They are not Cake Mary anymore

[DarterBlue2]

I left the Lake Mary game at halftime. They held a 29-0 lead over Evans when I left. With them getting the ball to start the 3rd, I saw no point in staying. While Evans is not a premium team, they had beaten Lake Brantley 48-7 and kept losses against Winter Park and Seminole relatively close. I am guessing that LM scored early in the 3rd, cleared their bench to mark the running clock and that Evans got some garbage time points. 

Lake Mary has far and away the best offense I have seen in 4M either live or via video. If they don't win the state title, it's because they get outscored in a game where both teams score in the region of 50 points. I really don't see any team in 4M that is going to contain them. 

I purposefully did not attend the Apopka game this week as I felt either APK was going to win a blowout (I take no pleasure watching us beat the sisters of the poor to a pulp), or we were going to struggle which would be extremely unsatisfying coming off our best offensive performance of the season last week against Olympia. In truth, the result against Lake Brantley 27-7 was kind of mediocre: we did not struggle, but neither did we blow them out.  I can say definitively that our only chance against Lake Mary would be to go on five clock eating drives of 7 minutes or more each of which ended in 7. If we were able to do that, we would have a 50/50 chance against them by dint of keeping their offense off the field for much of the game. All we would then need is an interception or a fumble recovery and Apopka would win.

Unfortunately, the odds of the game playing out that way are 5% at best. Therefore, if @nolebull813 selects the Apopka vs Lake Mary game, for the first time ever my choice will not be the Blue Darters. 

[nolebull813]

5 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

I left the Lake Mary game at halftime. They held a 29-0 lead over Evans when I left. With them getting the ball to start the 3rd, I saw no point in staying. While Evans is not a premium team, they had beaten Lake Brantley 48-7 and kept losses against Winter Park and Seminole relatively close. I am guessing that LM scored early in the 3rd, cleared their bench to mark the running clock and that Evans got some garbage time points. 

Lake Mary has far and away the best offense I have seen in 4M either live or via video. If they don't win the state title, it's because they get outscored in a game where both teams score in the region of 50 points. I really don't see any team in 4M that is going to contain them. 

I purposefully did not attend the Apopka game this week as I felt either APK was going to win a blowout (I take no pleasure watching us beat the sisters of the poor to a pulp), or we were going to struggle which would be extremely unsatisfying coming off our best offensive performance of the season last week against Olympia. In truth, the result against Lake Brantley 27-7 was kind of mediocre. we did not struggle, but neither did we blow them out.  I can say definitively that our only chance against Lake Mary would be to go on five clock eating drives of 7 minutes or more each of which ended in 7. If we were able to do that, we would have a 50/50 chance against them by dint of keeping their offense off the field for much of the game. All we would then need is an interception or a fumble recovery and Apopka would win.

Unfortunately, the odds of the game playing out that way are 5% at best. Therefore, if @nolebull813 selects the Apopka vs Lake Mary game, for the first time every my choice will not be the Blue Darters. 

I probably won’t pick it because I don’t think anyone will pick Apopka in that game. If 2 people agree to pick Apopka, I’ll put it in. Lol

[DarterBlue2]

2 minutes ago, nolebull813 said:

I probably won’t pick it because I don’t think anyone will pick Apopka in that game. If 2 people agree to pick Apopka, I’ll put it in. Lol

I will not be one of the two. Lake Mary goes 10-0 regular season and 14-0 going into the state title game. 

[Dan in Daytona]

On 10/13/2023 at 11:34 PM, DarterBlue2 said:

I will not be one of the two. Lake Mary goes 10-0 regular season and 14-0 going into the state title game. 

Darter's all in on Lake Mary.....you got a bigger pair then I do  

[DarterBlue2]

20 minutes ago, Dan in Daytona said:

Darter's all in on Lake Mary.....you got a bigger pair then I do  

I should have added the qualifier: "more likely than not" before 10-0 and 14-0. But yes, at this moment, I do believe they are playing the best football in the extended Orlando area among the larger class schools. 

[nolebull813]

So let me see if I’m following. 
 

Before game against Evans: Cake Mary

After game against Evans: Lake Mary

 

Do I have that right? 

[DarterBlue2]

29 minutes ago, nolebull813 said:

So let me see if I’m following. 
 

Before game against Evans: Cake Mary

After game against Evans: Lake Mary

 

Do I have that right? 

No. Before the 2019 season, Cake Mary, from 2019 to 2022, a team on the rise; 2023, a likely state champion. 

[Ray Icaza]

7 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

No. Before the 2019 season, Cake Mary, from 2019 to 2022, a team on the rise; 2023, a likely state champion. 

Won't have to wait long to see who is correct as they face their toughest test over the next 3 weeks against APK, Seminole and Mainland.  Not a betting man, but if I was my chips would be with the views expressed by Darter. 

[DarterBlue2]

Tonight my beloved Apopka Blue Darters were carved up, sliced and diced, by the Lake Mary Rams. The final score was 49-21 as we scored a final touchdown on our penultimate drive to make the score look a little more respectable. This loss was the first running clock put on us (I believe) since 2005 when a very good Madison County team did the same to us at their place. And, in the interim we have played some great teams such as 2018 Lakeland and 2021 Venice.

Res Ipsa Loquitur (The loss speaks for itself).

I am 95% sure Lake Mary will win class 4M easily and I also believe they likely do so with an undefeated record. Even if they accomplish this feat, I am equally sure the Nay Sayers will say: 1. 4M was not good this year. 2. They would get blow out by Central, Chaminade, Norland, St. Thomas, Cocoa, etc. 

The above may or may not be true. We will never know. But in truth and in fact, this is a very, very good football team that is superbly coached. I would put my money that no team in the state would "blow them out." 

As for Noah Grubbs, I can't say enough about this young man's upside potential. Absent choosing Baseball if he's a high draft pick, or suffering a career ending injury, he will be a first round draft pick in the 2029 NFL draft. 

[DarterBlue2]

I left the game with just over 6 minutes left and Lake Mary leading 28-14. I get home to find out that Seminole had come back to win 29-28. All I can say is: more power to them. I left early because the stadium was sold out and I had to watch the game standing behind a goal post. I wanted to avoid the traffic jam I envisioned as I had a long drive home.

For the duration I was there, I will maintain that in my opinion is Lake Mary is the better team. They did not dominate the game while they were leading, but looked more fluid on their drives. It was gutsy of Seminole to go for 2 on one of their final scores. But I am not surprised they did.

Being behind a goal post gave me a different angle of the game. For a sophomore Noah Grubbs really impressed me. I noticed that on his accurate passes, he managed to place the ball where only his receiver could make a clean catch. That left the DBs with the option of: 1. Committing a pass interference penalty; 2. Waiting till the catch was made and tackle immediately, thereby conceding the yards; or 3. Waiting till the catch was made and hitting the receiver immediately causing either a fumble, or an incomplete pass. That a sophomore already has this ability is very impressive.    

[Floridaatlantic1]

Lake Mary will still win the region and maybe state. Nice win and guts by The Noles. That type of grit will help them but dont think they win a possible rematch. 

[Perspective]

7 minutes ago, Floridaatlantic1 said:

Lake Mary will still win the region and maybe state. Nice win and guts by The Noles. That type of grit will help them but dont think they win a possible rematch. 

Just curious, what happened the first time they played or what would happen the next time they play that leads you to your conclusion?

[DarterBlue2]

57 minutes ago, Perspective said:

Just curious, what happened the first time they played or what would happen the next time they play that leads you to your conclusion?

He's a Jacksonville area guy, so I doubt he watched the game either live or on film, unless he's now affiliated with Mandarin. So, I think he's just expressing an opinion probably based on gut feeling. 

[Floridaatlantic1]

Lake Mary dominated most of the game and it took a crazy last 6 minutes for the noles to win. Nice job and guts but doubt it happens again. Usually, the team that dominates most of a game wins. I have no dog in the fight, but anyone who can beat APK like that must be pretty darn good and put 70 up on Dr. Phillips.

[DarterBlue2]

Lake Mary finished their regular season with a facile victory over previously unbeaten Mainland. The final score was 33-0. It probably was not that close as Lake Mary substituted liberally from the middle of the third quarter on. Noah Grubbs had an average night for him, but still managed three touchdown passes and over 100 yards passing. By my count, Mainland only managed 6 first downs and their best play of the night, a run of over 40 yards was called back for a holding penalty. 

Despite the 1 point loss to Seminole last week, I maintain that they are the best team in 4M that I have seen live or on film. I would be surprised if they did not win 4M. While I wish there was someway I could see my Darters beat them in the playoffs it will likely not happen.  I am not a fan of the Rams, but objectively I have to admit that they are the best in the class in my opinion. 

[THAT S--T WAS FUNNY]

Great win for LM. Coming off a heartbreaking loss to completely dominate a team like Mainland is impressive. This rebound win says a lot about the culture Coach Perry has built there. 

[DarterBlue2]

3 minutes ago, THAT S--T WAS FUNNY said:

Great win for LM. Coming off a heartbreaking loss to completely dominate a team like Mainland is impressive. This rebound win says a lot about the culture Coach Perry has built there. 

He's clearly doing a great job. There is no doubt about that.