3A, Week 3

[SPCjessica2004]

Phwww, the season is flying by quickly!  Let's look at my top 5 teams:

1) Chaminade-Madonna: Defeated Muscle Shoals 28-21.   While many fans are a bit down on Chaminade for not winning by 50+,  I actually give credit to Chaminade for winning this one despite a 10am kickoff on a Saturday in another state. The Lions are just fine. This week the Lions have Ely coming to town. A scrappy but over matched team. Historically, Daemon Jones coached teams start slow and pick up by week 4.  That game against American Heritage Plantation is must see- TV!

2) Clearwater Central Catholic: Up 35-6 against Sarasota Booker at the end of 3 quarters, the Marauders emptied the bench in anticipation of their rivalry game this upcoming Friday. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Marauders run is that superstar RB Jerzhan Newton has only taken 2 snaps at running back all year.

3) Florida High: The Seminoles started strong routing Blountstown. Huge test for the Seminoles this week as Madison County comes calling.

4) American Heritage Delray: The Stallions continue to roll knocking off a talented Holy Trinity team 35-14. The schedule picks up this week vs Monsignor Pace.

5) King's Academy: Lions score a good win over 5A John Carroll Catholic. A trip to Glades Day is up next.

Other teams I'm keeping an eye on:

Ocala Trinity Catholic: Don't look now, but the Celtics are 2-0 and have a favorable schedule coming up. The offense has been lights out. Watch out for the Celtics.
Berkeley Prep: The Bucs were hammered by CCC is week 1, but bounced by knocking off Calvary Christian 14-7. Berkeley plays undefeated Cardinal Mooney this week.
Benjamin School: 2-0 and getting ready to play LaSalle.
Orlando TFA: First Academy is off to a hot start, but won't be challenged until they play Calvary in a few weeks.
Ft. White: Despite week 1 loss, schedule looks good coming up for Indians.

TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 3:

GAME OF THE WEEK
Clearwater Central Catholic @ Tampa Catholic

The Marauders currently own a 15 game regular season winning streak. Their last loss was @ Tampa Catholic in 2016 when they drove the ball to the TC 1 yard line with 30 seconds remaining. TC made a goal line stand on 4 downs. CCC knocked off TC last year 25-0 in the regular season and 37-35 in rd1 of the playoffs.  CCC is currently ranked #1 in 3A in the Sportswriter Poll. The Marauders have traveled to Tampa Catholic twice as the #1 ranked team and lost both games (2013 and 2016).  Since 1998, CCC is 17-6 against TC but very few of those wins have come at TC. CCC has not won at TC since 2011.

Jess's pick:  If the game was played in Clearwater- I would pick CCC without question, but it's not. The Crusaders are lead by a pair of 3 star running backs (Jalen Bussey, Caleb Tate), the biggest average offensive line in all of 3A, a speedy defense that has only given up 6 points this year and some big names on the coaching staff.  TC has wanted a piece of CCC for a year- expect a huge crowd, fireworks and a big win for the home team that will turn Tampa Catholic back into a 3A power. Tampa Catholic is where CCC winning streaks and lofty rankings go to die.

Tampa Catholic 28, CCC 24

Madison County vs Florida High

The stakes are high at Florida High (See what I did there?). After an impressive win over Blountstown- the stakes get higher this week as FSU School hosts Madison County.

Jess's pick:  Florida High is still my pick to get to Orlando and represent 3A north, but Madison County is simply too much.

Madison County: 35, Florida High 21



 

[SFL SPY]

18 hours ago, SPCjessica2004 said:

Phwww, the season is flying by quickly!  Let's look at my top 5 teams:

1) Chaminade-Madonna: Defeated Muscle Shoals 28-21.   While many fans are a bit down on Chaminade for not winning by 50+,  I actually give credit to Chaminade for winning this one despite a 10am kickoff on a Saturday in another state. The Lions are just fine. This week the Lions have Ely coming to town. A scrappy but over matched team. Historically, Daemon Jones coached teams start slow and pick up by week 4.  That game against American Heritage Plantation is must see- TV!

2) Clearwater Central Catholic: Up 35-6 against Sarasota Booker at the end of 3 quarters, the Marauders emptied the bench in anticipation of their rivalry game this upcoming Friday. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Marauders run is that superstar RB Jerzhan Newton has only taken 2 snaps at running back all year.

3) Florida High: The Seminoles started strong routing Blountstown. Huge test for the Seminoles this week as Madison County comes calling.

4) American Heritage Delray: The Stallions continue to roll knocking off a talented Holy Trinity team 35-14. The schedule picks up this week vs Monsignor Pace.

5) King's Academy: Lions score a good win over 5A John Carroll Catholic. A trip to Glades Day is up next.

Other teams I'm keeping an eye on:

Ocala Trinity Catholic: Don't look now, but the Celtics are 2-0 and have a favorable schedule coming up. The offense has been lights out. Watch out for the Celtics.
Berkeley Prep: The Bucs were hammered by CCC is week 1, but bounced by knocking off Calvary Christian 14-7. Berkeley plays undefeated Cardinal Mooney this week.
Benjamin School: 2-0 and getting ready to play LaSalle.
Orlando TFA: First Academy is off to a hot start, but won't be challenged until they play Calvary in a few weeks.
Ft. White: Despite week 1 loss, schedule looks good coming up for Indians.

TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 3:

GAME OF THE WEEK
Clearwater Central Catholic @ Tampa Catholic

The Marauders currently own a 15 game regular season winning streak. Their last loss was @ Tampa Catholic in 2016 when they drove the ball to the TC 1 yard line with 30 seconds remaining. TC made a goal line stand on 4 downs. CCC knocked off TC last year 25-0 in the regular season and 37-35 in rd1 of the playoffs.  CCC is currently ranked #1 in 3A in the Sportswriter Poll. The Marauders have traveled to Tampa Catholic twice as the #1 ranked team and lost both games (2013 and 2016).  Since 1998, CCC is 17-6 against TC but very few of those wins have come at TC. CCC has not won at TC since 2011.

Jess's pick:  If the game was played in Clearwater- I would pick CCC without question, but it's not. The Crusaders are lead by a pair of 3 star running backs (Jalen Bussey, Caleb Tate), the biggest average offensive line in all of 3A, a speedy defense that has only given up 6 points this year and some big names on the coaching staff.  TC has wanted a piece of CCC for a year- expect a huge crowd, fireworks and a big win for the home team that will turn Tampa Catholic back into a 3A power. Tampa Catholic is where CCC winning streaks and lofty rankings go to die.

Tampa Catholic 28, CCC 24

Madison County vs Florida High

The stakes are high at Florida High (See what I did there?). After an impressive win over Blountstown- the stakes get higher this week as FSU School hosts Madison County.

Jess's pick:  Florida High is still my pick to get to Orlando and represent 3A north, but Madison County is simply too much.

Madison County: 35, Florida High 21



 

Chaminade isn't close to the same team they were last year. They have some work to do in the next few weeks before their mid-season challenges against AHP, Piper and Booker T.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they lost 4 regular season games this year (Deerfield, AHP, Booker T and USchool who is loaded).

 

3A might be a little more fun during the playoffs than previously anticipated. 

 

Time will tell....

 

 

[OldSchoolLion]

On 9/4/2018 at 10:44 AM, SPCjessica2004 said:

Phwww, the season is flying by quickly!  Let's look at my top 5 teams:

1) Chaminade-Madonna: Defeated Muscle Shoals 28-21.   While many fans are a bit down on Chaminade for not winning by 50+,  I actually give credit to Chaminade for winning this one despite a 10am kickoff on a Saturday in another state. The Lions are just fine. This week the Lions have Ely coming to town. A scrappy but over matched team. Historically, Daemon Jones coached teams start slow and pick up by week 4.  That game against American Heritage Plantation is must see- TV!

2) Clearwater Central Catholic: Up 35-6 against Sarasota Booker at the end of 3 quarters, the Marauders emptied the bench in anticipation of their rivalry game this upcoming Friday. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Marauders run is that superstar RB Jerzhan Newton has only taken 2 snaps at running back all year.

3) Florida High: The Seminoles started strong routing Blountstown. Huge test for the Seminoles this week as Madison County comes calling.

4) American Heritage Delray: The Stallions continue to roll knocking off a talented Holy Trinity team 35-14. The schedule picks up this week vs Monsignor Pace.

5) King's Academy: Lions score a good win over 5A John Carroll Catholic. A trip to Glades Day is up next.

Other teams I'm keeping an eye on:

Ocala Trinity Catholic: Don't look now, but the Celtics are 2-0 and have a favorable schedule coming up. The offense has been lights out. Watch out for the Celtics.
Berkeley Prep: The Bucs were hammered by CCC is week 1, but bounced by knocking off Calvary Christian 14-7. Berkeley plays undefeated Cardinal Mooney this week.
Benjamin School: 2-0 and getting ready to play LaSalle.
Orlando TFA: First Academy is off to a hot start, but won't be challenged until they play Calvary in a few weeks.
Ft. White: Despite week 1 loss, schedule looks good coming up for Indians.

TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 3:

GAME OF THE WEEK
Clearwater Central Catholic @ Tampa Catholic

The Marauders currently own a 15 game regular season winning streak. Their last loss was @ Tampa Catholic in 2016 when they drove the ball to the TC 1 yard line with 30 seconds remaining. TC made a goal line stand on 4 downs. CCC knocked off TC last year 25-0 in the regular season and 37-35 in rd1 of the playoffs.  CCC is currently ranked #1 in 3A in the Sportswriter Poll. The Marauders have traveled to Tampa Catholic twice as the #1 ranked team and lost both games (2013 and 2016).  Since 1998, CCC is 17-6 against TC but very few of those wins have come at TC. CCC has not won at TC since 2011.

Jess's pick:  If the game was played in Clearwater- I would pick CCC without question, but it's not. The Crusaders are lead by a pair of 3 star running backs (Jalen Bussey, Caleb Tate), the biggest average offensive line in all of 3A, a speedy defense that has only given up 6 points this year and some big names on the coaching staff.  TC has wanted a piece of CCC for a year- expect a huge crowd, fireworks and a big win for the home team that will turn Tampa Catholic back into a 3A power. Tampa Catholic is where CCC winning streaks and lofty rankings go to die.

Tampa Catholic 28, CCC 24

Madison County vs Florida High

The stakes are high at Florida High (See what I did there?). After an impressive win over Blountstown- the stakes get higher this week as FSU School hosts Madison County.

Jess's pick:  Florida High is still my pick to get to Orlando and represent 3A north, but Madison County is simply too much.

Madison County: 35, Florida High 21



 

Jessica, your point about the Saturday morning game and travel are well taken and am certainly not giving up on Chaminade.  The big question marks I have now...If Shivers was playing in that game this past weekend, am confident he would would have broken off some huge runs against that team's D, especially with the line CM has now.  Last year, Chaminade could count on at least one big Shivers TD run no matter who they were playing.  And there was a good chance Xavier Williams would get one big TD pass.  So, it's as if last year's Chaminade team started each game with a handicap.

I don't see nearly the same level of explosiveness out of rb Willie Davis.  And wr Dunmore is very flashy, but I do not put him in the same league as Williams.  I think he is too interested in being a superstar, doing selfish things like fielding a punt at the 2 yard line to make a play out of nothing and getting nailed.  Both Davis and Dumnore transferred in, whereby Shivers and Williams spent time at Chaminade and my guess is the latter provided a level of leadership that might be difficult to duplicate.  

This past Saturday, I did not see the coaching staff getting the kids calmed down in the first half.  Body language was one of stress and frustration.  I understand the late maturation comment, but a 2-time state finalist team doesn't get rattled that badly unless there are some issues.  Mainland had every reason to get rattled with all of the laundry on the field, but showed much more poise.  If Chaminade had been playing a better team, they would be 0-2 right now.  

[SPCjessica2004]

Oldschool,

I wasn't pointing you out btw:-) I actually received some messages from some friends in Broward who were a bit down on Chaminade's performance. As I recall last year Shaun Shivers called his team out on twitter after the American Heritage game for being selfish and then had a closed door, players only meeting. Shivers is very much missed because of his leadership- I also agree that as good as John Dunmore is (and make no mistake, he's special) he also is still a new kid on the block even though he was previously at Chaminade under a different coaching staff.

There are some battles ahead for sure- American Heritage Plantation, Booker T, Uschool.  I tend to give Chaminade (as I would anybody who has been consistency successful over the past few years) the benefit of the doubt. I think the schedule eases up a bit over the next 2 weeks, let's see how the Lions adjust.  The AHP game is going to be huge for them.

[Proseteye]

SPCjessica2004

 

Appreciated your including the Celtics in your 3A review. It's nice to know that there is a possibility and even a probability that OTC is back in town and functioning on all 8 cylinders. Yes, our offense is starting to come up to speed. Over the last 3 seasons the offense was a big problem. Just didn't have the capability to score very much. That being said, it is not so much that our offense may be up and running, it's that our defense is the true lights out part of this team. After watching them do their thing, against two very good teams, I am ready to say that they look very similar to the defenses we used to have on the championship teams in 2005 and 2010. In these first two games the defense actually created the opportunities. Stopped the other team's offense cold, interceptions, fumble recoveries, and hard tackles resulting in turnovers and losses. Our offense did well, but there is still progress to be made. What is amazing is that Coach Thomas has instituted primarily a rushing offense with passing only on very few occasions. We are scoring a lot with a rushing attack only. When we get the passing down to an art form we will then be ready to compete against the likes of Tampa Catholic, CCC, MCC, and even Chaminade once again. Watch out 3A we are a-coming to a theater near you.

[SPCjessica2004]

Interesting results for Week 3.  Chaminade dominating Ely wasn't a surprise, they let out 2 weeks of frustration in one night. C-M has another game against an over matched foe this week before playing the game everybody wants to see, C-M vs American Heritage Plantation. Special kudos to RB Willie Davis for an impressive outing!

Many (myself included) felt Tampa Catholic would defeat CCC. TC goes 4 deep at running back, has a QB that has a rocket launcher for an arm and is being protected by an offensive line that averages 6'4 285. CCC took a 13-7 lead into half-time and then outscored the Crusaders 22-7 in the second half. TC isn't going away- they're still supremely talented, but unless the Marauders lay an egg the playoff rematch will be in Clearwater .

Florida High had the lead at halftime against Madison County but couldn't hold on. Despite the setback they did enough to still be my pick for 3A North.

Heritage Delray was off and King's continues looking impressive along with rival Benjamin School.  Ocala Trinity continues to deserve praise for their turnaround and 3-0 start.

#1 Chaminade dominated Blanche Ely 38-0.
#2 CCC went to Tampa and defeated Tampa Catholic 34-14.
#3 Florida High lost to Madison County 33-17.
#4 American Heritage Delray had a bye-week.
#5 King's Academy defeated Glades Day 26-0.

Other scores of note:
Ocala Trinity Catholic 46-14 over Jax Stanton.
Calvary Christian (Clearwater) 61-13 over Anclote.
Sarasota Cardinal Mooney 28-17 over Tampa Berkeley Prep
Orlando First Academy 20-15 over Orlando Christian Prep
Melbourne Central Catholic 30-0 over Archbishop McCarthy
Lakeland Christian lost to Bishop Verot 17-10.
Benjamin School over LaSalle 41-0


I'll update my personal rankings this week at some point, there's a lot to sift through and while the top teams in 3A don't have exciting matchups this week, there are some really good games being played such as Melbourne CC vs Tampa Catholic,  Lakeland Christian vs Berkeley, Trinity Catholic vs Mt. Dora, American Heritage Delray vs Monsignor Pace.