23 Great Teams of the 1980's

[OldSchoolLion]

Some observations...

• None of the teams from the "Top 10 Teams of the 70's" is listed below.  
• These were the best teams of the time, and most only made the playoffs 3-5 times in a 10-year span.  If you made the playoffs, you were part of an exclusive club.  
• 6 teams from the Panhandle are listed below.  These were the glory years for that area of the state.  Panhandle teams won 5 of 6 matchups against central/south FL teams in the state finals of the largest class and won 7 of 8 matchups against central FL teams in the state semis of the largest class.  Escambia County schools brought home 7 state titles in the 1980's, more than any other county in Florida.
• There are only 2 private schools amongst the 20...Glades Day and Columbus.
• Panther wasn't kidding!  Dillard really was a state powerhouse at one time.
• Woodham High closed in 2007 after 42 years.
• A fifth classification, 5A, was added in 1985. 

 

The Top 10 Teams of the 80's

 

Glades Day(A)-8 playoff appearances, 19 playoff wins, 3 state titles, 5 runner-up     Coach:Byron Walker

Manatee(4A)-8 playoff appearances, 15 playoff wins, 3 state titles     Coach: Joe Kinnan

Baker(A)-6 playoff appearances, 14 playoff wins, 3 state titles, 2 runner-up     Coach:John Ensor     

Titusville(3A/4A)-6 playoff appearances, 13 playoff wins, 2 state titles, 1 runner-up     Coach:Al Werneke  

Dillard(4A)-7 playoff appearances, 12 playoff wins, 2 state titles     Coach:Otis Gray

Clewiston(2A/3A)-8 playoff appearances, 12 playoff wins, 1 shared state title, 2 runner-up     Coach:Al Morrell

Pensacola Woodham(4A/5A)-5 playoff appearances, 11 playoff wins, 2 state titles, 1 runner-up     Coach: Don Sharpe 

Suwannee(3A)-3 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 3 state titles     Coach: Mike Pittman

Escambia(4A/5A)-3 playoff appearances, 8 playoff wins, 2 state titles     Coach: Dwight Thomas 

 

Pine Forest(4A/5A)-3 playoff appearances, 8 playoff wins, 2 state titles     Coach: Carl Madison 

 

13 Other Great Teams of the 80's (grouped by classes-otherwise in no particular order)

Vero Beach(4A/5A)-6 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Billy Livings 

Lakeland(4A/5A)-5 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Bill Castle

Dunedin(4A/5A)-4 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: George Hemond, Ken Weir

Columbus(4A/5A)-4 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: Bob Lewis, Dennis Lavelle

Southridge(4A/5A)-3 playoff appearances, 6 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: Don Soldinger, Jerry Hughes

Carol City(4A/5A)-4 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 1 runner-up     Coach: Walt Frazier

Southeast(3A/4A)-6 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: Paul Maechtle 

Palatka(3A/4A)-5 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 1 state title, 1 runner-up     Coach: Robert Lyle, Jim McCool 

Bartow(3A/4A)-6 playoff appearances, 8 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Paul Quinn  

Ely(3A/4A)-4 playoff appearances, 6 playoff wins, 1 runner-up     Coach: Anthony Russell, Mike Facteau 

Walton(2A/3A)-6 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 1 state title, 1 runner-up     Coach: Jeff Webb, Dilly Webb 

Wildwood(2A)-6 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Several 

Port St Joe(2A)-3 playoff appearances, 6 playoff wins, 1 state title, 1 runner-up     Coach: Shaw Maddox, Phil Lanford 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gwdrum75]

What about Manatee? I think they had 8 playoff appearances, 3 state titles, 15 playoff wins.

[DarterBlue2]

15 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Baker(A)-6 playoff appearances, 14 playoff wins, 3 state titles, 2 runner-up     Coach:John Ensor 

I am sure this brings back fond memories for a noted, respected poster on this forum!

[gwdrum75]

10 minutes ago, gwdrum75 said:

What about Manatee? I think they had 8 playoff appearances, 3 state titles, 15 playoff wins.

And they were the thorn in the side of Lakeland from 87 - 92. Hard to believe Lakeland missed the playoffs 6 straight years after winning it in 86. There were overtime games and 3-way tiebreakers that Manatee always seemed to prevail in.

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, gwdrum75 said:

What about Manatee? I think they had 8 playoff appearances, 3 state titles, 15 playoff wins.

Thank you so much for pointing this out

tired, old mind + tired fingers(typing) + lots of data = mistakes

I had them in my notes but somehow they got deleted with lots of cutting and pasting.  Looked at the post so much it didn't hit me, "Holy cow, I left Manatee off...one of the truly great teams of the 80's.

Apologies to Manatee fans...I will resolve

[LakelandGator]

21 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Thank you so much for pointing this out

tired, old mind + tired fingers(typing) + lots of data = mistakes

I had them in my notes but somehow they got deleted with lots of cutting and pasting.  Looked at the post so much it didn't hit me, "Holy cow, I left Manatee off...one of the truly great teams of the 80's.

Apologies to Manatee fans...I will resolve

You're still the best around here, along with Jessica

You also left off those great Titusville teams under the late Al Werneke. Champs(82 and 83), Runner-up(80)!

They and Astronaut kept LWales from winning at least 2 titles.

https://twitter.com/CountyPolk

[OldSchoolLion]

5 minutes ago, LakelandGator said:

You're still the best around here, along with Jessica

You also left off those great Titusville teams under the late Al Werneke. Champs(82 and 83), Runner-up(80)!

They and Astronaut kept LWales from winning at least 2 titles.

https://twitter.com/CountyPolk

I consider these types of posts "team efforts" and that's what I really like about the forum.   I can put it out there and count on you guys to identify the errors and omissions, which I inevitably make.   It's all about bringing recognition to great players, coaches and teams of the past, so we never forget about them.  They paved the way for the fantastic game we have today. 

[gwdrum75]

1 minute ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I consider these types of posts "team efforts" and that's what I really like about the forum.   I can put it out there and count on you guys to identify the errors and omissions, which I inevitably make.   It's all about bringing recognition to great players, coaches and teams of the past, so we never forget about them.  They paved the way for the fantastic game we have today. 

It was painful bringing up Manatee. Growing up in Lakeland in the 80's, then graduating from Southeast High......they were not the top team on my 'root for' list.

[LakelandGator]

2 minutes ago, gwdrum75 said:

It was painful bringing up Manatee. Growing up in Lakeland in the 80's, then graduating from Southeast High......they were not the top team on my 'root for' list.

Yeah gw they broke the L's heart a few times in the 80's.

 

 

 

[gwdrum75]

11 minutes ago, LakelandGator said:

Yeah gw they broke the L's heart a few times in the 80's.

 

 

 

'87 - 3OT game, then losing 3-0 in the three-way tiebreaker

'89 - losing 17-14 in the 3 way tiebreaker

[FL_HS_football]

6 hours ago, gwdrum75 said:

'87 - 3OT game, then losing 3-0 in the three-way tiebreaker

'89 - losing 17-14 in the 3 way tiebreaker

The 87 Manatee team I could have sworn beat Lakeland 17-0 during the regular season?.....was played at Lakeland, the reason for the tiebreaker was a loss to Plant City which then threw the district standings into a 3-way tie, that Plany City game was very suspect from a officiating standpoint. Manatee had a heluva a defense that year, but just a so so offense. The District tie breaker as I recalled was done at Tampa Stadium with another Tampa district. The so so offense caught up to Manatee in the semi-final game against Pine Forest which Manatee lost 22-0. The game was actually very close but a pic-6 sealed the win for Pine Forest and Pine Forest would then travel to Dunedin and win easily for the state title.

The 89 Manatee team was probably the strongest and physically imposing Manatee team of all its state title teams. If not for a nightmare game against Lake Gibson, Manatee would have breezed to the District title. The tie breaker Manatee easily handled both Lake Gibson and Lakeland and won the District officially then. The state title game against Carol City was the best illustration of Manatee's strength and its physicality. As I recalled every member of the Manatee OL was benching 300+ lbs, a couple close to 400lbs, it was anchored by Patrick McNeal who later went onto play for FSU. in Manatee's backfield had two future Florida Gators Kevin Freeman at TB and Chris Blikie at FB, in the state title game Carol City took away the perimeter so Manatee just turns to Bilkie and runs it almost exclusively into the heart of the Carol City defense. I believe Blikie ran for about 130 yards from the FB position.

*Had to go find a 87 yearbook and I was wrong about the Lakeland game, it was played in Hawkins Stadium and Manatee did pull out a win in OT.

[OldSchoolLion]

Dade County was 0-3 vs north FL teams and 4-9 vs central FL teams in the playoffs during the 1980's.  Dade won no state titles that decade.

1980 4A final Tate 35 Columbus 7 (Columbus beat Vero Beach 7-3 in the semi)

1981 4A semifinal Vero Beach 10 Killian 6 

1982 4A final Woodham 23 Columbus 14 (Columbus beat Vero Beach 31-24 in the semi)

1982 3A semifinal Titusville 29 Homestead 0

1983 4A final Manatee 27 Southridge 21 (Southridge beat Winter Park 21-7 in the semi)

1984 4A final Woodham 20 Southridge 7 (Southridge beat Winter Park 19-16 in the semi)

1984 3A semifinal St Pete 23 Homestead 20

1985 4A semifinal Manatee 22 Coral Gables 8

1986 4A semifinal Dunedin 17 Carol City 6

1987 4A semifinal Dunedin 7 Carol City 0

1988 4A semifinal Riverview 38 Edison 24

1989 4A final Manatee 21 Carol City 8 (Carol City beat S Plantation 28-9 in the semi)

[Hwy17]

7 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I picked the top 5 based on their overall consistency throughout the decade.  All had greater than 10 playoff wins...a fantastic accomplishment at that time.

Some observations...

• None of the teams from the "Top 10 Teams of the 70's" is listed below.  
• These were the best teams of the time, and most only made the playoffs 3-5 times in a 10-year span.  If you made the playoffs, you were part of an exclusive club.  
• 6 teams from the Panhandle are listed below.  These were the glory years for that area of the state.  Panhandle teams won 5 of 6 matchups against central/south FL teams in the state finals of the largest class and won 7 of 8 matchups against central FL teams in the state semis of the largest class
• There are only 2 private schools amongst the 20...Glades Day and Columbus.
• Panther wasn't kidding!  Dillard really was a state powerhouse at one time.
• Woodham High closed in 2007 after 42 years.
• A fifth classification, 5A, was added in 1985. 

 

The Top 10 Teams of the 80's

 

Glades Day(A)-8 playoff appearances, 19 playoff wins, 3 state titles, 5 runner-up     Coach:Byron Walker

Manatee(4A)-8 playoff appearances, 15 playoff wins, 3 state titles     Coach: Joe Kinnan

Baker(A)-6 playoff appearances, 14 playoff wins, 3 state titles, 2 runner-up     Coach:John Ensor     

Titusville(3A/4A)-6 playoff appearances, 13 playoff wins, 2 state titles, 1 runner-up     Coach:Al Werneke  

Dillard(4A)-7 playoff appearances, 12 playoff wins, 2 state titles     Coach:Otis Gray

Clewiston(2A/3A)-8 playoff appearances, 12 playoff wins, 1 shared state title, 2 runner-up     Coach:Al Morrell

Pensacola Woodham(4A/5A)-5 playoff appearances, 11 playoff wins, 2 state titles, 1 runner-up     Coach: Don Sharpe 

Suwannee(3A)-3 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 3 state titles     Coach: Mike Pittman

Escambia(4A/5A)-3 playoff appearances, 8 playoff wins, 2 state titles     Coach: Dwight Thomas 

 

Pine Forest(4A/5A)-3 playoff appearances, 8 playoff wins, 2 state titles     Coach: Carl Madison 

 

13 Other Great Teams of the 80's (grouped by classes-otherwise in no particular order)

Vero Beach(4A/5A)-6 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Billy Livings 

Lakeland(4A/5A)-5 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Bill Castle

Dunedin(4A/5A)-4 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: George Hemond, Ken Weir

Columbus(4A/5A)-4 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: Bob Lewis, Dennis Lavelle

Southridge(4A/5A)-3 playoff appearances, 6 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: Don Soldinger, Jerry Hughes

Carol City(4A/5A)-4 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 1 runner-up     Coach: Walt Frazier

Southeast(3A/4A)-6 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 2 runner-up     Coach: Paul Maechtle 

Palatka(3A/4A)-5 playoff appearances, 9 playoff wins, 1 state title, 1 runner-up     Coach: Robert Lyle, Jim McCool 

Bartow(3A/4A)-6 playoff appearances, 8 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Paul Quinn  

Ely(3A/4A)-4 playoff appearances, 6 playoff wins, 1 runner-up     Coach: Anthony Russell, Mike Facteau 

Walton(2A/3A)-6 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 1 state title, 1 runner-up     Coach: Jeff Webb, Dilly Webb 

Wildwood(2A)-6 playoff appearances, 7 playoff wins, 1 state title     Coach: Several 

Port St Joe(2A)-3 playoff appearances, 6 playoff wins, 1 state title, 1 runner-up     Coach: Shaw Maddox, Phil Lanford 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avon Park- 2A 1987-1989, 7-1 playoff record, back to back state championships.