) 4. Columbus (Miami) 10. Lakeland 5. Gulliver Prep (Miami) 3. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) 2. Deerfield Beach 8. Venice

The coaching staff at WP is being real careful with Terrance Gibbs. He's an amazing RB with great pass catching skills also. They don't want to risk his future at UF and thereafter. Having Amaris Shaw at RB makes it a lot easier to give Terrance a few more weeks. The word I get from my grandson is that Terrance has been awesome in practice.

Terrance Gibbs (WP 4 star senior RB - UF commit with over 30 D-1 offers) missed all last season with a torn ACL. According to my source on the team, Terrance is physically ok, but may not play in the first 3 games of the season. He's been working out, but hasn't been participating in any hitting drills yet. He was on the sideline last night, but not dressed out. WP was also without 3 star junior RB Amaris Shaw (8 D-1 offers so far, including FSU and Tennessee) for most of 1st half; he played the 2nd half and had some nice runs. When Terrance returns, WP will have a strong running game. WP's defense played well for the 2nd week in a row.

Jes, I mean yes!

Maybe the FHSAA and school administrators should grow a backbone (I would liked to have used another term, but you probably get the point) and investigate if recruiting by other schools was responsible for the demise of football at Hallandale. This is a disgrace and too many people involved in HS football are willing to just say "oh well". Your school could be next; it's time to address recruiting and actually do something about it.

I am totally about the student - athlete, student comes first always. That's exactly what I would expect from a coach and it's great that your priorities are in the right order. With 5 players below a 2.4 gpa, it does seem that your staff is working in the right direction, but still have a way to go. As I've never been a coach and haven't had to focus on the grades of so many kids at the same time, I don't profess to know how you feel because so often, coaches assume the role of quasi-father and authority figure to many kids. I can only imagine how overwhelming it can get, and with the pandemic and remote schooling, it has made the task of educating kids even more difficult, but it's admirable what you coaches do for the kids. Is there a member of your staff whose primary responsibility is to track the academic progress of your student/athletes especially those that may tend to struggle meeting academic requirements, not only during the football season, but during the entire school year, including Summer school if necessary? I ask that not to be critical, but to understand the task that you face. If this position doesn't currently exist, it may be a thing to consider. I wish you the best; don't give up on those kids.