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Pinellas County taking it on the chin


nolebull813

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Pinellas County has 26 teams playing 11 man football. Two of them are independent teams who a lot of teams won't play because they recruit and don't participate in the FHSAA. 

That makes 24. 

Out of those, 16 of them missed the playoffs entirely. 

(East Lake misses the playoffs at 6-4, and loses a bowl game to 5-5 Steinbrenner)

So 7 teams make the playoffs. 

Clearwater - bounced in the 1st by Charlotte 

Pinellas Park goes 10-0 then gets killed in the 1st by Palmetto 

Largo gets bounced in the 1st by NFM 

So CCC, Ad Farragut, Lakewood and Calvary make the 2nd round. 

Not a good look 

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* Pinellas Park had themselves a pretty good team, I believe alot folks just underestimated how good Palmetto is! Pinellas Park was playing hard too up until the clock hit zero, they just couldn't match up with Palmetto in the trenches.

* Steinbrenner although 5-5 was a very under estimated team as well. They lost 14-7 to Riverview and were in a position to tie that game near the end of the game but a fumble that went out the Riverview endzone kept that from happening. I like the Steinbrenner QB he's going to be a good one, and the Steinbrenner defense was no joke either....................its a really good defensive squad.

Cant speak for the rest of Pinellas County, but losing to Palmetto and Steinbrenner is nothing to be ashamed of............

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3 hours ago, nolebull813 said:

Pinellas County has 26 teams playing 11 man football. Two of them are independent teams who a lot of teams won't play because they recruit and don't participate in the FHSAA. 

That makes 24. 

Out of those, 16 of them missed the playoffs entirely. 

(East Lake misses the playoffs at 6-4, and loses a bowl game to 5-5 Steinbrenner)

So 7 teams make the playoffs. 

Clearwater - bounced in the 1st by Charlotte 

Pinellas Park goes 10-0 then gets killed in the 1st by Palmetto 

Largo gets bounced in the 1st by NFM 

So CCC, Ad Farragut, Lakewood and Calvary make the 2nd round. 

Not a good look 

I wasn't expecting Pinellas to have a great night or even a very good night, but I did expect them to do better than they did. Now, this begs the question, why did I (and others) expect the teams listed above to do better than they did?

If I look at all the teams that lost last night:

Clearwater didn't just lose, they got ran over. What's going on with this program? People tell me they're back, and then they're not..and then POOF..they're back and then they're not back.

Pinellas Park lost to Palmetto who is a lot tougher than their record appears, but all year people took pains to tell us how legit they were.  I see those wins vs Dunedin, Northeast, Seminole and the other merry minimums on the schedule paid off.

Largo doesn't surprise me. I think they have too much talent and not enough leadership. They've under performed all year.

East Lake is at the bottom of the Lake, what happened to this program? It seems after Pete DiNovo/Artavious Scott/George Campbell and crew left they just bottomed out.



 

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Pinellas County has never had a state champion in football (public or private). I might be wrong but the closest they came was in 1986 with Dunedin losing to Lakeland 14-10 in the 1986 state final. That was also Lakeland's first state title win. They have had a few teams make the final but never won. East Lake in 2013 had the best chance recently but lost in the semis in OT to Dwyer. Dwyer went on to beat Niceville for the 7A title. 

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On 11/10/2018 at 11:46 PM, Just A Coach said:

Pinellas County has never had a state champion in football (public or private). I might be wrong but the closest they came was in 1986 with Dunedin losing to Lakeland 14-10 in the 1986 state final. That was also Lakeland's first state title win. They have had a few teams make the final but never won. East Lake in 2013 had the best chance recently but lost in the semis in OT to Dwyer. Dwyer went on to beat Niceville for the 7A title. 

I think CCC has a shot this year. They will be the only hope for the county going forward. It's much easier to win in the smaller classes. 

CCC is playing pretty sound ball, and Chaminade has some coaching deficiencies that they make up in sheer talent. 

If CCC can put Chaminade in some bad spots who knows. Chaminade struggled with an average Alabama team squeaking it out at the end. 

 

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On 11/10/2018 at 2:53 PM, nolebull813 said:

Pinellas County has 26 teams playing 11 man football. Two of them are independent teams who a lot of teams won't play because they recruit and don't participate in the FHSAA. 

That makes 24. 

Out of those, 16 of them missed the playoffs entirely. 

(East Lake misses the playoffs at 6-4, and loses a bowl game to 5-5 Steinbrenner)

So 7 teams make the playoffs. 

Clearwater - bounced in the 1st by Charlotte 

Pinellas Park goes 10-0 then gets killed in the 1st by Palmetto 

Largo gets bounced in the 1st by NFM 

So CCC, Ad Farragut, Lakewood and Calvary make the 2nd round. 

Not a good look 

We are who we are.... 

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On 11/10/2018 at 6:25 PM, SPCjessica2004 said:

Clearwater didn't just lose, they got ran over. What's going on with this program? People tell me they're back, and then they're not..and then POOF..they're back and then they're not back.

You have to 1st be something to be back... Clearwater went on for about 10 to 12 years of being bottom barrel in the county... The last 4 have been some of the best years in the schools history going undefeated and making the 2nd round in 1 of them. 

Clearwater certainly has the talent and depth but they lack depth in coaching... There are good coaches on that staff but its like 2... The HC and the OC but the HC has had issues finding reliable guys (the DC quite on him without notifying him and took the job at Manatee) or just guys who can really coach and motivate.

Also they have a culture issue... I put that on my guy... He will fix it (I hope).

They are in 6A though so the road always runs through Miami... So there is that even if they get out of the 1st round or 2. 

I think at 6-4 (5) clearwater greatly under achieved this year. 

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On 11/10/2018 at 6:25 PM, SPCjessica2004 said:

Pinellas Park lost to Palmetto who is a lot tougher than their record appears, but all year people took pains to tell us how legit they were.  I see those wins vs Dunedin, Northeast, Seminole and the other merry minimums on the schedule paid off.

Yeah Ppark was good but their schedule was atrocious... Also the Wing T  just ain't cutting it anymore when you get to the big boys. 

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On 11/10/2018 at 11:46 PM, Just A Coach said:

Pinellas County has never had a state champion in football (public or private). I might be wrong but the closest they came was in 1986 with Dunedin losing to Lakeland 14-10 in the 1986 state final. That was also Lakeland's first state title win. They have had a few teams make the final but never won. East Lake in 2013 had the best chance recently but lost in the semis in OT to Dwyer. Dwyer went on to beat Niceville for the 7A title. 

27 years apart i was at both of those granted I was only 4 and sitting on my big brothers shoulders for the 1st one.

That East Lake game came down to some really really questionable coaching calls in OT... Tay Scott the best player almost on both teams (that dwyer team had Johnny Dixon) did not touch the ball in OT... But the QB (who just so happens to be the coaches son) through 3 passes (last one a very slow out route right at Johnny Dixon which was consequently intercepted) and a QB draw (kid is slow as dirt).  I think at minimum you give the ball to your best player and you either keep playing in OT or they win and then they beat Niceville just as Dwyer did.

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39 minutes ago, nolebull813 said:

I think CCC has a shot this year. They will be the only hope for the county going forward. It's much easier to win in the smaller classes. 

CCC is playing pretty sound ball, and Chaminade has some coaching deficiencies that they make up in sheer talent. 

If CCC can put Chaminade in some bad spots who knows. Chaminade struggled with an average Alabama team squeaking it out at the end. 

 

Actually Admiral Farragut has a shot this year too.

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12 minutes ago, peezy28 said:

You have to 1st be something to be back... Clearwater went on for about 10 to 12 years of being bottom barrel in the county... The last 4 have been some of the best years in the schools history going undefeated and making the 2nd round in 1 of them. 

Clearwater certainly has the talent and depth but they lack depth in coaching... There are good coaches on that staff but its like 2... The HC and the OC but the HC has had issues finding reliable guys (the DC quite on him without notifying him and took the job at Manatee) or just guys who can really coach and motivate.

Also they have a culture issue... I put that on my guy... He will fix it (I hope).

They are in 6A though so the road always runs through Miami... So there is that even if they get out of the 1st round or 2. 

I think at 6-4 (5) clearwater greatly under achieved this year. 

Clearwater had a great season in 2015 and 2016 and showed promise in 2017 and even in 2018. In relationship to the rest of that county public schools, that's about as good as it gets.  I'm not sure what happened in 2018 that the team underachieved. By all merits the QB is really good and there was a solid offensive and defensive line, right?  Clearwater was able to keep their kids from transferring which is an automatic win in the world we live in today for a public school.

Just sad to see an otherwise good team like Clearwater out in the first round. Hopefully it turns around!

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I think teams come and go in cycles.

However, my thoughts on Pinellas County are this and the same goes with Hillsborough... until they start scheduling better teams or in Hillsborough's case ending this notion of centralized scheduling, a lot of these teams that do make the playoffs are going to get bounced quickly or not make it at all.

Look at Chamberlain at 8-2 and forced to sit at home. They have to be allowed to have some flexibility. Even in Plant's sake, they need some flexing with the schedule. Had they been allowed that, guess who would be hosting a playoff game in the second round? You know it.

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1 hour ago, nolebull813 said:

I think CCC has a shot this year. They will be the only hope for the county going forward. It's much easier to win in the smaller classes. 

CCC is playing pretty sound ball, and Chaminade has some coaching deficiencies that they make up in sheer talent. 

If CCC can put Chaminade in some bad spots who knows. Chaminade struggled with an average Alabama team squeaking it out at the end. 

My issue with CCC is that they're finally healthy. This is a blessing and a curse. CCC played the bulk of the season without 6 starters according to the Tampa Bay Times some of them are big time players. Jerzhan Newton, Brandon Kennedy, Isiah Edwards, Kayson Romallee, Giancarlo Margarejo are the 5 I know off but the paper reported 6. 

CCC went 10-0 with some very young players playing key roles. How do you take their spot away for guys who haven't played all year?  Jerzhan Newton is a dramatic game changer. I was also under the impression he was out for the season. CCC folks insisted he was coming back but it seemed like there was a new excuse every game he didn't play. Now the paper is reporting he's healthy but nobody from CCC is saying he'll play and rumor is he's still in a walking boot. I don't know what to believe.

 My husband said it best. Going into the playoffs you should know what your team is capable of CCC doesn't know what this combination of players are capable of since they haven't played together yet this year.

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On 11/13/2018 at 11:05 AM, Joshua Wilson said:

I think teams come and go in cycles.

However, my thoughts on Pinellas County are this and the same goes with Hillsborough... until they start scheduling better teams or in Hillsborough's case ending this notion of centralized scheduling, a lot of these teams that do make the playoffs are going to get bounced quickly or not make it at all.

Look at Chamberlain at 8-2 and forced to sit at home. They have to be allowed to have some flexibility. Even in Plant's sake, they need some flexing with the schedule. Had they been allowed that, guess who would be hosting a playoff game in the second round? You know it.

That is not it... Clearwater scheduled Cocoa, Braden River and to a lesser end but still out of county Mitchell.  Went 1-2 in those but had a chance to beat both cocoa and BR.  Didn't matter come playoff time.

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1 hour ago, peezy28 said:

That is not it... Clearwater scheduled Cocoa, Braden River and to a lesser end but still out of county Mitchell.  Went 1-2 in those but had a chance to beat both cocoa and BR.  Didn't matter come playoff time.

Peezy28, Clearwater started out the gate fast against BR..................in fact I think BR spotted Clearwater a 14-0 lead before getting control of the game and winning 42-35. I personally feel the Clearwater team that played BR tuff at the beginning of the season, wasn't the same team near the end of the season, when it lost to Charlotte last week...............Maybe Clearwater peaked too early......... ?????

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On 11/13/2018 at 12:46 PM, SPCjessica2004 said:

Ironically, the very subject of this thread was addressed in a news article today by the Tampa Bay Times. Good read!

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/high-schools/2018/11/13/why-do-state-football-titles-elude-pinellas-county/

I swear this is an annual column... At least anytime a Pinellas team makes it to state and loses or they are collectively all bounced in the 1st round LOL

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1 hour ago, FL_HS_football said:

Peezy28, Clearwater started out the gate fast against BR..................in fact I think BR spotted Clearwater a 14-0 lead before getting control of the game and winning 42-35. I personally feel the Clearwater team that played BR tuff at the beginning of the season, wasn't the same team near the end of the season, when it lost to Charlotte last week...............Maybe Clearwater peaked too early......... ?????

I think it was actually 28-7 at one point then BR came back.

Same team minus their best LB who was hurt last week of season against East Lake.... I am not sure what happened to them the last 3 weeks.  Losing to Countryside hurt them bad but then beating Mitchell and Bogie definitely boosted them up... I was shocked to see them lose so badly to Largo and East Lake and at that point I knew they would not be advancing past the 1st round.

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