Who’s the top rival?

[Nulli Secundus]

11 hours ago, skyway said:

It depends some on district and playoff match ups.  There was a stretch in the 80s and early 90s when Bradenton Manatee was arguably Lakeland's biggest rivalry. There were some epic playoff games, and then they shared a district for a few years. From 1996-~2008 you could argue STA was the biggest rival. Right now it sure looks like Lake Gibson.

Lakeland is much more loaded in terms of returning talent and transfers, but LG has some awesome talent back, lots of young prospects, and a few transfers, too. One has to figure Lakeland is the favorite in 2022, but it's hard to imagine a Gibson team with Cormani McClain and Brayshon Williams in the secondary going down easily.

Don't remind me.  Manatee made my time in high school miserable back when a district loss could leave you sitting at home during the playoffs.  I recall losing to Tommy Frazier's '91 Manatee team in Bradenton followed by another defeat by the Hurricanes in '92.  Plant City could be added to the mix as I recall some heated battles during my time.  The most success Lakeland had while I was in high school was my senior year in '93 season when we completed our first ever undefeated season and the only time we made the playoffs while I was at Lakeland.  We were bounced in the first round by Sarasota Riverview, LOL.

STA became a rival by circumstance.  I'd argue that STA and Lakeland are rivals only because the planets aligned and we happened to meet 7 times from 1996 and 2008.

Lakeland may be the favorite against LG on paper but the Naughts still have to prove it.

[Ray Icaza]

Osceola and St. Cloud are the two oldest HS in our county so still a rivalry although more adequately fits the Perspective definition of "Tradition".  They still want to play as do the locals even though in recent years the games haven't been very competitive and I applaud them for wanting the challenge.  It is one of the oldest traditional games in the state of Florida and began back in 1925 so it is featured as part of the "Great American Rivalry Series".  I think it will be the 98th meeting and they should be improved this year over last as they return a bunch of kids that got better as the season progressed so they should have more success this year overall.  Other rivalries for us change within our landscape as certain teams get strong providing competitive games with playoff implications, then fall back being replaced by someone else.  Over the years it has fluctuated alot for this reason so we have no consistent school for more than just a few years.

[Jambun82]

On 3/12/2022 at 10:54 AM, Nulli Secundus said:

Don't remind me.  Manatee made my time in high school miserable back when a district loss could leave you sitting at home during the playoffs.  I recall losing to Tommy Frazier's '91 Manatee team in Bradenton followed by another defeat by the Hurricanes in '92.  Plant City could be added to the mix as I recall some heated battles during my time.  The most success Lakeland had while I was in high school was my senior year in '93 season when we completed our first ever undefeated season and the only time we made the playoffs while I was at Lakeland.  We were bounced in the first round by Sarasota Riverview, LOL.

STA became a rival by circumstance.  I'd argue that STA and Lakeland are rivals only because the planets aligned and we happened to meet 7 times from 1996 and 2008.

Lakeland may be the favorite against LG on paper but the Naughts still have to prove it.

Was Lakeland down for a few years in the early 90's? It is hard to imagine the Dreadnaughts not making the playoffs for multiple seasons. 

[skyway]

19 minutes ago, Jambun82 said:

Was Lakeland down for a few years in the early 90's? It is hard to imagine the Dreadnaughts not making the playoffs for multiple seasons. 

That was the era where only the district champ made the playoffs, and Lakeland and classic-era Manatee shared a district. Manatee teams that won state titles (sometimes decisively) won tight district games over Lakeland to make the playoffs. At least once it happened on a Monday tie-breaker with Lake Gibson.

[Nulli Secundus]

1 hour ago, Jambun82 said:

Was Lakeland down for a few years in the early 90's? It is hard to imagine the Dreadnaughts not making the playoffs for multiple seasons. 

 

57 minutes ago, skyway said:

That was the era where only the district champ made the playoffs, and Lakeland and classic-era Manatee shared a district. Manatee teams that won state titles (sometimes decisively) won tight district games over Lakeland to make the playoffs. At least once it happened on a Monday tie-breaker with Lake Gibson.

As @skyway stated, those were rough years and only the district champion made the playoffs.  After Lakeland's first title in '86, the Naughts didn't sniff the post-season again until '93.  During that time, Manatee played in 3 title games, winning 2.  

[Jambun82]

On 3/13/2022 at 8:09 PM, skyway said:

That was the era where only the district champ made the playoffs, and Lakeland and classic-era Manatee shared a district. Manatee teams that won state titles (sometimes decisively) won tight district games over Lakeland to make the playoffs. At least once it happened on a Monday tie-breaker with Lake Gibson.

Thank you for the information. 

[Jambun82]

On 3/13/2022 at 9:22 PM, Nulli Secundus said:

 

As @skyway stated, those were rough years and only the district champion made the playoffs.  After Lakeland's first title in '86, the Naughts didn't sniff the post-season again until '93.  During that time, Manatee played in 3 title games, winning 2.  

Thank you for that information. My high school football team played at Bryant Stadium in 1994. 

[Nulli Secundus]

On 3/14/2022 at 11:24 PM, Jambun82 said:

Thank you for that information. My high school football team played at Bryant Stadium in 1994. 

I was looking for an old thread and came across this one.  Please forgive my 3 year delay, lol.  What high school did you attend?

[muckboy561]

Muck Bowl....  yall already know bout that greatest rivalry in the state of Florida lol

[JDHoss]

29 minutes ago, muckboy561 said:

Muck Bowl....  yall already know bout that greatest rivalry in the state of Florida lol

I'd go with that one. Last year was our first one, and I hope to never miss another one. We're going to tailgate there this year. 

I thought Miami NW v Central was a great event. 

On a lesser level, Fort Pierce Central v Westwood is extremely intense, as is Jensen Beach v Martin Co. 

[Beek]

I know of 2 in my life that I have experienced. 

1. Poinciana vs Liberty. Prior to me taking over the program at Poinciana. The Eagles had never won this game. There was a trophy that was made to be passed between the schools, but it only had resided at liberty. Liberty was born from Poinciana high school zone. It was and still is the only thing that gets talked about during game week, in any sport. Poinciana has finally turned the tide and is winning at most sports now. 

 

2. South Lake and East Ridge. This is my second year experiencing this rivalry. The kids all grew up together, know each other. Yet this was the nastiest game I have ever been a part of. There were more personal fouls than I can count. 90% of them were offsetting. I did truly believe the referees were getting paid per flag thrown. Parents talking smack in the stands, the whole student section on the visitors side chanting "score board" while the south lake team went into their field house adjacent to the visitor stands. East ridge was up 35-21 at half. One of the East ridge players was ejected in the 2nd half for throwing a punch at a player and coach, who was trying to break up the scuffle. It was so bad at the end of the game our SRO would not let us shake hands!  By the way South lake scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to win!  

[nolebull813]

53 minutes ago, Beek said:

I know of 2 in my life that I have experienced. 

1. Poinciana vs Liberty. Prior to me taking over the program at Poinciana. The Eagles had never won this game. There was a trophy that was made to be passed between the schools, but it only had resided at liberty. Liberty was born from Poinciana high school zone. It was and still is the only thing that gets talked about during game week, in any sport. Poinciana has finally turned the tide and is winning at most sports now. 

 

2. South Lake and East Ridge. This is my second year experiencing this rivalry. The kids all grew up together, know each other. Yet this was the nastiest game I have ever been a part of. There were more personal fouls than I can count. 90% of them were offsetting. I did truly believe the referees were getting paid per flag thrown. Parents talking smack in the stands, the whole student section on the visitors side chanting "score board" while the south lake team went into their field house adjacent to the visitor stands. East ridge was up 35-21 at half. One of the East ridge players was ejected in the 2nd half for throwing a punch at a player and coach, who was trying to break up the scuffle. It was so bad at the end of the game our SRO would not let us shake hands!  By the way South lake scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to win!  

So the Clermont Highlanders and Groveland Greenbacks have been playing football since the 20’s, then shut down in 1992 with South Lake opening in 1993. So all the kids from Clermont had to go to South Lake. 
 

in 2003, due to overcrowding East Ridge popped up giving Clermont their own school against after 10 years. 
 

so South Lake vs East Ridge is just a continuation of Clermont vs Groveland. 
 

This is the Lake County game of the year 

[Jambun82]

6 hours ago, Nulli Secundus said:

I was looking for an old thread and came across this one.  Please forgive my 3 year delay, lol.  What high school did you attend?

I suppose that I can forgive you! I will tell you this, our football team was allowed to leave school in the morning for the trip across the state, and we watched Ace Ventura: Pet Detective on the bus on the way to Lakeland. None of our fans made the trip, and Lakeland fans sat behind our bench and taunted us the whole game. Rod "He Hate Me" Smart was one of the running backs along with Laconia Worlds. Why I remember that, I have no idea! 

[PinellasFB]

Palm Harbor University and East Lake HS both absolutely hate each other.  It's true hatred.  PHU vs Dunedin and PHU vs Tarpon Springs are rivals too, but friendly rivals.

[Drogo]

On 3/11/2022 at 12:02 PM, roygod said:

Vero Beach vs Treasure Coast now have the toughest rivalry in east central Florida! It used to be Vero Beach vs Fort pierce Central, but FP Central head coaches kept quitting and the program went downhill real bad.

Vero’s traditional rival was Merritt Island due to both programs meeting in hard fought games in their state championship years.

As you mentioned Vero has always had a “rivalry” with Fort Pierce Central as they were the two dominant programs in this area and were district foes. Central has a bit of a chip (rightly so) about their kids being “home grown” as they lose a significant amount of talent to Vero and their resources. But to be honest, Central’s main rival has always been Fort Pierce Westwood and even the Vero games don’t carry the intensity and hatred that the “Showdown” game does each year- which is why it’s played on Saturday morning. 
 

Vero’s true rival should be Sebastian River, because they’re the only two public schools in this county. When they played the games were heated and exactly what a rivalry game should be. Sebastian River broke off the game a few years back and now refuse to play Vero because they said the game got too intense and they wanted to let it cool for a bit. Truth be told, Sebastian was no longer competitive and the game was embarrassing on their end. Hopefully if they can turn their program around the game can be played again.
 

As of right now, I would say Vero has no “rival” to speak of. 

[nolebull813]

5 minutes ago, Drogo said:

Vero’s traditional rival was Merritt Island due to both programs meeting in hard fought games in their state championship years.

As you mentioned Vero has always had a “rivalry” with Fort Pierce Central as they were the two dominant programs in this area and were district foes. Central has a bit of a chip (rightly so) about their kids being “home grown” as they lose a significant amount of talent to Vero and their resources. But to be honest, Central’s main rival has always been Fort Pierce Westwood and even the Vero games don’t carry the intensity and hatred that the “Showdown” game does each year- which is why it’s played on Saturday morning. 
 

Vero’s true rival should be Sebastian River, because they’re the only two public schools in this county. When they played the games were heated and exactly what a rivalry game should be. Sebastian River broke off the game a few years back and now refuse to play Vero because they said the game got too intense and they wanted to let it cool for a bit. Truth be told, Sebastian was no longer competitive and the game was embarrassing on their end. Hopefully if they can turn their program around the game can be played again.
 

As of right now, I would say Vero has no “rival” to speak of. 

I went to the Vero/FPC game back in 2012 and it was intense. You had to sit in your assigned seat and it was packed. Most of the time the entire crowd was standing. It felt like a true rivalry game. 
 

And yeah, FPC is the true rival. Since the 20’s. 
 

The Fort Pierce Eagles vs Vero Beach Indians was the top rivalry early on back in the day. 
 

Fort Pierce started in playing football in 1923. Vero Beach 1927. For the first 3 years, they played each other twice per year and from the until today have played almost every single year. 
 

Fort Pierce was renamed Dan McCarty High from 1953-1969, and then in 1970, McCarty merged with Lincoln Park Academy to create FPC. 
 

 

[Drogo]

9 minutes ago, nolebull813 said:

I went to the Vero/FPC game back in 2012 and it was intense. You had to sit in your assigned seat and it was packed. Most of the time the entire crowd was standing. It felt like a true rivalry game. 
 

And yeah, FPC is the true rival. Since the 20’s. 
 

The Fort Pierce Eagles vs Vero Beach Indians was the top rivalry early on back in the day. 
 

Fort Pierce started in playing football in 1923. Vero Beach 1927. For the first 3 years, they played each other twice per year and from the until today have played almost every single year. 
 

Fort Pierce was renamed Dan McCarty High from 1953-1969, and then in 1970, McCarty merged with Lincoln Park Academy to create FPC. 
 

 

This years FPC game was a throwback to that era. The Cobras came in ready to play and fought tooth and nail against a more talented Vero team, going into half with a lead, but Vero’s size wore them down in the 4th. I would not be surprised to see these two teams meet again in the playoffs. 
 

Even the Lawnwood stadium announcer made it a point to constantly remind Vero of their “homegrown talent” after every touchdown and big play, obviously taking a shot at the large amount of ST Lucie county/ Fort Pierce kids who play at Vero. 

[LongtimeVero]

Toughest rivaly for Vero during the Billy Livings era was Merrit Island..... Had some classic matchups for the district championship, with 8-9 thousand people in attendance.