Joker99

It’s all good... should have known that was going to happen. I’m sure Coach Springs will have our guys back in this game next year... hopefully we’ll figure out how to be balanced on offense between now and then or it’ll be another ass kicking. Defense never had a chance with 6 three and outs to start the game. Good luck the rest of the way.

I guess that’s fair

42 is a pretty high number. Why don’t we just fire up the grills and say Niceville will hang a 50 burger on the Island?

Wow. “Handle them”.... They sure didn’t do that.... you’re probably a week early on predicting a handling of Fleming Island but Idk we’ll find out on Friday.

Just imagine how good this team will be when they put two halves together. They were up 27-6 at the half. This team is as good as we’ve had in a long time. Tonight they showed glimpses of that. Coach Springs and this staff have a long way to go with this team but this is gonna be a fun year to watch.

7A-1 is missing a team

Anyone who thinks otherwise is a clown.

We’re better than we’ve been in quite some time. A lot better.

I just don’t understand why we got FPC on there and not FI when our Varsity Starters beat them 21-14 but what do I know.

Anyone who puts out a top 10 football teams in North Florida and doesn’t have Fleming Island on it is a joke. Take that to the bank.

I think you find out more about the direction of a program in the second year versus the first year. Just as a new coach shouldn’t have to take the blame for losses if they have taken over a program that was in disarray prior to their arrival. I think the same logic should be applied when evaluating a coach who wins in their first year that they arrive when they take over a program that was successful prior to them being a head coach.

It’s Clay County not Duval. When you go from being as good as they were under Coach Chip to as bad as they have been the past two years. I don’t find it that shocking. That school should be competing for District Champs and Region Champs with the kind of talent that is over there.

The AD said the school wants to go in a different direction, per Justin Barney of the Times Union

Add Oakleaf to the list.

Golden Eagles down 14 in the first possession of the second half. Bartram Trail has the ball on its own 29 it's 4th & 12. Most teams punt the ball. Most teams respect the other team's offense enough to punt the ball there. Not Bartram Trail. I wouldn't have punted the ball knowing how bad Fleming Island's offense is either. A few plays later Joey Gatewood finds Xavier Hutchinson in the endzone. We go down 21. Game over. Next year they'll either punt the ball, or they are going to pay for it. And that's going to happen because Coach Spring's and this coaching staff are going to prepare this team to be feared on offense. Congrats to the guys on this team though. They fought hard and did everything they could to get the Golden Eagles to be in the position they were in last night. Really proud of these guys for getting this program back on track. This was a special group of seniors and they will be missed.

I'm sure Coach Springs and the boys don't have that mentality. And honestly I would love nothing more than to get my hands on that Jumbotron down in Lakeland just one more time, but if we're all gonna sit here and be honest..... it's not gonna happen.

The Ryan Smenda show moves on. It's been a fun season so far. But all good things must come to an end and it looks like we'll see that end on Black Friday. The Golden Eagles defense was no match for Bartram Trail a few weeks ago as they lit up the scoreboard and got over 400 total yards of offense on our guys I'm sure they will probably do the same next week, but we'll see. A lot of bad history going into this one: The Golden Eagles are 0-2 against teams from St. John's County this year. Including a loss to Creekside who Bartram Trail beat 49-0. The Golden Eagles have never won a Regional Final Game. Going 0-3 all time in those contests and one of those came against Bartram Trail. But we'll just try and enjoy the trip out to Bartram Trail and enjoy how great this season has been.

Yes he is

And apparently he throws too, what does this kid not do?

Yes, without Ryan Smenda the Golden Eagles would not have won last night and we wouldn't be in the playoffs. He does everything for this team, whether it's blocking punts, kicking 70 yard punts, recording 23 tackles in one game against Bartram Trail earlier this year, or converting on a 4th and 8 run to keep the drive alive that put the Golden Eagles up 17-14 with 5 minutes to go last night. The kid does it all, and he is committed to Wake Forest.

Unfortunately, this Golden Eagle team is beatable as well. We have the best LB in the state of Florida and then that's it.

What a night for the Golden Eagles. Fortunately with the win tonight we'll get to take the trip down I-4 to Orlando to play Edgewater for the second round of the playoffs. First playoff win since the legendary trip to Gene Cox Stadium back in 2012 to beat Lincoln.

Score hardly tells the story of this one late in the game with just 8 minutes to go the Golden Eagles were trailing 23-16 with the ball. Tonight we learned just how bad our offense is. If the Golden Eagles are going to make it out of Regionals for the first time in school history the Golden Eagles are gonna need to figure out how to give our defense a chance to win games. Two picks, and two blocked punts isn't going to do that. Despite the loss this program is heading in the right direction, and it's only a matter of time until the offense turns the corner that the defense has already turned. This football team will have the opportunity to do that in the playoffs this year and hopefully they will capitalize on that.

It's good to see your still around as well. I always have enjoyed your insight on your Mainland Bucs. I wish some of the other guys still had a presence on the forums online it always makes Fridays a little more fun.

In 2007 10 years ago, there was a team in Fleming Island that wasn't very good to be quite honest. They lost 4 out of their first 5 games. But something happened in the middle of that season that changed this program. In that season the Golden Eagles learned how to win, they learned how to be tough, and they learned to play for one another. In a span of 7 years the football program lost what made this program so successful. Now as we go into week 8 of the season it seems like that Fleming Island Magic has been found again. The Golden Eagles haven't been the most dominant team in the last 7 weeks but they have won games, they have won the games they needed to win and the ones that they are supposed to. Now they face a familiar foe that will travel across the Shands bridge on Friday night. These two teams have had great games over the past decade and I expect the same on Friday night. This matchup reminds me so much of that game that ended our season 10 years ago and continued the bears. On one side of the field the Bears have QB's in the backfield that are highly touted and recruited back then it was Kyle Parker(Clemson) now it's Joey Gatewood(Auburn) and Riley Smith, on the other side of the field we had the fiercest most dominant LB in North Florida in Wesley Whiddon and now we have Ryan Smenda. Just like the Golden Eagles were the underdog back then, they will be the underdog on Friday night and rightfully so. The Bears have been dominant this year on both sides of the ball while the Golden Eagles have been dominant on defense but not on offense. The key to this game will be in the trenches, and turnovers. The Golden Eagles have to be balanced on offense and Dean Hyams and our RB's have to protect the football. The Golden Eagles haven't played in a game this big since 2013, but I promise you they will play in another one equally as big before this season is over. I love that this game is a home game, when the Rock is Rockin there is no tougher place to play in North Florida.