10 Central FL Teams & Their 10 Minutes of Fame

[OldSchoolLion]

Am working my way though about 75 teams that rarely get discussed on this board, but deserve some recognition.  Hope you enjoy.

Atlantic-In 1996, the Sharks of Port Orange won their only playoff game in school history, a 10-7 victory over 4A South Lake. 

Boone-For over 35 years, the Braves of Orlando never won a playoff game.  They snapped that streak in 2005, beating Sarasota in a 21-20 OT victory.  In 2006-2008, under coach Phil Ziglar, they made successive deep playoff runs.   That run included a 2007 6A final appearance, their only one in school history.  Unfortunately for the Braves, they ran into a powerhouse Northwestern squad that beat them 41-0.

Deland-In 2009, the Bulldogs made their only deep playoff run in school history, reaching the 6A final, where they lost to Miramar 42-20.  They won 4 playoff games on the road to get there, including road wins against Apopka and Mainland. 

Fort Pierce Central-The Cobras have won a number of playoff games over the years, but their teams of 1970 and 1971 were the most famous.  They made the title game each year and won the 4A title in 71, beating Tampa Robinson 29-13 in Fort Pierce under Coach Calvin Triplett. The Cobras have never gotten close to returning to a title game since. 

Leesburg-In 1969, the Yellow Jackets of Leesburg made it to the Class A final in Tampa, where they lost 27-6 to Blake.  They have only won 2 playoff games since.   

Lyman-In 2005, the Greyhounds won their only playoff game in school history, a 21-14 OT victory over 5A Melbourne. 

Melbourne-In 1965 and 1966, under famous coach Byrd Whigham, the Bulldogs of Melbourne made their only deep playoff runs in school history.  In 1965, Melbourne lost the 2A title at the Orange Bowl, losing 44-12 to Miami High.  In 1966, they returned to south Florida and won the 2A title by upsetting Fort Lauderdale High 31-12.

Osceola/Seminole-In 1993, the Warriors of Pinellas County won their only playoff game in school history, a 35-3 victory over 3A Zephyrhills.

St Cloud-In 1980, the Bulldogs won their only playoff game in school history, a 20-8 victory over 3A Tarpon Springs.

Tavares-In 2004, the Bulldogs of Lake County won their only playoff game in school history, a 44-14 win over 2A West Nassau.  At that time, West Nassau was looking for its first playoff victory in 25 years. 

[DarterBlue2]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Boone-For over 35 years, the Braves of Orlando never won a playoff game.  They snapped that streak in 2005, beating Sarasota in a 21-20 OT victory.  In 2006-2008, under coach Phil Ziglar, they made successive deep playoff runs.   That run included a 2007 6A final appearance, their only one in school history.  Unfortunately for the Braves, they ran into a powerhouse Northwestern squad that beat them 41-0

Look for Boone to be a dark horse in 8A North, this year. I was impressed by them in their spring game against Olympia. After giving up a touchdown off the opening play of the game, they shut down the Olympia offense for the three Varsity quarters and proceeded to reel off 28 unanswered points on offense. 

Last year, in the second round of the playoffs, they came very close to upsetting Wekiva leading inside the second half of the game. I think this year's team has a chance at being better. 

[DisabledAccount]

Deland was pretty solid in the late 90s as well

[Proseteye]

2 hours ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Deland was pretty solid in the late 90s as well

They sure were, Columbia. What in the world ever happened to them? Used to rival Mainland in the hay days.

[DisabledAccount]

2 minutes ago, Proseteye said:

They sure were, Columbia. What in the world ever happened to them? Used to rival Mainland in the hay days.

I think they had some coaching instability but I'm not certain 

 

Even though it's not his team maybe @Dan in Daytona might know,  Deland is close to his area

[DarterBlue2]

6 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

I think they had some coaching instability but I'm not certain 

 

Even though it's not his team maybe @Dan in Daytona might know,  Deland is close to his area

Too much outside interference. Hard to keep good coaching staffs that way. Also hard to keep your better players. Some have gone to OC University and some Mainland over the years. 

[DisabledAccount]

Just now, DarterBlue2 said:

Too much outside interference. Hard to keep good coaching staffs that way. Also hard to keep your better players. Some have gone to OC University and some Mainland over the years. 

Do they appear to be on the rebound 

 

I thought i heard good things recently but i wasn't sure

[OldSchoolLion]

3 hours ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Do they appear to be on the rebound 

 

I thought i heard good things recently but i wasn't sure

 

3 hours ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Too much outside interference. Hard to keep good coaching staffs that way. Also hard to keep your better players. Some have gone to OC University and some Mainland over the years. 

...concerning Deland.

Junior Avantae Williams, a 4-star safety committed to the Canes started his career at Deland.  He transferred to Mainland and then IMG.  He is now back at Deland.  LB and USF commit Demaurez Bellamy followed him from Deland and there was talk of others coming as well this past spring.  Dominic Mamarelli is one of the top juniors in the state.  The 4-star TE is a UM commit. 

[Floridatech]

3 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

 

...concerning Deland.

Junior Avantae Willaims, a 4-star safety committed to the Canes started his career at Deland.  He transferred to Mainland and then IMG.  He is now back at Deland.  LB and USF commit Demaurez Bellamy followed him from Deland and there was talk of others coming as well this past spring.  Dominic Mamarelli is one of the top juniors in the state.  The 4-star TE is a UM commit. 

Deland is going to be a good team this year I heard about them already 

[Dan in Daytona]

On 8/4/2018 at 11:15 AM, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Deland was pretty solid in the late 90s as well

DeLand has as much athletic talent as any small city in Florida. But they need strong willed personalities at the Head Coaching position. Fred Goldsmith, Howie Decristofolo, Wade Rollinson, and Kevin Pettis have proved this true. Keep the kids happy and at home. Play the best athletes. Run a discipline program that can relate to all players. And control pressure coming from off campus... Guaranteed Winner.