The Heartland Archives

@nolebull813 @SportsFan
Hi guys, let's remember this is a high school football forum and this specific thread is regarding 2024 schedules, let's please keep it to that and be respectful to others, even to those who we may dislike or disagree with. I thought we're all grown adults here, but you two are acting childish by calling others names and saying they have a low IQ, I'm not saying you have to like PC Gridiron but at least show some respect, PC Gridiron is very knowledgeable about Polk County football and does a lot to help and promote high school athletics in his county. Yes, Kathleen has been awful the last several years and I agree with you they would have lost to most JV teams in the state, but PC Gridiron is still technically correct by referring to them as a large school, Kathleen is Class 5A compared to Victory Christian who's Class 1A. By the way, I'm not going to name names, but I know several people who have either been banned or quit this board and promised to never return, but are still on here under different usernames. Anyways, thank you for hearing me out, I hope you have a good night.
 
By the way, @SportsFan, PC Gridiron wanted me to pass this message along to you:
"Hey SportsFan Lake Wales just scored on Columbia again." 

@nolebull813 @SportsFan
Hi guys, let's remember this is a high school football forum and this specific thread is regarding 2024 schedules, let's please keep it to that and be respectful to others, even to those who we may dislike or disagree with. I thought we're all grown adults here, but you two are acting childish by calling others names and saying they have a low IQ, I'm not saying you have to like PC Gridiron but at least show some respect, PC Gridiron is very knowledgeable about Polk County football and does a lot to help and promote high school athletics in his county. Yes, Kathleen has been awful the last several years and I agree with you they would have lost to most JV teams in the state, but PC Gridiron is still technically correct by referring to them as a large school, Kathleen is Class 5A compared to Victory Christian who's Class 1A. By the way, I'm not going to name names, but I know several people who have either been banned or quit this board and promised to never return, but are still on here under different usernames. Anyways, thank you for hearing me out, I hope you have a good night.
 
By the way, @SportsFan, PC Gridiron wanted me to pass this message along to you:
"Hey SportsFan Lake Wales just scored on Columbia again." 

@nolebull813 @SportsFan
Hi guys, let's remember this is a high school football forum and this specific thread is regarding 2024 schedules, let's please keep it to that and be respectful to others, even to those who we may dislike or disagree with. I thought we're all grown adults here, but you two are acting childish by calling others names and saying they have a low IQ, I'm not saying you have to like PC Gridiron but at least show some respect, PC Gridiron is very knowledgeable about Polk County football and does a lot to help and promote high school athletics in his county. Yes, Kathleen has been awful the last several years and I agree with you they would have lost to most JV teams in the state, but PC Gridiron is still technically correct by referring to them as a large school, Kathleen is Class 5A compared to Victory Christian who's Class 1A. By the way, I'm not going to name names, but I know several people who have either been banned or quit this board and promised to never return, but are still on here under different usernames. Anyways, thank you for hearing me out, I hope you have a good night.
 
By the way, @SportsFan, PC Gridiron wanted me to pass this message along to you:
"Hey SportsFan Lake Wales just scored on Columbia again." 

Three team districts???? What about two team districts? Class 1S-District 6 has only two teams: Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota) and John Carroll Catholic (Fort Pierce). It's very ridiculous there's actually a district with only two teams.
 
https://www.maxpreps.com/m/league/default.aspx?leagueid=35cc5fa4-2c8e-409c-b292-6221ec785aba&ssid=e46d33f9-793e-4697-a968-d0f08f92017c
 
 
http://floridahsfootball.com/schedules/#google_vignette

Got to fix these three team districts. Should be 4 at a minimum. 

Then why did one of Port Charlotte's assistant coaches told me that Manatee’s starting QB transferred to Port Charlotte back in January?
 
There are even people at the FLA Varsity board discussing this: https://flavarsity.forums.rivals.com/threads/couple-of-charlotte-county-football-notes.10369/
 
And MaxPreps, Hudl, and Twitter shows that Johnny Squitieri transferred to Port Charlotte as well:
 
MaxPreps:
https://www.maxpreps.com/fl/port-charlotte/port-charlotte-pirates/athletes/johnny-squitieri/?careerid=vdltl6taisvee
 
Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/profile/13654082/Johnny-Squitieri
 
Twitter:
https://mobile.twitter.com/JohnnySquitieri
 
So it appears Manatee’s starting QB did transferred to Port Charlotte, unless you don't consider Johnny Squitieri as Manatee’s starting QB from last season. But if Johnny Squitieri wasn't Manatee’s starting QB from last season, then why did one of Port Charlotte's assistant coaches told me that?

I am friends with one of Port Charlotte's assistant coaches and he disagrees with your comment about Manatee fielding their best team in a decade. He told me that Manatee’s starting QB transferred to Port Charlotte back in January. This is his reply to your comment: "Well their run/pass quarterback is in our weightroom. We smoked them last year." And I think he expects Port Charlotte to beat Manatee again this upcoming season. Also, he's very surprised that Manatee is going to play Miami Northwestern during Week 1 this upcoming season, because again their starting QB transferred to Port Charlotte.
He also said Port Charlotte called Venice and they asked to play y'all week one, but Venice said Port Charlotte would hurt their strength of schedule, so y'all said no.

MaxPreps is a big mess.
Here's an example....
• Palmetto Ridge has both Hardee and Lake Gibson scheduled for September 16 on MaxPreps.
• Lake Gibson has both Lee County GA and Palmetto Ridge scheduled for September 16 on MaxPreps.
• Lee County GA has both Lake Gibson and North Miami Beach scheduled for September 16 on MaxPreps.
And that's not all, I've seen a lot of mistakes on other teams' schedules on MaxPreps as well. Also there's still a lot of teams who have incomplete schedules on MaxPreps even though the start of the regular season is about 6 or 7 weeks away.

@Nulli Secundus 
Under the new classification plan, Suburban Class 2A is any school with an enrollment of 601-1442 that's NOT located in any of Florida's eight most densely populated counties.
The enrollment of the 17 schools mentioned by Hwy17 are:
• Avon Park, Enrollment: 902
• Bayshore, Enrollment: 1389
• Bishop Verot, Enrollment: 748
• Booker, Enrollment: 1293
• Clewiston, Enrollment: 963
• DeSoto, Enrollment: 1242
• Discovery, Enrollment: 881
• Estero, Enrollment: 1359
• Fort Meade, Enrollment: 781
• Frostproof, Enrollment: 1119
• Hardee, Enrollment: 1385
• LaBelle, Enrollment: 1368
• Lakeland Christian, Enrollment: 651
• Lake Placid, Enrollment: 827
• Lemon Bay, Enrollment: 1233
• Mulberry, Enrollment: 1215
• Tenoroc, Enrollment: 1073

@Nulli Secundus 
Under the new classification plan, Suburban Class 2A is any school with an enrollment of 601-1442 that's NOT located in any of Florida's eight most densely populated counties.
The enrollment of the 17 schools mentioned by Hwy17 are:
• Avon Park, Enrollment: 902
• Bayshore, Enrollment: 1389
• Bishop Verot, Enrollment: 748
• Booker, Enrollment: 1293
• Clewiston, Enrollment: 963
• DeSoto, Enrollment: 1242
• Discovery, Enrollment: 881
• Estero, Enrollment: 1359
• Fort Meade, Enrollment: 781
• Frostproof, Enrollment: 1119
• Hardee, Enrollment: 1385
• LaBelle, Enrollment: 1368
• Lakeland Christian, Enrollment: 651
• Lake Placid, Enrollment: 827
• Lemon Bay, Enrollment: 1233
• Mulberry, Enrollment: 1215
• Tenoroc, Enrollment: 1073

@Nulli Secundus 
Under the new classification plan, Suburban Class 2A is any school with an enrollment of 601-1442 that's NOT located in any of Florida's eight most densely populated counties.
The enrollment of the 17 schools mentioned by Hwy17 are:
• Avon Park, Enrollment: 902
• Bayshore, Enrollment: 1389
• Bishop Verot, Enrollment: 748
• Booker, Enrollment: 1293
• Clewiston, Enrollment: 963
• DeSoto, Enrollment: 1242
• Discovery, Enrollment: 881
• Estero, Enrollment: 1359
• Fort Meade, Enrollment: 781
• Frostproof, Enrollment: 1119
• Hardee, Enrollment: 1385
• LaBelle, Enrollment: 1368
• Lakeland Christian, Enrollment: 651
• Lake Placid, Enrollment: 827
• Lemon Bay, Enrollment: 1233
• Mulberry, Enrollment: 1215
• Tenoroc, Enrollment: 1073

@VeniceIndiansFootball North Port will be in Suburban Class 4A and Island Coast will be in Suburban Class 3A.
Also @Hwy17, Bartow and Charlotte will both be in Suburban Class 4A, not Suburban Class 3A.

@Nulli Secundus 
Under the new classification plan, Suburban Class 2A is any school with an enrollment of 601-1442 that's NOT located in any of Florida's eight most densely populated counties.
The enrollment of the 17 schools mentioned by Hwy17 are:
• Avon Park, Enrollment: 902
• Bayshore, Enrollment: 1389
• Bishop Verot, Enrollment: 748
• Booker, Enrollment: 1293
• Clewiston, Enrollment: 963
• DeSoto, Enrollment: 1242
• Discovery, Enrollment: 881
• Estero, Enrollment: 1359
• Fort Meade, Enrollment: 781
• Frostproof, Enrollment: 1119
• Hardee, Enrollment: 1385
• LaBelle, Enrollment: 1368
• Lakeland Christian, Enrollment: 651
• Lake Placid, Enrollment: 827
• Lemon Bay, Enrollment: 1233
• Mulberry, Enrollment: 1215
• Tenoroc, Enrollment: 1073

@VeniceIndiansFootball North Port will be in Suburban Class 4A and Island Coast will be in Suburban Class 3A.
Also @Hwy17, Bartow and Charlotte will both be in Suburban Class 4A, not Suburban Class 3A.

I've realized that Osceola and St. Cloud have claimed their rivalry to be the fifth oldest high school football rivalry in Florida for several years now, but I actually think it's either the third or fourth oldest instead. The reason why I say this is because Sebring and Avon Park, which was considered to be the third oldest rivalry in Florida, ended their rivalry a couple years ago. Anyways, did you know that Hardee vs DeSoto County is the oldest high school football rivalry in Florida? Hardee and DeSoto have been playing each other every single year since 1921, and there were two games played in 1923 and two games played in 1924. So this November 5 will be the 103rd straight game played between Hardee and DeSoto. The second oldest high school football rivalry in Florida is St. Augustine vs Palatka, they have been playing each other every single year since 1922.

I've realized that Osceola and St. Cloud have claimed their rivalry to be the fifth oldest high school football rivalry in Florida for several years now, but I actually think it's either the third or fourth oldest instead. The reason why I say this is because Sebring and Avon Park, which was considered to be the third oldest rivalry in Florida, ended their rivalry a couple years ago. Anyways, did you know that Hardee vs DeSoto County is the oldest high school football rivalry in Florida? Hardee and DeSoto have been playing each other every single year since 1921, and there were two games played in 1923 and two games played in 1924. So this November 5 will be the 103rd straight game played between Hardee and DeSoto. The second oldest high school football rivalry in Florida is St. Augustine vs Palatka, they have been playing each other every single year since 1922.

I've realized that Osceola and St. Cloud have claimed their rivalry to be the fifth oldest high school football rivalry in Florida for several years now, but I actually think it's either the third or fourth oldest instead. The reason why I say this is because Sebring and Avon Park, which was considered to be the third oldest rivalry in Florida, ended their rivalry a couple years ago. Anyways, did you know that Hardee vs DeSoto County is the oldest high school football rivalry in Florida? Hardee and DeSoto have been playing each other every single year since 1921, and there were two games played in 1923 and two games played in 1924. So this November 5 will be the 103rd straight game played between Hardee and DeSoto. The second oldest high school football rivalry in Florida is St. Augustine vs Palatka, they have been playing each other every single year since 1922.

I've realized that Osceola and St. Cloud have claimed their rivalry to be the fifth oldest high school football rivalry in Florida for several years now, but I actually think it's either the third or fourth oldest instead. The reason why I say this is because Sebring and Avon Park, which was considered to be the third oldest rivalry in Florida, ended their rivalry a couple years ago. Anyways, did you know that Hardee vs DeSoto County is the oldest high school football rivalry in Florida? Hardee and DeSoto have been playing each other every single year since 1921, and there were two games played in 1923 and two games played in 1924. So this November 5 will be the 103rd straight game played between Hardee and DeSoto. The second oldest high school football rivalry in Florida is St. Augustine vs Palatka, they have been playing each other every single year since 1922.

Back during that time, Arcadia had both a high school team and a college team. So when you're reading articles from the late 1910s and early 1920s, it's sometimes hard to tell if it's referring to the high school team or the college team. What's even more confusing, is that both the high school team and the college team played their games at Carlstrom Field during this time. Carlstrom Field is a former military base in DeSoto County that was established in 1917 after the United States enter World War I. Carlstrom Field was used by the military in both World War I and World War II. Nowadays, Carlstrom Field is basically a ghost town and if you do a YouTube search you can find a video of someone exploring the former airfield.

• Arcadia's first known team was 1908. A local newspaper said they played Bartow on July 25 that year. However, the score to that game is unknown.
• Arcadia played Wauchula in 1909. Arcadia beat Wauchula in that game by a score of 21-0. Arcadia also scheduled a game against a Fort DeSoto (which by the way is in present-day Pinellas County, no relation to DeSoto County) for Thanksgiving 1909. However, Arcadia canceled this game at the last second (Thanksgiving morning) and Fort DeSoto then later traveled up to Lakeland to play Lakeland. In the game against Lakeland, Fort DeSoto walked off the field with 1 minute left in the game because they didn't agree with the referee's decision to let Lakeland keep the ball.
• When I had a free trial at newspapers.com, I remember seeing a couple mentions of an Arcadia football team in the 1910s also. I remember finding mentions of an Arcadia team in 1916, 1917, and 1918. There is a headline in The Tampa Times from November 25, 1918 that reads: "Chick Harley Will Lead the Eleven From Arcadia." I also remember reading about an Arcadia football player making an All-Star team in the 1910s, can't remember the year. On Google's News Archive, I remember seeing mentions of Arcadia playing Lakeland in the late 1910s and early 1920s. An October 15, 1921 newspaper article from a Lakeland local newspaper talks about Lakeland beating Arcadia for the first time since 1916.
• Arcadia/DeSoto used to have a big rivalry with Fort Myers. It was played every single year on Armistice Day from 1921-1941.

Hwy17 requested me to post this here. The Tampa Tribune - Saturday, October 5, 1991

Josh,
I don't know if you have heard about this or not, but Mulberry has dropped out of 5A-10 and is going Independent for 2020. Mulberry is now listed as Independent on the FHSAA website and on MaxPreps. Hardee has replaced Mulberry with Vero Beach on their schedule. Also, Lake Wales has replaced Mulberry with Clearwater Central Catholic on their schedule. Sebring has also posted a Classified on the FHSAA website saying they are looking for a Week 6 (September 25) game. Sebring played Mulberry Week 6 last year.

Thanks. I couldn't remember the year that game was played. Desoto was up 36-0 before Billed started to make a comeback. Would be a running clock now.

Hwy17 requested me to post this here. The Tampa Tribune - Saturday, October 5, 1991

Hello,
Thank you for accepting my registration to join this forum board. As my username suggests, I will be posting old newspaper articles, yearbooks, and pictures of High School Football teams from the Florida Heartland area. For my first post I will be sharing something I found in an old local newspaper, The Champion. The Champion was a local newspaper in DeSoto County from 1895-1911. Archives of this newspaper can be found on newspapers.com and online at the Library of Congress, but it only last from 1906-1908.
In the Thursday, July 23, 1908 edition of The Champion I found a mention about an upcoming Football game to be played at the Arcadia Baseball Park between Arcadia and Bartow on Saturday, July 25, 1908 at 3:30 in the afternoon. However, when looking through later newspapers I can not find a score for this game. Arcadia is today known as the DeSoto County Bulldogs. This 1908 mention is the earliest known mention of an Arcadia Football team. This makes DeSoto County one of the oldest High School Football teams in Florida still currently playing. Bartow, along with Lakeland had their first teams in 1907. Arcadia's biggest rival Wauchula (today known as the Hardee Wildcats) had their first team in 1909. Another Heartland team, Fort Meade I have their first Football team as 1912.
When I have more time, I will be leaving some more info I have on here.
Best Regards,
The Heartland Archives