3A, week 10

[SPCjessica2004]

Class 3A, Week 10 rankings:

#1) Chaminade-Madonna: Chaminade scored a quality win over a good, but not great Doral Academy team 47-17. In the game Chaminade had multiple TD's called back and quite honestly could have won 80-7. As mentioned last week, the Lions have hit their stride at this point in the season and it's hard seeing anybody slow them down right now. I kept them ranked #1 this week due to the early season win over Muscle Shoals. The Trojans have gone on to great success and should finish their season in Alabama 8-2.  Also, I'm giving a tip of the hat to their win over Booker T who would then go on to compete for 3 quarters against Carol City. As far as week 10 is concerned, I see another 70-0 type win over hapless Flanagan before setting up a huge week 11 game over the current #1 team in Class 4A, University School.


#2) Clearwater Central Catholic: Many computer polls had  Tampa Jesuit as a top 15 team in the state (highest being Pinkos who had them at #11). Many felt that if CCC was going to pull off the upset it would need to be a high scoring, overtime type game where maybe Jesuit didn't bring their A game. Remarkably, CCC gave up only 2 field goals in the win and shut down the vaunted Jesuit rushing attack.  I'm personally impressed they did this without the services of 4 starters, including superstar Jerzhan Newton.  While I believe this is the best individual win any 3A team has scored this year, I believe Chaminades body of work up to this point is slightly better than CCC's, even with 2 losses. Now, if the Marauders win on Friday against undefeated Cardinal Mooney that could change.

#3) Sarasota Cardinal Mooney:  When it comes to Florida High School football coaches in Florida, few are more respected than Cardinal Mooney coach Paul Maechtle who has racked up 290 victories and 2 state championships in his career. He inherited a highly talented team at Mooney that was ready to make a deep run in the playoffs. RB Trayvon Hall has had a special season in 2018 continually running past defenders.  Mooney has put together a series of quality wins, but they haven't earned that signature win. That could come this week when the CCC Marauders arrive in town boasting a 22 game regular season winning streak.

#4) Benjamin School: Because the Buccaneers play in the same region as Chaminade- it's easy to overlook the quality of play coming out of Benjamin. Benjamin has won 15 of their last 18 regular season games, including being undefeated so far in 2018.  Kaiir Elam is having a phenominal season with 650 all purpose yards and 4 TD's, but it's the Buccaneer rushing attack that has really come to the attention of opposing defenses.  Benjamin has 4 running backs that have run for at least 200 yards this season, 3 of which have rushed for at least 300 yards.  The Buccaneers are playing high quality football and look to finish the season undefeated against rival and also high performing King's Academy.

#5) Tampa Berkeley Prep: There were a lot of teams considered for this #5 spot as there's a proverbial jammed highway here, but it was determined to give the spot to Berkeley Prep.  Berkeley has 2 losses, but they were early season losses to two undefeated teams that are currently in the top 75 of Maxprep and other polls. Berkeley has also scored quality wins over Tampa Catholic, Lakeland Christian and Mitchell.  This weeks comes a defensive challenge from a good 6-3 Tampa Sickles quad to finish the season. If you haven't seen Berkeley Prep QB Joshua Youngblood play, you owe yourself to check out his Hudl highlights.

ROUNDING OUT THE TOP 10

#6) Tampa Catholic: Crusaders continue to impress after a strong 15-3 win over #4 state ranked team Bishop Verot. The hype has already started for 11/2 when Tampa Catholic hosts Jesuit.
#7) Florida High School: The Seminoles fought hard, but eventually dropped the game against a high quality Wakulla team. It doesn't get easier this week with Godby on tap.
#9) American Heritge Delray- The Stallions had a great opening to their season, but have stumbled in previous weeks. Still, at 5-3 AH-D can finish the season strong  against Key West and Everglades Pre.
#10)  Baldwin: The Indians were upset last week against Santa Fe, but Florida High lost as well- thus, if the Indians can win out they stand a good chance to grabbing the #1 seed in the region if Florida High stumbles against Godby.

GAMES OF THE WEEK:

Clearwater Central Catholic (9-0) at Cardinal Mooney (8-0)

This game is likely a preview of a regional finals match in mid November as both teams are expected to finish #1 and #2 in the region.

THE PICK: Cardinal Mooney has had a strong season and will be a formidable foe. I have no doubt that Mooney will make things interesting for a half, but CCC is playing for a 2nd consecutive undefeated season and more importantly, home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

CCC 38, Mooney 14

King's Academy vs Benjamin

North Palm Beach meets West Palm Beach in this is a very interesting Class 3A Region 2 vs Region 3 match.  King's Academy comes in with 1 loss, Benjamin is undefeated.

THE PICK: These are two really good teams that I can see having success in the playoffs. I expect both teams to finish the season at category 1 teams, so there's lots of points on the board.   I don't think either team has played a super challenging schedule, but they've won the games they should.  I expect a close contest, but the Bucs seal it with a late fumble.

Benjamin 35, King's 28


OTHER GAMES
Baldwin over West Nasseau by 3. (West Nasseau plays Baldwin on Monday, 10/29- it will be their 2nd game in 3 days).
Berkeley Prep over Sickles by 10
Orlando First Academy over Lake Highland Prep by 28
Calvary Christian (C-Water) over IMG White by 42
Chaminade-Madonna over Flanagan by 50+
North Marion over Ocala Trinity by 21
St. Pete Catholic over Gulf by 14
Pensacola Catholic over Pensacola Pace by 7
Lakeland Christian over Avon Park by 14
University School over Melbourne Central Catholic by 42
AH-D over Key West by 21
Fort White over Newberry by 35+
Glades Central over Cardinal Newman by 20



 

[SPCjessica2004]

Okay! Time to hold myself accountable. 

I picked CCC over Mooney 38-14 and was in the ballpark. Final was CCC 55-20. I didn't expect CCC's offense to be so prolific in this game with the key pieces of their offense out. Up 55-14 late in the 4th, Mooney put up a TD to give them 20, otherwise- I would have gotten Mooney's point total on the dot.

I picked Benjamin over King's on a late fumble, but it was King's going for 2 to win the game that got them the W 21-20 over Benjamin. This one was always going to go either way. Congrats to both teams on excellent seasons!

Let's look at the rest:
Berkeley Prep over Sickles by 10- I got this one very wrong. Sickles won 20-9 and while Berkeley Prep QB Josh Youngblood had a great game running, the Berkeley offense didn't produce much else.

Orlando First Academy over Lake Highland Prep by 28- Bingo.

Calvary Christian (C-Water) over IMG White by 42-  This was my worst pick of the night. IMG White won 41-40 in double OT. I don't believe Calvary had any injuries. I have no clue why or how Calvary lost this one- but for all the Calvary fans who E-mail me about Calvary not being ranked in any polls let this result be a reminder of how far Calvary still has to go.

Chaminade-Madonna over Flanagan by 50+ - Right on the money! Chaminade won 51-0.  Expect Chaminade to be highlighted quite a bit this week by myself and the national media as they take on Uschool.

North Marion over Ocala Trinity by 21- OTC started off the season strong, but faded in the 2nd half of the season. Still, there's a good foundation to build on going forward. The final score was lopsided so this one was right.

St. Pete Catholic over Gulf by 14- Ha! My Barons have a chance to finish 6-4. We haven't played a tough schedule, but come on- we need to get some wins as they come in.  Bingo on the score.

Pensacola Catholic over Pensacola Pace by 7- Opps! These teams don't play until NEXT Friday.

Lakeland Christian over Avon Park by 14- I expected this to be competitive, but LCS scored early and often en route to a 40-0 win over Avon Park.

University School over Melbourne Central Catholic by 42.  Uschool won 58-0.  MCC had taken some lumps this year, but they should finish 6-4 which is a respectable season considering the level of competition.

AH-D over Key West by 21- AHD won 20-0. Bingo. Good to see the Stallions get back in the W column.

Fort White over Newberry by 35+ - Ft. White won by 37.

Glades Central over Cardinal Newman by 2-  I picked the right winner, but Glades ended up winning by 40 or thereabout. 

Overall, not a bunch of awful picks outside of Calvary/IMG White and Berkeley/Sickles.