Ray Icaza
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Posts posted by Ray Icaza
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On 9/10/2024 at 8:31 AM, nolebull813 said:
Poinciana is gonna play a bowl game if they get to 6 wins. Windermere coach said the same thing. If Orange County allows their independent teams to compete.
Poinciana might be a tough out for someone who missed the playoffs
Barring key injuries or unforeseen incident 6 wins should be a given with 3 already in the books. Probably their toughest opponent is Evans in the next game and the following 5 are all winnable till Timber Creek at the end. Rooting for them to get 8 this year. I think most schools in our county even if they aren't independent have chosen that model of scheduling to log winning seasons which can make them feel good about themselves which hopefully will lead them to schedule tougher opponents. Osceola looks for the strongest opponents in our central FL area as reflected in this year's schedule; we have 6 of the top 10 teams listed on the most recent Coach's poll for central FL either in Spring Game (Edgewater/Deland), KOC (Bishop Moore) and regular season Jones, Lake Mary, Apopka which we do believe helps come playoff time.
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32 minutes ago, AllOsceolaCountyFB said:
Cam Brown attended Osceola as a freshman then transferred to cypress creek where he played as a sophomore, then his junior year transferred to Poinciana which he is zoned for.
Amorey Monroe played for Poinciana last fall after moving down from east st louis
Actually met Amorey's dad during summer workouts and he seemed pretty excited about playing at OHS for his senior year. He said he was a speedster and would be playing the slot receiver. When I asked him where they moved from he indicated the Chicago area. Alijah Jenkins return to OHS after a few months at Jones may have been the reason for the switch back to Poinciana but it is just speculation. Amorey displayed excellent hands during his short time at Osceola and certainly will help Poinciana this year.
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8 hours ago, THAT S--T WAS FUNNY said:
2 future starting receivers and a qb is a lot of offensive talent leaving one school. Osceola is a clear example that transferring goes both ways. I'm sure most schools in Dade County would agree.
The 2 receivers that left during the summer has helped them offensively but one is a senior like Brown the QB while the other is a junior. Be curious to see what the junior does next year when Brown graduates if they don't have a QB in waiting that can throw.
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7 minutes ago, THAT S--T WAS FUNNY said:
I might be wrong, but I think I seen where Cameron Brown went to Osceola as well his freshman year.
I did hear that as well. Don't have any info on the reason for his transfer but it is the times we are in.
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15 minutes ago, nolebull813 said:
Their 2 wins prior are just as good (Lipscomb and Edgewater) as any other team in the top 10-25. They earned their spot with quality on field performances.
They are actually better wins, but they annihilated TC as this game was called early due to weather and they still hung 42 points against a traditionally good defensive team.
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3 minutes ago, nolebull813 said:
They are in my 25. Have them 24 before the T Coast game
Sorry if I wasn't clear as it was actually a compliment that you had included them in your Top 25 which is why I referenced it in this thread that showed just that.
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After last night it looks like The First Academy deserves your inclusion into the TOP 25 of your list. Total demolition of Treasure Coast appears to confirm these 30+ "Transfers" they got between seasons is definitely paying dividends. How far will they go, time will tell but no doubt they are for real.
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All Osceola County FB may be on to something singling out the Poinciana QB Cameron Brown. He delivered in a big way for a program that needs good vibes by defeating St. Cloud last night for their first win ever (20+ years) 19-7. He accounted for all 3 TD's thru the air and with his legs in a huge victory for them. Congrats to the Eagles and their new HC who currently has them undefeated, though playing independent. Talking to some of our kids fathers last night, they tell me his Dad Stacy Brown played for us a couple of decades ago so no sure how he ended up at Poinciana. Two of his primary receivers, Javonte Simpson-Lee and Amorey Monroe also just transferred from OHS to Poinciana over the summer. Losing players like that who may have not been starters certainly does weigh on our depth when injuries pop up as our roster is thin with about only 40 kids on it. Staying healthy will be a big key to any success we may have this year.
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1 hour ago, Jullian said:
Nice win for the Bucs. Congrats
We won, but they did have some playmakers.
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9 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:
The approach to the game makes a huge difference. How many possessions did Grubbs get vs. an Osceola team that was completely unable to move the ball? Compare that to the possessions he had vs. Lakeland. Lakeland never managed to run eight minutes off the clock without a single first down, as Osceola did. Different games.
Bud, forget the approach to the game. What would have been the difference if Lakeland was without Shanard Clowers last night. He is highly rated, though not as highly as Swint so we played as our HC expressed with one hand behind our backs the entire night. That was the real story. Both games played 4 quarters, 12 minutes each and today's local paper reported their RB Isaiah Thomas gained 130 yards on that vaunted D. Grubbs threw for over 200 and ran for a good chunk more. He ran once against us for 0 YARDS. Key for us was getting some 3 and outs (defense) against them (that is what dictates time of possession) whereas it doesn't appear your D did much of that. Keep spinning though, I like it.
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45 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:
I agree with you. But Isiah Thomas is a vastly underrated underrecruited back, though. He showed it against state champ Mainland last year and again this year against Lakeland.
I hope he gets some decent offers which I think he deserves. Grubbs, though not back at 2023 form, had his best passing night of the year. He also picked up two first downs with his legs when the pocket broke down.
Not arguing the quality of back the Isaiah Thomas is rather the defense he is playing against. The bit I did watch he gained more yards on the ground in the 4th quarter alone against Lakeland than he did against us the entire game. Just pulled that stat off the MaxPrep site and he had a total of 26 yards on 10 carries for a 2.6 average against us last week. All this fluff about milking the clock and possession had alot to do with a pick and a forced fumble, not our ability to run the clock. Was that the game plan? Absolutely and I stated as much as you need to control the number of possessions against any elite offense. Grubbs threw for an additional 200 thru the air for total offensive output under 240. What did LM do against that elite Lakeland defense? I do not know but willing to bet site unseen it was significantly more than that and Longtime Observer can spin it any way he wants but the way he has described that defense I expected them to limit LM to 14 points or so. But congrats to Lakeland with the win, just felt it wouldn't have been this close listening to all the talk of talent they were stacked with. I was pulling for LM simply due to the fact that win would benefit our ranking as we do not play Lakeland this year. Darter, I also hope that young man gets some offers this year and he probably will.
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Also looking for the Cocoa fans take on their game as most on this forum picked them which was surprising for an "Uninformed Observer" and the score reflects an ass whooping but didn't see this game either.
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From what little I did get to see of the 4th quarter, folks painted that Lakeland defense as elite and I certainly didn't see that which was surprising. Lake Mary seemed to move the ball pretty well on the ground and don't know if that was the case for the entire game. If they did, then that defense is overrated because I didn't feel like the run game was very effective against us despite continual 3 and outs, repeatedly giving them the ball right back which over time wore us down. Still early in the year with a lot of football to play.
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Sloppy game by both teams in a rain delayed game, but we will take the win. Got Swint back to get enough touches to make the offense a little more effective, but numerous penalties and self inflicted wounds cost us additional scoring opportunities. Happy to take the win against a solid south FL team but got more work to do before we can be effective against the top tier teams. Our defense was lights out again, though they had an extremely gifted athlete playing QB with excellent escape ability out of the pocket which did cause us some problems. Only TD was aided by two questionable personal foul calls for 15 yards each in the 4th quarter to keep possession of the football. We got the ball back with between 6-7 minutes in the final quarter at midfield after an onside kick attempt, but officials decided to call the game due to incoming extreme weather to end the game. Play St. Cloud next week for the 101st edition of our rivalry before taking on another top tier team in Jones the following week. Don't think we need to pound our chest over this win though they were ranked in MaxPreps pretty even with us among the top 50 or so statewide. Gotta get better.
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Lot tighter than I expected. I figured Lakeland by two scores but have not been watching the game as I just got home from our own rain delayed game.
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17 minutes ago, Ray Icaza said:
That argument carries a little validity, but it is more a matter of tradition, expectations, mentality, toughness, youth leagues and many other factors. When I attended HS in the mid 60's we fielded excellent teams and were competitive with the likes of Wildwood and other top tier teams throughout the state. We went to our first state championship in 1982 against Titusville, then made it to a state semi-final in 1990 vs Dillard where we lost 12-0 at their place before winning our state title in 1998. We have since made many deep runs into the playoffs to this day. All this transpired before the flimsy reason you give of "SCOOPING" up all the county talent. He have had some down years in between, but the reasons for our success is a bit more complex than your simplistic view. Plus, in the current environment we are at a distinct disadvantage regarding SCHOOL CHOICE with a county population of under 400,000 vs about 1.5 million people in Hillsborough. Recently on this forum I clearly stated we transferred more kids from our program to others than we took in. Most years it's a wash.
More evidence to dispel your statement is imbedded in this thread with the author of the thread claiming possibly the best QB in the county (Brown) plays for Poinciana. I haven't seen him play so have no opinion about him although we have played several times against the other two QB's that some would say are the best based on past production (stats). Sabby Meassick @TOHO and Logan King at SC. Wouldn't it behoove us to "SCOOP" one of these guys up as most consider that position to be the most important and our QB is not even in the discussion???
- ohs vargas and DarterBlue2
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2 hours ago, nolebull813 said:
But that’s because the talent is spread out. Osceola doesn’t have to compete with any other school in the county. They get all of the top players to themselves. Imagine if Armwood and tech combine teams and didn’t have to fight other schools for talent.
That argument carries a little validity, but it is more a matter of tradition, expectations, mentality, toughness, youth leagues and many other factors. When I attended HS in the mid 60's we fielded excellent teams and were competitive with the likes of Wildwood and other top tier teams throughout the state. We went to our first state championship in 1982 against Titusville, then made it to a state semi-final in 1990 vs Dillard where we lost 12-0 at their place before winning our state title in 1998. We have since made many deep runs into the playoffs to this day. All this transpired before the flimsy reason you give of "SCOOPING" up all the county talent. He have had some down years in between, but the reasons for our success is a bit more complex than your simplistic view. Plus, in the current environment we are at a distinct disadvantage regarding SCHOOL CHOICE with a county population of under 400,000 vs about 1.5 million people in Hillsborough. Recently on this forum I clearly stated we transferred more kids from our program to others than we took in. Most years it's a wash.
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1 hour ago, nolebull813 said:
I’m would like to see a postseason game between Osceola vs the best players from the 7 other teams. Lol. Who ya got?
Sneaky jab at our county, I can understand why. But the top teams from your county (Hillsborough) represented in the playoffs in the classification we play over the last dozen years or more have typically taken it on the chin. No guessing game there.
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2 hours ago, CoachGraham said:
Really feel like that was the only big "miss." Wasn't aware of all the transfers, and to be frank didn't have as much time to research them as I wanted to. But now with 2 weeks of data points I feel pretty good. And yeah no way they should all be ahead of you.
Actually, a bit of sarcasm as I and apparently several others on this forum are skeptical about the MaxPrep rankings when you see this with Clearwater Academy International who did not even field a team this year. But you gotta trust the algorithms kinda like the ones on social media. SURE!!!
- Dr. D, KeemD321 and CoachGraham
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10 hours ago, CoachGraham said:
1R-
1. Madison County (-)
2. Hawthorne (-)
3. Union County (-)
4. Chiefland (-)
5. Lafayette (-)
1A-
1. Chaminade-Madonna (-)
2. Clearwater Central Catholic (-)
3. Cardinal Newman (+2)
4. First Academy [Orlando] (NR)
5. First Baptist Academy [Naples] (-2)
Dropped Out: Benjamin
2A-
1. Cocoa (-)
2. Bishop Verot (-)
3. Bradford [Starke] (-)
4. Berkeley Prep (-)
5. Pensacola Catholic (-)
3A-
1. Miami Central (+1)
2. Eau Gallie (+1)
3. Northwestern (-2)
4. Raines (-)
5. South Sumter (-)
4A-
1. American Heritage [Plantation] (-)
2. St. Augustine (-)
3. Norland (+1)
4. Jones (-1)
5. Lake Wales (-)
5A-
1. St. Thomas Aquinas (-)
2. Lakeland (-)
3. Blanche Ely (NR)
4. Niceville (-)
5. Edgewater (-2)
Dropped Out: Mainland
6A-
1. Armwood (-)
2. Mandarin (+1)
3. Buchholz (-1)
4. West Boca Raton (-)
5. Nease (NR)
Dropped Out: Plant [Tampa]
7A-
1. Venice (-)
2. Lake Mary (-)
3. Columbus (-)
4. Palmetto (-)
5. University [Orange City] (-)
Not a lot of changes this week, but some big games coming up that could change that.
10 hours ago, CoachGraham said:1R-
1. Madison County (-)
2. Hawthorne (-)
3. Union County (-)
4. Chiefland (-)
5. Lafayette (-)
1A-
1. Chaminade-Madonna (-)
2. Clearwater Central Catholic (-)
3. Cardinal Newman (+2)
4. First Academy [Orlando] (NR)
5. First Baptist Academy [Naples] (-2)
Dropped Out: Benjamin
2A-
1. Cocoa (-)
2. Bishop Verot (-)
3. Bradford [Starke] (-)
4. Berkeley Prep (-)
5. Pensacola Catholic (-)
3A-
1. Miami Central (+1)
2. Eau Gallie (+1)
3. Northwestern (-2)
4. Raines (-)
5. South Sumter (-)
4A-
1. American Heritage [Plantation] (-)
2. St. Augustine (-)
3. Norland (+1)
4. Jones (-1)
5. Lake Wales (-)
5A-
1. St. Thomas Aquinas (-)
2. Lakeland (-)
3. Blanche Ely (NR)
4. Niceville (-)
5. Edgewater (-2)
Dropped Out: Mainland
6A-
1. Armwood (-)
2. Mandarin (+1)
3. Buchholz (-1)
4. West Boca Raton (-)
5. Nease (NR)
Dropped Out: Plant [Tampa]
7A-
1. Venice (-)
2. Lake Mary (-)
3. Columbus (-)
4. Palmetto (-)
5. University [Orange City] (-)
Not a lot of changes this week, but some big games coming up that could change that.
I know you caught a bit of flack over Lake Minneola, but overall your list seems pretty solid unlike MaxPreps. These clowns currently have Clearwater Academy International ranked not only ahead of us, but Bishop Moore, Edgewater, Manatee, Lake Wales, Bartram Trail, Deland, Plant, Apopka ........... well you get my drift.
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17 minutes ago, Ray Icaza said:
Again, just a difference of opinion and I appreciate your view. In mine, Buggs should have never stepped on the field but they should have started Gunner Holland who could run for the entire year. Leading 7-0 after halftime in the semi-final game, we marched down the field primarily behind the running of Swint to about the Lakeland 15 yard line. On second and 3, we opted for your strategy and told Buggs to throw a corner route if it was open otherwise throw it out of the endzone. Instead, he panicked heaved it into the middle of the field for a stupid pick which turned the tide of the game. Buggs was so efficient he delivered 0 TD's and 3 PICKS!!! Izaiah appears to be a real nice kid, but not the answer in my view as in the few plays they gave him a look he took a sack and then mispitched the ball for a fumble LM recovered inside our 20 for an easy score. I have no dog in the hunt, just don't believe in the back and forth between QB's rather tap one on the shoulder and tell him "YOUR MY GUY"!!
In the case you may have not known, Buggs never played 11-man football only 8-man till he landed on our campus as a senior. Gunner's dad played on our state championship so he came up through our program and was only a junior who could have been a strong asset for us as a senior last year. He opted to focus only on wrestling if he wasn't going to start which left us with an inexperienced, undersized sophomore with no Swint. Yes, hindsight is 20-20 but that was my opinion back then and it hasn't changed. Good bit of news is I don't think Swint will be out long as we may not need him for the next couple of weeks till we take on Jones.
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46 minutes ago, ohs vargas said:
Yeah I read somewhere EP intends to stick to the og way and run the ball. I get that, but having the personnel to run the ball and spread some teams out helps give Swint, Jenkins (one of the best weapons they need to get the ball in his hands more), etc. so many more opportunities. You mentioned swint going for 100+ his sophmore season against lakeland, a big reason for that is the offense that year was very balanced they could pass and run. (The QB that yaer Buggs was not a mobile QB either). Izaiah is a pocket passer not a dual threat, in my opinion he would have been a great fit in the scheme they used before with Buggs.
Again, just a difference of opinion and I appreciate your view. In mine, Buggs should have never stepped on the field but they should have started Gunner Holland who could run for the entire year. Leading 7-0 after halftime in the semi-final game, we marched down the field primarily behind the running of Swint to about the Lakeland 15 yard line. On second and 3, we opted for your strategy and told Buggs to throw a corner route if it was open otherwise throw it out of the endzone. Instead, he panicked heaved it into the middle of the field for a stupid pick which turned the tide of the game. Buggs was so efficient he delivered 0 TD's and 3 PICKS!!! Izaiah appears to be a real nice kid, but not the answer in my view as in the few plays they gave him a look he took a sack and then mispitched the ball for a fumble LM recovered inside our 20 for an easy score. I have no dog in the hunt, just don't believe in the back and forth between QB's rather tap one on the shoulder and tell him "YOUR MY GUY"!!
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7 hours ago, ohs vargas said:
Those 2 starting Oline man and Swint out definitely hurts, hope they can all be healthy come playoff time.
One thing im curious about is the QB play, they have been rotating both qbs (Cam & Izaiah) in most of the games.
The few drives Osceola has been under shotgun to pass, have all been with Cam at QB. Dont get me wrong Cam is good but he's more of a dual threat.
Where they have yet to even give Izaiah (the transfer from Oak Ridge) a chance in a shotgun formation and see what he can do, all his snaps have been under center, 95% of his snaps being run plays. I feel he can help this offense in the passing game more, they have yet to utilize him to his strengths. I get it Osceola's a run at you first team but they need to do something new when they come across a team that can stop the run like Lake Mary did. That 0 firsts downs for nearly the entire game aint cutting it.
7 hours ago, ohs vargas said:Those 2 starting Oline man and Swint out definitely hurts, hope they can all be healthy come playoff time.
One thing im curious about is the QB play, they have been rotating both qbs (Cam & Izaiah) in most of the games.
The few drives Osceola has been under shotgun to pass, have all been with Cam at QB. Dont get me wrong Cam is good but he's more of a dual threat.
Where they have yet to even give Izaiah (the transfer from Oak Ridge) a chance in a shotgun formation and see what he can do, all his snaps have been under center, 95% of his snaps being run plays. I feel he can help this offense in the passing game more, they have yet to utilize him to his strengths. I get it Osceola's a run at you first team but they need to do something new when they come across a team that can stop the run like Lake Mary did. That 0 firsts downs for nearly the entire game aint cutting it.
The HC has been pretty clear this year his intent is to "Pound the Rock". Especially miss Taevion and the big tackle Marcus Ferrer in that offensive philosophy. I happen to agree with that scheme based solely on "Personnel". Neither QB is great throwing it but can throw in spots which I happen to believe shouldn't be waiting till 3rd and long instead striking deep on 1st down now and then. I attend regular practices and what I see there has translated to the game, which is the offense they are utilizing requires a QB to run some. The kid from Oak Ridge has shown little in that regard and my humble opinion is they should stick strictly with Cam whether under center or in the shotgun is irrelevant. If we were in the business of going out and recruiting QB's like the team Longtime Observer supports, we could have a more "DYNAMIC" offense, but we play with the hand we are dealt. As far as holding down dynamic offenses, those games generally are shootouts as they can't stop anyone. He talks about the offenses of today yet seems to forget that just 2 short years ago in the actual state championship game between us and Lakeland the final was 14-7!!! Again, everyone is entitled to their opinion and this is simply mine.
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2 hours ago, Nulli Secundus said:
It was 2007. Osceola upended Lakeland twice that season for the district title, then in the playoffs.
True about Bubba, but Swint got over 100 yards at your place (state semi-final) in 2022 as a sophomore against that vaunted Dreadnaught defense in a game we lost due to poor QB play. My take is not a snub on Lake Mary nor Noah Grubbs and we are all entitled to our opinions. Undoubtedly there have been better backs and in the future that will also hold true. I don't need to dig as deep in opining about talent as in my humble opinion, 2 QB's I have watched that are currently playing who I rate better are Brady Hart at Cocoa and Tramell Jones at Mandarin. What I am convinced of is the quality of our defense as we held Edgewater and Deland scoreless in the Spring Game, with the same for Bishop Moore in the KOC during the first half against our 1's. We followed up with another shutout week 1 against Treasure Coast, so felt we could win a 17-14 type game against Lake Mary with Swint at full strength. He isn't simply talented but can be used receiving an also as a decoy which is how Sinophat gained 111 yards vs Treasure Coast last week. Without him in the backfield we were toothless running and with regards of Semaj Fleming brought up by Darter, total respect. His dad played RB for OHS in the mid 90's and was also very good, but Semaj is not a running back. As I previously brought up our local paper promotes him alot but if you sat in those stands in May for the Spring game vs Edgewater clearly Swint was the best offensive weapon on the field bar none. Just my take but respect the opinions of others.
- DarterBlue2 and Nulli Secundus
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101st EDITION of KOWBOYS VS BULLDOGS
in The Huddle
Posted
Friday night we play rival St. Cloud for the 101st time qualifying the game as the 5th oldest rivalry in Florida and 20th oldest in the entire nation. Still wish it were played as our final game as in years past, but as has been expressed in another thread "The Times they are A Changing". The past couple of decades it hasn't been as competitive as most folks would want and this year that trend will probably continue unfortunately not in St. Cloud's favor. The kids will play hard on both sides as tradition demands that effort and pride. Will be there with my oldest son plus possibly other family/friends and will post results later that night. GO KOWBOYS!!