Class 3A, Week 1

[SPCjessica2004]

Hurray! Football, football, football!  It starts this week and based on the feedback I've gotten every team is going to be better, strong and accomplish more in 2018 than 2017.  I can't possibly provide thoughts on every football game I would like to, but here's the big 3A match-ups I'll be looking forward to this week:

GAME OF THE WEEK:
Chaminade-Madonna vs Deerfield Beach

Two of the top teams in the nation square off for an opening week game of significant interest not only to those in South Florida but those interested in seeing how Chaminade starts in 2018.  In 2017 the highly ranked Lions started off with a thud as they were overwhelmed by a deeper Miami Central team. I truly believe the 2018 version of CM is better than the 2017 version for two reasons 1) The team is deeper along the lines which hurt them against the powerhouses last year and 2) experience. Damon Jones is sort of a legend in the South Florida area, but even he needs times to build chemistry.  This CM team is the perfect blend of experience, toughness, talent and conditioning.

While this is a big game for the Lions, the Bucks of Deerfield could also benefit from a big win to get the proverbial "overrated" money off their bank. Deerfield has consistently been one of the more talented teams in the area but that hasn't translated to success on the field. A win for Deerfield would probably be considered an upset since Chaminade is the favorite here, but the Bucks has enough play makers and depth to give the Lions a 4 quarter game.

Prediction:  Chaminade 27, Deerfield 17


Clearwater Central Catholic vs Tampa Berkeley Prep

Berkeley Prep made the state semifinals in 3A back in 2016 but did not make the playoffs in 2017 but it wasn't for lack of effort or talent. Berkeley Prep lost 4 games by a TD or less.  I expect that to change this year as the Buccaneers have one of the most electrifying QB's in the state in Joshua Youngblood.  Berkeley is also home to one of the top linebackers in the country Jr. Jaylen Harrell.  As is typical of any Dominick Ciao coached team the Bucs are very strong across both the offensive and defensive lines.

CCC really doesn't need an introduction since they've become a household name in 3A making the playoffs 19 of the past 22 years, winning 6 regional championships (1 state finals) and not suffering a losing regular season since 1996. The 2018 version of CCC is also loaded with power 5 potential. Brothers  Sr. JerJuan and Jr. Jerzhan Newton both return along with Qb Rory Hicks, WR Brett Seither TE/DE Kennedy Roberts and a host of talented playmakers. Perhaps the biggest steal of the off season was Sophomore Makkah Jordan transferring in along with his brother Melvin giving CCC even more weapons to play with. CCC is also very young as the team only has 8 seniors on a 45 player roster.

Prediction: CCC 28,  Berkeley prep 20

Florida High School vs Blountstown

2017 State Finalist in class 1A meets 2017 class 3A State Semifinalist. This should be a good one as both teams are expected to have strong seasons. FSU School (Florida High) was bolstered by key transfers Willie Taggart and Raymond Woodie; however, they also return quite a bit of star power behind WR Javan Morgan, QB Bryson Hill and a most of a secondary that had a strong season. While preseason picks are just that- educated guesses based on hype, star power and potential- many (myself included) have Florida High as a favorite to be in the state finals this year.

Blountstown hit lofty heights in 2017, but only return 3 starters on each side of the ball in 2018 with a varsity roster of 27. The Tigers do have weapons such as Qb Treven Smith and Alex Veldez that the Seminoles will need to account for.

Prediction: Florida High 35, Blountstown 13



Other games I'll be looking at:

MCC vs IMG Academy (Varsity). I've got MCC by 14.
Ft. White vs Suwannee. I've got Ft. White by 10.
Taylor County vs Bradford. I've got Taylor County by 7
Tampa Catholic vs Gibbs. I've got Tampa Catholic by 28.
Calvary Christian vs Umatilla. I've got Calvary Christian by 45.
King's Academy vs Pope John Paul II. I've got King's by 28.
Calvary Christian Academy vs LaSalle. I've got CCA by 14.
Lakeland Christian vs Tenoroc. I've got LCS by 30.
Cardinal Mooney vs Bishop Verot. I've got Cardinal Mooney by 3.
St. Pete Catholic vs Carrollwood Day. I've got Carrollwood by 14.



 

[SPCjessica2004]

The first Florida sportswriters/media rankings were released- here is Class 3A:

Class 3A

1. Chaminade-Madonna (12) 0-0 129
2. Clearwater Central Catholic (1) 0-0 97
3. Florida 0-0 58
(tie)Tallahassee Florida 0-0 58
5. Fort White 0-0 43

Others receiving votes: Tampa Catholic 41, King's Academy 37, Melbourne Central Catholic 28, Delray American Heritage 22, First Academy-Orlando 15, Lakeland Christian 13, Taylor County 8, Berkeley Prep 7, Calvary Christian 7, Benjamin 6

The way it's worded you have Chaminade at #1, CCC at #2 and then the entire state of Florida would be #3 in 3A and the city of Tallahasse would be #4 in 3A.  I chuckled as did my hubby, this is clearly a mistake. I believe they meant to put Florida High at #3, Ft. White #4 and Tampa Catholic #5.

Overall, this is pretty much how I have my top teams setup. Chaminade is #1 and then there's a significant drop-off. CCC is #2 and then there's another significant drop-off. You then have teams 3-7 within 20 votes of each other.  I do think higher of American Heritage Delray right now, but I understand why the voters voted the way they did.

Overall, 16 teams received at least one vote which tells you that if you take away Chaminade and CCC, there is a lot of parity in the class which should make for exciting football this year.
 

[DisabledAccount]

28 minutes ago, SPCjessica2004 said:

The first Florida sportswriters/media rankings were released- here is Class 3A:

Class 3A

1. Chaminade-Madonna (12) 0-0 129
2. Clearwater Central Catholic (1) 0-0 97
3. Florida 0-0 58
(tie)Tallahassee Florida 0-0 58
5. Fort White 0-0 43

Others receiving votes: Tampa Catholic 41, King's Academy 37, Melbourne Central Catholic 28, Delray American Heritage 22, First Academy-Orlando 15, Lakeland Christian 13, Taylor County 8, Berkeley Prep 7, Calvary Christian 7, Benjamin 6

The way it's worded you have Chaminade at #1, CCC at #2 and then the entire state of Florida would be #3 in 3A and the city of Tallahasse would be #4 in 3A.  I chuckled as did my hubby, this is clearly a mistake. I believe they meant to put Florida High at #3, Ft. White #4 and Tampa Catholic #5.

Overall, this is pretty much how I have my top teams setup. Chaminade is #1 and then there's a significant drop-off. CCC is #2 and then there's another significant drop-off. You then have teams 3-7 within 20 votes of each other.  I do think higher of American Heritage Delray right now, but I understand why the voters voted the way they did.

Overall, 16 teams received at least one vote which tells you that if you take away Chaminade and CCC, there is a lot of parity in the class which should make for exciting football this year.
 

I agree it will be a good year of parity in 3a

 

Until Orlando of course then it will be please cut the lights and hand Chaminade the ring already

 

[DisabledAccount]

I see quite a few solid teams in 3a but I realistically can't see anyone besides maybe Clearwater Central Catholic within 20 points of Chaminade if they stay healthy 

[badbird]

7 hours ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

I agree it will be a good year of parity in 3a

 

Until Orlando of course then it will be please cut the lights and hand Chaminade the ring already

 

that's not parity.  That's one really great team, one really good team and lots of crap after that. 

[OldSchoolLion]

6 minutes ago, badbird said:

that's not parity.  That's one really great team, one really good team and lots of crap after that. 

Chaminade was very good 15 years ago but had all they could handle with Bolles, Clewiston, Pahokee, Immokalee, Pace, etc.  Chaminade had good talent back then, but nothing like today.  I doubt their 2003 state championship team had more than 5 Div 1 players.  Something has changed drastically in terms of the number of big-name players they are attracting...and that is contributing to the parity issues.      

[DarterBlue2]

10 hours ago, SPCjessica2004 said:

Clearwater Central Catholic vs Tampa Berkeley Prep

Berkeley Prep made the state semifinals in 3A back in 2016 but did not make the playoffs in 2017 but it wasn't for lack of effort or talent. Berkeley Prep lost 4 games by a TD or less.  I expect that to change this year as the Buccaneers have one of the most electrifying QB's in the state in Joshua Youngblood.  Berkeley is also home to one of the top linebackers in the country Jr. Jaylen Harrell.  As is typical of any Dominick Ciao coached team the Bucs are very strong across both the offensive and defensive lines.

CCC really doesn't need an introduction since they've become a household name in 3A making the playoffs 19 of the past 22 years, winning 6 regional championships (1 state finals) and not suffering a losing regular season since 1996. The 2018 version of CCC is also loaded with power 5 potential. Brothers  Sr. JerJuan and Jr. Jerzhan Newton both return along with Qb Rory Hicks, WR Brett Seither TE/DE Kennedy Roberts and a host of talented playmakers. Perhaps the biggest steal of the off season was Sophomore Makkah Jordan transferring in along with his brother Melvin giving CCC even more weapons to play with. CCC is also very young as the team only has 8 seniors on a 45 player roster.

Prediction: CCC 28,  Berkeley prep 20

I like this game. If I were over in Tampa I would go see it. Think it has the makings of a great game!

[SPCjessica2004]

29 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

I like this game. If I were over in Tampa I would go see it. Think it has the makings of a great game!

Darter- I couldn't agree more! Berkeley QB Joshua Youngblood made a statement by calling it the most important game of his high school career which gathered attention from the media since he's a pretty quiet guy otherwise. Last years game was amazing.  According to Kibid (Coach at CCC), Berkeley Prep was up 28-14 with 11 minutes left. Down 28-26 CCC with under 2 minutes in the game they had to drive the length of the field and convert twice on 4th and long to kick a 35 yard field goal with 1 second on the clock.  I would have loved to see that game in person- I saw the video after the fact.

[SPCjessica2004]

I've received quite a few messages from the Tampa Catholic faithful saying they're severely underrated in all of the polls and opinion of the public. These messages and comments have come to me for the past few weeks; however, after Tampa Catholic beat Tampa Robinson in the KoC the comments have increased. TC was down at the half 15-14, but dominated the second half scoring 22 unanswered points as they inserted young QB Dylan McCain who completed some passes. The ground game rushed for 350 yards. 

The excitement from the Crusader faithful stems from the theory that this is Tampa Robinsons best team in years. Perhaps it is their best team, but having a strong second half in a KOC is a far cry from competing with Jesuit.

Look, I'm not Big County Preps who has a financial incentive for openly supporting TC football so they can get TC kids at their camps and who's founder is BFF's with TC's HC to the point where they will purposely not cover specific schools that TC is a rival with out of loyalty. I also don't have much negative to say about Tampa Catholic football.  They had a rough offseason, but they've done a good job rebuilding the program.

I do have a problem with their O-line coach saying on twitter,

"Nah nah. Remember we're supposed to go 0 and 10 this year. No OLine, No QB, No real skill guys.... PSA After penalties, We ran for 350+ yds last night "

No Oline? Tampa Catholic's offensive line right now is bigger and taller on average than Chaminade-Madonna's.

0-10 this year? How could Tampa Catholic possibly go 0-10 with one of the easier schedules in all of 3A. Gibbs is rebuilding from the ground-up to the point where the HC just wants players to have fun and run around without worrying about actually competing or winning. Tarpon Springs is in complete rebuild mode. Cypress Creek is a 2nd year varsity program. Bishop Verot may win 3 games all year.  Belleview is rebuilding as well. None of these teams are expecte to win more than 5 games this year. Some of them may not win 5 games combined.

No QB? Well, you lost 2 power 5 QB's in the span of 3 months and by your HC's own admission he still needed to watch film to determine a starter.

Skill guys?  Who said TC doesn't have skill guys- even Jesuit fans have respect for TC's skill players. Even with all of the transition at no point did anybody question TC's skill guys.

TC may not be in any polls right now, but there is ample opportunity to jump into them as the year progresses; however, you have to beat the teams that count that grab headlines. 

 

[Proseteye]

In case anyone is interested here is a little something from the Star Banner to give an insight into a team that for most of it's 16 years in existence was the top or one of the top teams in 3A. Over the last 3 seasons the Celtics have disappointed. I know that the players, coaches, and fans are grinding their teeth at not being able to do what came naturally most of the time and that was winning. Possibly this season, under new HC Thomas, OTC will once again show what it's made of and maybe folks will again be talking about us in a positive way.

 

http://www.ocala.com/sports/20180820/celtics-look-for-new-beginning-under-thomas

[OldSchoolLion]

49 minutes ago, SPCjessica2004 said:

I've received quite a few messages from the Tampa Catholic faithful saying they're severely underrated in all of the polls and opinion of the public. These messages and comments have come to me for the past few weeks; however, after Tampa Catholic beat Tampa Robinson in the KoC the comments have increased. TC was down at the half 15-14, but dominated the second half scoring 22 unanswered points as they inserted young QB Dylan McCain who completed some passes. The ground game rushed for 350 yards. 

The excitement from the Crusader faithful stems from the theory that this is Tampa Robinsons best team in years. Perhaps it is their best team, but having a strong second half in a KOC is a far cry from competing with Jesuit.

Look, I'm not Big County Preps who has a financial incentive for openly supporting TC football so they can get TC kids at their camps and who's founder is BFF's with TC's HC to the point where they will purposely not cover specific schools that TC is a rival with out of loyalty. I also don't have much negative to say about Tampa Catholic football.  They had a rough offseason, but they've done a good job rebuilding the program.

I do have a problem with their O-line coach saying on twitter,

"Nah nah. Remember we're supposed to go 0 and 10 this year. No OLine, No QB, No real skill guys.... PSA After penalties, We ran for 350+ yds last night "

No Oline? Tampa Catholic's offensive line right now is bigger and taller on average than Chaminade-Madonna's.

0-10 this year? How could Tampa Catholic possibly go 0-10 with one of the easier schedules in all of 3A. Gibbs is rebuilding from the ground-up to the point where the HC just wants players to have fun and run around without worrying about actually competing or winning. Tarpon Springs is in complete rebuild mode. Cypress Creek is a 2nd year varsity program. Bishop Verot may win 3 games all year.  Belleview is rebuilding as well. None of these teams are expecte to win more than 5 games this year. Some of them may not win 5 games combined.

No QB? Well, you lost 2 power 5 QB's in the span of 3 months and by your HC's own admission he still needed to watch film to determine a starter.

Skill guys?  Who said TC doesn't have skill guys- even Jesuit fans have respect for TC's skill players. Even with all of the transition at no point did anybody question TC's skill guys.

TC may not be in any polls right now, but there is ample opportunity to jump into them as the year progresses; however, you have to beat the teams that count that grab headlines. 

 

I'd love for somebody out there to find a public quote from one of the coaching legends of high school or the NCAA in which they were complaining about their position in the preseason polls and whining about lack of recognition they "deserve."  Good luck!

 

[Proseteye]

My assessment of Trinity Catholic tonight after the season opener against 5A Belleview. First thing that I notice is that the players are all fit. No overweight out of shape players. No huge linemen like in the past. There is only one player on the roster over 210 lbs. This defense plays lights out. Allowed Belleview only 3 first downs and probably less than 75 total yards. Although the score was 42-0 the offense needs some work on their timing and assignments. Had 4 delay of game penalties caused by the QB not being ready. The center needs to be more accurate when he hikes the ball. Made it difficult as the QB had to reach up high  and he's 6' 2". Other than that the Celtics got the job done. Two players stood out. RB Corey King who ran through the Belleview defense on a regular basis. And CB Jamarian Samual who was in on the majority of plays. There are no super stars on this team. They all work together and do a pretty good job of it. They will need it if they are to be successful with their fairly difficult schedule.

[OldSchoolLion]

...not that it changes the 3A picture but....once again Chaminade struggles in a game with a big school power...this time Deerfield Beach.    Central and AHP beat them up last year, and they struggled to beat Miramar by 1 point.  Over the past 2 seasons, I think a lot of their reputation has been based on individual star power versus "quality" wins.

It appears Chaminade's offense was completely shut down last night and they likely would have only scored 3 points in the game had Deerfield not muffed a punt inside the 5 yard line, giving Chaminade a gift.  Assuming they had their regular starters playing, I consider that offensive output a disappointment, even though Deerfield clearly has a nasty defense.  

Considering all of the talent they have, something is missing.  There is only thing I can think of, and that is a big, bruising running back who is also a big-time playmaker.  When Chaminade won state titles in 2003 and 2005, they utilized speedy scatbacks.  And the past 2 years they had the diminutive Shaun Shivers. It seems like Chaminade gets a lot  of "finesse" players...that's my perception.

Another possibility...strange as it sounds to pity a private school, but Chaminade may be losing the talent battle in Broward County. Marcus Lafrance, a 3-star, 6'3" CB intercepted a Chaminade pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter that would have won the game.  Last year, Lafrance played for Ely.  He transferred to St Thomas Aquinas and then ended up transferring to Deerfield Beach.  He played at Boyd Anderson his first 2 years.   And talented QB Dehron King, who threw the game winning TD for Deerfield Beach, transferred from Piper to Deerfield for this season.  

 

[SPCjessica2004]

Proseteye,

That was a good, strong win to set the tone for Trinity Catholic. A win's a win and I'm starting to jump on board with the new staff and think the winds of change are in the air for Trinity. Keep us up to date on them!

OldschoolLion,

Chaminade losing to Deerfield Beach doesn't change the 3A picture one iota, but you're correct- they do continue to struggle vs the states elite, but I also look at the bigger picture. Last week Chaminade played Columbus this week Deerfield beach, 2x really good 8A programs.  I think Chaminade has one of the most interesting games in the state next week with the Alabama team.

Some other games I saw went down:
American Heritage Delray defeated 8A Belen Jesuit. I personally ranked AHD in my top 5 at #4 as I felt this program was making rapid steps toward coming back to power. This was a big step for them.

CCC vs Berkeley Prep will resume today at 6pm; however, I've been told CCC looks awful and might be one of the worst teams in 3A right now- granted it was a Berkeley fan who told me that, but it's the only feedback I could gather. It's 7-0 with about 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, but Berkeley Prep has run 35 offensive plays to CCC's 6. When play resumes, CCC will have the ball 2nd and 6 from the CCC 40.

Tampa Catholic and St. Pete Gibbs is delayed until Monday. 8/27,
Lakeland Christian is playing Tenoroc this morning.

Some other notes:
I noticed than MCC destroyed IMG White (Varsity), 
Calvary Christian dominated Umatilla.
Cardinal Mooney snuck by Bishop Verot. 
St. Pete Catholic went down to Carrollwood Day.
Orlando TFA knocked off West Oaks.
 

[Proseteye]

2 hours ago, SPCjessica2004 said:

Proseteye,

That was a good, strong win to set the tone for Trinity Catholic. A win's a win and I'm starting to jump on board with the new staff and think the winds of change are in the air for Trinity. Keep us up to date on them!

OldschoolLion,

Chaminade losing to Deerfield Beach doesn't change the 3A picture one iota, but you're correct- they do continue to struggle vs the states elite, but I also look at the bigger picture. Last week Chaminade played Columbus this week Deerfield beach, 2x really good 8A programs.  I think Chaminade has one of the most interesting games in the state next week with the Alabama team.

Some other games I saw went down:
American Heritage Delray defeated 8A Belen Jesuit. I personally ranked AHD in my top 5 at #4 as I felt this program was making rapid steps toward coming back to power. This was a big step for them.

CCC vs Berkeley Prep will resume today at 6pm; however, I've been told CCC looks awful and might be one of the worst teams in 3A right now- granted it was a Berkeley fan who told me that, but it's the only feedback I could gather. It's 7-0 with about 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, but Berkeley Prep has run 35 offensive plays to CCC's 6. When play resumes, CCC will have the ball 2nd and 6 from the CCC 40.

Tampa Catholic and St. Pete Gibbs is delayed until Monday. 8/27,
Lakeland Christian is playing Tenoroc this morning.

Some other notes:
I noticed than MCC destroyed IMG White (Varsity), 
Calvary Christian dominated Umatilla.
Cardinal Mooney snuck by Bishop Verot. 
St. Pete Catholic went down to Carrollwood Day.
Orlando TFA knocked off West Oaks.
 

OTC still has to get by Lake Highland Prep, Dunnellon, South Sumter, The First Academy, Santa Fe, and North Marion before I can be convinced. Thomas, although the HC, has taken over the coaching of the Celtic defense. The defense is what will carry us through the difficult times, IMO. In the years that OTC was dominate their defense was always their best asset and the reason we were able to defeat good offensive teams like Bolles, Vanguard, Gainesville, East Lake, Jesuit, Pahokee, and NSU University School.

[SPCjessica2004]

CCC ended up winning 35-14. The Berkeley Prep fan I spoke with yesterday didn't tell me the game was played in a monsoon like condition. Tonight the teams started with Berkeley Prep up 7-0 with 8:13 left in the 2nd. CCC would score 28 unanswered in quick and decisive fashion, Berkeley scored late and then CCC put the game away midway through the 4th.

[“PANTHER NATION(CODE BLUE)]

So Oxbridge really cut their team all together!? I thought they were making a few changes and there for lost a few players but the entire program is gone !! Wow 

[OldSchoolLion]

14 hours ago, SPCjessica2004 said:

OldschoolLion,

Chaminade losing to Deerfield Beach doesn't change the 3A picture one iota, but you're correct- they do continue to struggle vs the states elite, but I also look at the bigger picture. Last week Chaminade played Columbus this week Deerfield beach, 2x really good 8A programs.  I think Chaminade has one of the most interesting games in the state next week with the Alabama team.

 

I agree it should be an interesting matchup, Jessica.  

...one more comment about Chaminade.  Last season, their big playmakers Xavier Williams and Shaun Shivers were both "home grown."  This year, their big playmakers are both seniors who transferred in.  No doubt somebody got moved down the chart.

I would imagine that move will raise questions about loyalty amongst people coming up through the system, ie "will they do the same thing next year and will I get passed over, too."  Once they get into this cycle of "bringing in the next big playmakers," I can see it stunting growth of bench strength....and make the program subject to crashing...again.  We'll see.  

 

  

[SPCjessica2004]

18 minutes ago, “PANTHER NATION(CODE BLUE) said:

So Oxbridge really cut their team all together!? I thought they were making a few changes and there for lost a few players but the entire program is gone !! Wow 

Panther,

Yes, they shut the program down entirely. Oxbridge is no fielding a team in 2018. There's talk about them bringing football back at some point in the future- but at least for 2018 they are not fielding a team.

[SPCjessica2004]

16 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

.one more comment about Chaminade.  Last season, their big playmakers Xavier Williams and Shaun Shivers were both "home grown."  This year, their big playmakers are both seniors who transferred in.  No doubt somebody got moved down the chart.

My thing with Chaminade last year was that in the first half of the season they were getting hammered. After the AHP loss, Shaun Shivers rallied the team by calling a players only meeting and leading the charge.  I think Keontra Smith has the ability to be a leader but he's a quiet guy.  When I look at the roster I think the guy needs to be the QB or the OL Nixon guy since I believe he's homegrown as well.
 

[“PANTHER NATION(CODE BLUE)]

1 minute ago, SPCjessica2004 said:

Panther,

Yes, they shut the program down entirely. Oxbridge is no fielding a team in 2018. There's talk about them bringing football back at some point in the future- but at least for 2018 they are not fielding a team.

Wow a team can really go from nationally ranked a title fav/contender to not even having a program wow!! I’m surprised the entire school kids families and neighborhood didn’t fight this