89ColumbiaHighTiger

No, but that 88 Pensacola Pine Forest team we played was ridiculously good. That year we were 9-3 with our three loses to the 3A, 4A, and 5A state champions... Suwanee, Raines, and Pine Forest respectively. I think the classifications only went up to 5 back then. We hung with Suwanee and Raines, but Pine Forest beat us something like 42-7. They went on to be voted national champs that year.

To put it in simple terms, they let the players play in the regional finals, only calling obvious penalties that impacted the play. In the state semifinals they were calling ticky-tack penalties one play and missing obvious calls on the next. Probably didn't have an impact on the outcome since they were equally inconsistent.

The officiating is really inconsistent. Some crews want to be a big part of the game (ego) and others won't call anything. We played in the regional finals this year and the officiating was outstanding. Then we played in the state semifinals and it was awful. Just never know what to expect.

My name is Jason Ellington, I played center for CHS from 86-88, graduated in 89.

VA HS football is not what FL HS football is...or at least was. There is no Spring football, only 7 on 7 flag football. There is less emphasis on football here. A lot less community support and involvement than what we had in Lake City in the 90s. Having said that there are certainly programs here that could compete in FL just not across the board. Each year there are realistically about 2-4 teams in each classification (6 total) that compete for the state title. Officiating is awful. I teach and coached at King George HS about 20 miles east of Fredericksburg.

No, I keep track of their results yearly though. I joined the Marine Corps out of high school and retired in 2011, settling in Virginia. I teach and coach at a high school up here.

I played for Columbia High from 87-89. Gary Atkins and Scott Adams were outstanding linemen who should get some recognition. Kipp Davis, the FB was a beast!