Ray Icaza
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Posts posted by Ray Icaza
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2 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:
Lakewood is 4-5, with losses to Largo, Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg and a blowout loss to Cardinal Mooney. "Good" is a highly charitable characterization of Lakewood.
Coming from a person who's opinion I highly value. Thanks for your take.
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4 hours ago, PinellasFB said:
Lakewood is young. They are rebuilding after a certain private school raided them last year (recurring theme in FL it seems). They should be very tough next year and back to Lakewood standards.
Their QB Wallace did get sacked a couple of times but we had chances to end up with a dozen sacks but he managed to escape blitzes, make people miss and extend plays that turned into huge chuck plays throughout the second half. They relied mostly on running the ball the entire first half with little success but went entirely to a passing attack the 2nd half that changed the whole momentum of the game. He is only a junior and will certainly be a headaches for teams next year including ours if we signed a 2 year contract and travel to St. Pete next year. They are definitely better than their record indicates and if as you say they return a bunch of players it bodes well for next season for them.
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Not a good outing for our team, as we were extremely lucky to get this win against a good Lakewood team. Rain did adversely affect both teams each fumbling the ball a couple of times in the wet conditions as it was wet throughout the entire contest. Neither team was effective in the first quarter which ended 0-0 with little offensive output. That all changed in the second quarter as we got our running game going and good fortune had us leading at halftime 21-0. These are 16, 17, 18-year-old boys so don't presume to know what the mindset was going into the second half but undoubtedly it wasn't good. Lakewood managed to claw back to 21-19 mainly thru the air as they hit big play after big play with WR running free all over the place with defenders completely out of position. We managed one more good drive with some excellent runs by both Sinophant and Swint to increase the lead to 28-19. With the help of personal fouls, facemask penalties and poor coverage they quickly drove down the field and settled for a FG to make the score 28-22 with about 6 minutes on the clock. On the ensuing possession we did nothing which they were banking on and had to punt it back to them. Again, with big plays plus a couple of major penalties they drove the length of the field and got inside our 5-yard line with 2 minutes left. Those last 2 minutes were an eternity as we got 3 straight stops then a penalty gave them a new set of downs. Luck was on our side as they dropped a couple of passes in the endzone which most likely would have given them the W. This defensive performance is the worst I've seen all year and hope we don't have a repeat in the playoffs as it won't get the job done. Will give props to the Lakewood QB as he took several huge hits throughout the game but stayed tough and escaped pressure the entire second half to extend plays and hit big play after big play against a secondary continually out of position. Counting our blessings as the W should ensure home field for the two opening playoff games. Next two weeks of practice better fix these problems that have raised their ugly head. Don't like criticizing a win, but simply giving an honest assessment from an honest old man that simply want his team to be successful.
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26 minutes ago, Jullian said:
When a team comes from nowhere to one of the top 10 schools in the state, you’re going to get looked at CLOSELY!!!!!! What u bet the coach is looking for a new team to coach next year????
That would be par for the course as this is his 3rd school in the past 4-5 years. Steven Moffett has done this everywhere he has been (Winter Park - Leesburg) prior to landing with his entire coaching staff at TFA this year. Fortunately, he will have to travel out of state as his suspension is thru 12/25. At Winter Park he recruited one of our best players in slot WR Izaiah Jean-Baptiste his Sr. year. He led them in receptions, receiving yards, kick returns and TD’s. This suspension couldn’t happen to a finer Coach.
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5 minutes ago, Zachk1003 said:
Well guys it's here the fhsaa did it they punished TFA according to the Orlando sentinel tfa will forfeit all 8 wins will be playoff ineligible for the next two seasons (2024 and 2025) and will be fined 36,000 dollars TFA will appeal this punishment
HALLELUJAH!!! Maybe some of the naysayers can give the FHSAA and those corrupt state officials at least a modicum of credit. The message sent will certainly give teams some pause and even possibly return stolen players back to their rightful teams. I seldom harp on any team though I know some of this does go on throughout our state, but what these folks did was just too egregious to ignore, thus it needed to be hammer time.
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3 hours ago, DarterBlue2 said:
A journey that began in late 1998, a year before Rick Darlington became head coach, ends tonight. I will attend the Apopka vs Wekiva game at Wekiva this evening with a somewhat heavy but also happy heart. Heavy because, a chapter of my life that's lasted 26 years is about to end. Happy because despite a very bad season this year, I have been blessed to be a fan of a team that made the playoffs 24 consecutive years and in that time period won three state titles from seven tries. While there are teams that have done better over that period, I can honestly say that it gratifies me that my beloved Blue Darters did it the right way.
If we win tonight and make the playoffs I shall not attend if we draw Venice. I can't bring myself to make the long drive for a game that we would have, at best, a 5% chance of winning. If we make the playoffs and draw a Tampa Bay area team, most likely Plant City, I will attend game one of the playoffs as the commute would be significantly shorter and Apopka, while it would be an underdog, would at least have better odds of winning.
In my humble opinion, the school's brain trust (coaches and administration) need to take a hard look at this season. For I believe that for the future success of the program some bold, hard decisions will need to be made. Regardless, I will always have a special place in my heart for the Apopka football program and though I will be far away, I will watch my fair share of games online from a distance.
Go Darters, so long and fare well!!
Boy, do we need more fans like you. Good luck to you in the next chapter in your life and hope along the way our paths will cross again; I still owe you that beer. As I have previously told you, my wife and I are currently looking at options for relocation which will end my involvement with Kowboy Athletics over the past 60+ years as a player, coach and fan. I as well will certainly follow them from a distance, just won't be as plugged in as I am now. The world keeps turning.
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JUST RELEASED: Anyone interested can go to the FHSAA website to see where your team ranks with a little less than 2 weeks to go (11/09) for the official release of the playoff brackets. Regardless of small changes, OHS is in the weakside of bracket in 6A-Region 2 (Districts 5, 6, 7 & 8) and will most likely get Melbourne or Lake Minneola in round #1 at home as it currently stands. That said, it also looks like we will get to host the 2nd round before going on the road probably against the #2 overall seed in 6A Armwood for the regional final.
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On 10/26/2024 at 12:58 AM, Beek said:
South Lake just clinched 6a district 6 championship tonight! 4-0 in district play! first district championship since 1996!
Congrats to a good season winning a district championship. OHS being in 6A district 5 may get to see you in the Regional Semi-finals if you beat (most likely) Viera in the opening round, though that is still to be determined. Should know a bit more once the new FHSAA rankings come out today. Good luck to you in the playoffs.
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9 hours ago, WindsorCT said:
That seems to be LW’s Achilles. They just cannot score enough points. Good win for Kissimmee. Armwood-Kiss will be a great matchup if it happens. Pretty safe to say with the current rankings, Armwood would host
They certainly have earned homefield for all regional games. Hope we have earned the first 2 rounds as you referenced the Jones game vs LW. We also played Jones and should have won in regulation but for clock management forcing overtime. Seems like the algorithms don't like blue and gold. Our other loss was to Lake Mary who beat up on Seminole when we were handicapped without our stud RB Taevion Swint.
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Should have an easier outing next week vs Lakewood at home, then will get 2 weeks of both rest and preparation for the playoffs. Schedule appears to be headed for the regional game between OHS and Armwood, but not taking any game for granted.
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Game went as I expected as it would be competitive but LW wouldn't score more than 14 points and that might have been the case if not for questionable PI late in the game that led to their last TD. Did get our big OL back as he got good reps throughout the game and pound the rock was the difference. Thanks for your take and would have enjoyed seeing you again. Recommending the LW vs Columbia game only made sense if you wanted to be on the winning side. Local paper (Lakeland Ledger) and the Polk'sters all were wrong.
- MarkECannon, Jullian and JDHoss
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1 hour ago, CoachGraham said:
Should be a really good game. Could genuinely go either way...
I agree, but have faith in our D so just gotta take care of the football.
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Should be a very competitive game between two solid teams. Both want and need the win to bolster the resume in the playoff rankings to get some home field edge in the early rounds. Osceola has had a solid 10 days by overwhelming Viera 49-9 to clinch the district, then on 2 days rest defeating Apopka at their place 14-6. See we are in the PickEms this week and thanks to those of you showing us some love. It is a road game but our kids look up to the challenge. I am out of state visiting family but will certainly be following the NFHS telecast. GO KOWBOYS!!
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1 hour ago, nolebull813 said:
Dillard 44, Garcia 0
my pick
We don't always agree, but I have to say you are probably right. On paper the record seems good but in reality, they are a paper tiger.
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14 minutes ago, TreyS said:
As you all probably know, there is another storm coming to the Florida area. I am not sure where this will go and won’t know which games will be canceled for a while. If you find out something I don’t know, could you please let me know?
If you live on that threatened gulf coast, concentrate on preparation not Friday night.
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29 minutes ago, h8r said:
fhsaa could care less about recruiting,
just read some of the comments on this very message board from posters....
"why would anyone say that my kid cant go to school A"
so in this case, the guy that was at the other school and turned them into a powerhouse thats coaching there, the dude with all the money for private 7 on 7s, etc, he aint dumb, he sent those messages that fade away after you see them, snapface or chatbook messenger or something like that.
no smoking gun if you cant prove it,
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those 30, they aint turning themselves in! they living the big timer life at mighty TFA.
Your view explains why they are extremely good on offense but not quite the same on the defensive side. I am a huge fan of "School Choice" when it comes to academics but not athletics; appears the powers at be not on the same wave length.
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Living in Central FL has cushioned the blows of most hurricanes over the past 60+years living here. In my lifetime, the 2 most significant impacts to Kissimmee were in 1960 by Hurricane Donna and then 20 years ago in 2004 by Hurricane Charley that devastated the gulf coast region around Port Charlotte. This current storm brewing on the far side of the Gulf and its projected path looks very worrisome even where I live, but much more so for the folks in the Tampa Bay area. Praying it will encounter enough wind sheer to minimize its strength and weaken it to some extent. If that doesn't happen, it might turn into our biggest catastrophe in recent memory hitting a highly populated area. Again, hoping and praying for everyone that possibly will have their lives turned upside down by Milton. Cancelling a game on Friday seems insignificant with that prospect.
- Perspective, JDHoss, DarterBlue2 and 2 others
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2 hours ago, THAT S--T WAS FUNNY said:
So, text messages between current TFA football staff members and student athletes that were enrolled in schools other than TFA as well as phone calls and text messages to the student athlete's parents are not "hard evidence"? I mean these street agents (TFA coaches) would show up to camps and 7 on 7 events in the off season with the sole purpose to recruit the kids by talking to their parents. I know that last part is not "hard evidence" but damn.
I assume they avoided the texting or any way to record their overtures to recruit these kids to declare "Plausible Deniability", seems I've heard that term before. Several fathers of players on our teams definitely were contacted by folks from that school, but I guess it's their word against the perpetrators. Two kids from OHS did transfer although they tried to get more. So you got people willing to say it happened and miraculously 30+ new players show up yet there is no case. Still believe if that was a public school like ours that was involved, we wouldn't be so fortunate.
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The school in question got 30+ Transfers this year with that number not being disputed. Multiple opposing coaches and even some of their own coaches and administrators believe the "RECRUITING" to have taken place and said as much. The FHSAA dropped those original allegations for what they called a lack of "HARD EVIDENCE". I assume that literally means you need that smoking gun that actually perpetrated the crime and they don't have that. Although, I am not a lawyer I have seen people convicted with strong circumstantial evidence and NO GUN! These other minor charges was something they did have hard evidence of so they used that to re-charge these folks. This private school should be made an example of to prevent this practice from continually getting worse, but the decision made only encourages the misbehavior. It is especially hard to swallow for schools like Lake Minneola and Leesburg that each lost 6 or 7 key members of their team to this particular school. The particular coach that has spearheaded this effort has a track record for committing these violations at other schools he has been employed. Should not be a hard case to prosecute. Pretty pathetic.
- Zachk1003, KeemD321 and Perspective
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1 hour ago, Floridaatlantic1 said:
Well the appeals board overturned the recruiting cheaters of first academy and are letting the five players play. The FHSAA acknowledged violations occurred but seems original punishment excessive. What bullcrap. All the more reason for promotion and delegation. Only way to even out playing fields from cheaters and non cheater
Agree with your outrage as it is bullcrap, though the appeals board is made up of several local AD's, principals, etc.. Still not in agreement with your promotion and relegation solution, but prefer idea pushed by those calling for an "OPEN DIVISION" placing those top 12-16 teams in a category of their own. I agree cheating does occur but your solution implies a team like ours cheats and even if you don't think that it would force us to play most years against those elite teams that do load up on transfers each and every year. Again, not in favor of solutions that simply reward the non-achievers. We have enough of that in our country already.
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Below is a link listing the Central FL poll conducted by our local sports reporter based on strictly coaches' opinion as of Sept. 29th. I think it is probably pretty accurate with 6 games having been played to analyze the data. Jones is the unanimous #1!!
Jones is unanimous No. 1 again in Super 16 Coaches Poll (orlandosentinel.com)
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13 minutes ago, Jullian said:
Yeah didn’t know DP was region 3!!!! They look like a contender!
For Central FL 7A just due to the sheer numbers gives them the best opportunity for a state title as well as Cocoa in 2A. All the other classifications are going to be difficult, ie.. Jones (4A) beating an American Heritage or Norland, The First Academy (2A) taking out Chaminade, etc.... Anything is possible, but the odds aren't that good as of now. Will see if any dark horses start to emerge.
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26 minutes ago, Jullian said:
One of your problems is out of all those good 7a teams, only 1 can potentially advance to the finals unless they’re from different Regions(1 or 2) & the 4 region champions are seeded for the semi’s. Jones is 2a???
That is a valid point regarding 7A teams, but Lake Mary and Seminole can make a strong case to come out of R1 while West Orange may be in the driver's seat in R2 after a convincing win over Apopka last night. Meanwhile, Dr. Phillips seems to be the clear favorite in R3 at this stage in the game but you may have a team from the West Palm area that comprises alot of that region that may be a strong challenger. If so, who?
Fhsaa dropped the hammer on TFA
in The Huddle
Posted
I agree with you that it would have been better if it happened early in the season. My guess is the FHSAA had early indications of guilt on TFA, but it probably became crystal clear to them that these folks were not going down without a fight as demonstrated by the lawyer they hired. So, it was incumbent to have all their ducks in a row to weather them challenging the charges. Hopefully, that is the case as they now have solid evidence of wrongdoing on many fronts and won't be intimidated.