Ray Icaza

If he watches the game and is honest he will find it difficult to defend.

Have to agree with Skyway, had it not been for the officials this game would have been 48-3 rout. On a single "TD Drive" if you can call it that, the penalties that kept the drive alive were minor in comparison with two fumble recoveries by SFA that the officials ruled they weren't; the second one just before the receiver crossed the goal line and fumbled it through the back of the endzone for a touchback. Even the announcers had to point out the truth as it was self-evident. The number of penalty yards accumulated by SFA may have been called for, but Venice OL can be seen holding on virtually every pass play and weren't called once for it. Look at their schedule, it pays to stay at home.

Just to be clear, he has participated in Celebration's first 2 games and is their leading rusher based on the stats they posted on MaxPreps.

Good question as we were also surprised by the decision but had no animosity towards the kid moving back and playing for his old school. We have seen situations like this in the past when a quality transfer from another local school expects because of what he did there it will determine his status with us. It doesn't and you have to earn the starting position which in that particular case a few years back didn't happen. The two starting RB's we already had were Laderrien Wilson (Univ. of MD then BCC) and Malcolm Davidson (FAU) an inside power back and a speed back. The transfer would only get cleanup duty although he was the featured back at his old school. We were happy to get him, but his expectations I am sure were different.

My understanding is you have to be fully and legally enrolled to participate in official team practices, which he did. Our staff would have never allowed him to practice had this not been the case. You guys have called it, the FHSAA with no rhyme or reason how they decide things. In his case, they claimed he hadn't attended class so it was okay to immediately transfer back from whence he came.

Exceptions are very vague. The press here wrote a featured article about a top RB (1800 yds. last year) from Celebration that transferred to our school at the start of preseason practice so was actually enrolled at OHS. Let me just say, things didn't go as he anticipated so just before school started he transferred back to Celebration. All within a 2-3 week period and he is playing for them now. Seems crazy to me but I assume technically he hadn't attended class although had been practicing with the team officially and that was the reasoning I heard.

Whatever you say boss.

Quality and quantity of talent in South FL is superior by far than anywhere in the state so examples of Central, MNW, etc.. is an outlier when it comes to the arms race. When an all star private wants an ELITE PLAYER, character may be a concern but I don't think they are really considering academic prowess.

We will get to see after beating Palm Bay what level Harmony is on as they take on Eau Gallie next.

Wrong, our county doesn't fight transfers so this reasoning is bogus. We just can't provide them with the level of perks I pointed out in an earlier thread, so anyone can come to OHS for any reason. Sometimes those ELITE players will leave for greener pastures (privates) in their mind. For years, some of the top skilled players would end up at a Bishop Moore but today it has gone statewide and even national. We got kids even in privates in California so stop sticking up for them as if they are grieved. That pity plea doesn't fly in my book.

I am glad we are out of that district also. Had one of our top teams in '06 when we lost to Lakeland and Lake Gibson, then had to watch from the sidelines as both of them rolled all of their opponents in the playoffs until they had to face each other. No offense intended as Rainey did us in late in our loss, but I thought Bilal Powell was the better of the two backs.

We aren't expected to win but we believe. That is the most important element in the fight.

Recruiting is REAL and the privates still have the advantage over publics in getting the ELITE athletes though they can choose where they want to go. There is a kid who played in our youth leagues in Kissimmee and I believe he lived just over the county line in Orange not Osceola but everyone recognized early on he could be special. He could have continued with the relationships built over several years in that youth league (Osceola Panthers team) and played for us but landed as a freshman at LHP a very nice private school in Orlando. Now he has transferred to IMG and is considered among the top 5 LB's in the nation in the class of 2025. His name is Gavin Nix, so for me they still have the advantage. Same story for Lamar Patterson going to St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. My big fear the past couple of years was losing our stud DL John Walker to the likes of an IMG. I am sure they tried but thank God he resisted. Getting transfers helps you compete with the best, but the formula for winning it all is getting "THE BEST" transfers.

I know Columbia likes to defend the privates as he is correct the publics are doing the same today. My beef all along was they were allowed to do it thus creating an uneven playing field and that is why I would advocate for separate divisions for privates and publics. We are far removed from that now, but if they had done that and kept the eligibility rules regarding where you were zoned to attend in place more schools would have a chance for a championship at least once every generation. Today looking just at my county, those schools other than OHS having a small chance for a championship have no hope. That to me is very sad.

I had heard that for awhile, but didn't think that STA had that much influence. I was wrong and thank you for the honesty.

All star privates forced some publics to enter the recruiting wars to win in the early 2000's, thus my animosity to private schools poaching top players from other schools which has led us to where we are today. Without question they can offer top athletes in any sport conditions that can't be matched by most public schools, ie... better schooling, coaching, training facilities, recruiting chances, winning culture and most often a safer environment to grow up in. With all that said, can someone from Broward lay this conspiracy theory to rest......... I have heard STA even got public transportation throughout Ft. Lauderdale to crisscross by their campus from every corner of the city to facilitate attendance. HUH??

The 2019 Kick-Off classic played in Lakeland had an expected result. We trotted out an all new LB core with potential but little experience and each time Bowman touched the ball it showed. A couple of weeks later against another great RB from Miami Columbus (Henry Parrish Jr.) their inexperience was on full display again. However, those valuable lessons learned paid dividends as the season went on making it to the regional finals before losing a game we were expected to win. Those LB's became a strength at the end and in subsequent years. Point being depending on individual teams, early results can be misleading and as Dillard has proclaimed it is more important what you do at season's end. 100%!!

Putting Cocoa at #2 is undoubtedly correct as they would be heavy favorites against those teams you ranked beneath them. I know won-lost record is important but still believe the most important factor is believing who would win in those matchups. Treasure Coast may have a record of 1-5 by the time September comes to a close, but I still think they are among the top 25 or so in the state. Time will tell as their killer schedule could bode them well against Vero at the end of the season.

With the QB Winter Park has it was a given they would be good offensively, but their defense has also played great. I don't see any team on their schedule that may give them problems with the exception of Ocoee. But they probably will be favored even against them. No Jones, Edgewater, Lake Mary, Apopka, Seminole, etc... that they should have scheduled to get a more accurate gauge of how good they really are.

Plus the missing RB doesn't play defense so exactly how his participation would have slowed down the scoring is difficult for even and old codger like me to understand.

Impressive win for WP and our kid Zay is assuming a bigger role offensively in the passing game.

We are going to run the ball more this year than last, but I think we are still looking to throw to compliment the run and Zay had an awesome receiving game vs Edgewater where he put up some good numbers in the spring game. We also used him to compliment our RB's with some sweeps and reverses. I know he has offers including USF and obviously WP looks to throw the ball more so he could pick up more offers. As I previously stated, he is our best returning receiver with Ja'Keem Jackson full time on defense so has had more reps with our current QB than any other receiver. As you pointed out his route running is excellent thus would have put more strain on defenses to focus on him and enable the others to not need to carry the load. I truly believe the passing game will improve game by game as more reps are had between the QB's and the receiving group. Reasons that I have heard for the transfer do lean towards the increased workload you mentioned.

It is a tough stretch of games to open the season, but happy to say we have held our own. Hard fought win against Treasure Coast, then a blocked PAT vs Seminole spelled a 1 point loss in OT; a game we should have won in regulation as the miss happened with seconds remaining on the clock. My understanding is that Lakeland will be blowing us out, but many said the same with Seminole (a 3 TD margin expected). We shall see.

This isn't an accusation of wrongdoing, but to be honest the reason I mentioned Zay transferring to WP was you saying they can't get transfers due to being "AT CAPACITY". In addition, we usually understand why the player chooses to come or go but that isn't clear with him. He has been on our varsity since his freshman year and would be starting again so that isn't the reason. He isn't going to a program with higher exposure for recruiting purpose and if there was a beef with the staff there are a dozen schools both in Osceola and Orange that are much closer. You see, I don't think the family has moved. Maybe your grandson can provide some insight. No animosity on our end as we prefer to have players that WANT to be here.

Unfortunately, realistically you would have to chalk that up as luck as you were wrong on 6 out of 10!!