Mandarin

[DisabledAccount]

Impressive first 2 rounds for Mandarin in 8a playoffs

 

First they defeated Deland 35-0 after barley beating them during regular season then mandarin went to Winter Park and blew them out

 

Does anyone think they have a shot against Wekiva this week? 

 

@DarterBlue2 you have had a opportunity to see both Wekiva and Mandarin against Apopka, what are some similarities and differences with the 2 teams

[DarterBlue2]

1 hour ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Impressive first 2 rounds for Mandarin in 8a playoffs

 

First they defeated Deland 35-0 after barley beating them during regular season then mandarin went to Winter Park and blew them out

 

Does anyone think they have a shot against Wekiva this week? 

 

@DarterBlue2 you have had a opportunity to see both Wekiva and Mandarin against Apopka, what are some similarities and differences with the 2 teams

Mandarin has a state caliber offense. The QB is pro-style but has a very good arm and they have Columbia caliber wide receivers. Their defense against Apopka gave up yards but stiffened when it mattered. Clearly Mandarin has improved since the Apopka game. The team that beat Apopka would probably lose to Wekiva by around 14. 

Wekiva, state caliber defense, good offense, but average for a team making the title game. Wekiva was about the same both times they played Apopka. They would beat the Mandarin team that beat Apopka in good game. 

With the above said, Mandarin has clearly improved since the playoffs began. My guess is that this is a classic battle between a great defense versus a great offense. I could see either team winning this game to be honest. I will pick Wekiva by 3-7 points based solely on home field advantage, but would not at all be surprised if Mandarin won the game. 

I believe the winner of Region 1, will win fairly easily against the winner of Region 2 in the semifinals. So either Mandarin or Wekiva will have a shot at a state title for the first time ever. 

[DisabledAccount]

4 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Mandarin has a state caliber offense. The QB is pro-style but has a very good arm and they have Columbia caliber wide receivers. Their defense against Apopka gave up yards but stiffened when it mattered. Clearly Mandarin has improved since the Apopka game. The team that beat Apopka would probably lose to Wekiva by around 14. 

Wekiva, state caliber defense, good offense, but average for a team making the title game. Wekiva was about the same both times they played Apopka. They would beat the Mandarin team that beat Apopka in good game. 

With the above said, Mandarin has clearly improved since the playoffs began. My guess is that this is a classic battle between a great defense versus a great offense. I could see either team winning this game to be honest. I will pick Wekiva by 3-7 points based solely on home field advantage, but would not at all be surprised if Mandarin won the game. 

I believe the winner of Region 1, will win fairly easily against the winner of Region 2 in the semifinals. So either Mandarin or Wekiva will have a shot at a state title for the first time ever. 

I agree 100% on region 1 winner winning next week 

[joeycash2004]

Totally agree. I think winner of Mandarin/Wekiva has a really good shot at going to state.. I've seen wekiva vs apopka (Georgia tech) they got apopka out of that single wing offense..I've been to a few mandarin games this year and to be honest they were 4 plays from being undefeated. They can score from anywhere on offense. Spread you out 5 sides or pound rock. Just have so many weapon but defense is kinda suspect but when defense shows up, Mandarin looks like a state contender. This game should be the high school version of the Rams vs Chiefs... Should be fun. Lots of scoring.

[DisabledAccount]

http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/wekiva-hs-apopka-fl/gamfe99625066

 

Looks like it will be streamed on NFHS Network this Friday 

[shredstar]

3 hours ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Mandarin has a state caliber offense. The QB is pro-style but has a very good arm and they have Columbia caliber wide receivers. Their defense against Apopka gave up yards but stiffened when it mattered. Clearly Mandarin has improved since the Apopka game. The team that beat Apopka would probably lose to Wekiva by around 14. 

Wekiva, state caliber defense, good offense, but average for a team making the title game. Wekiva was about the same both times they played Apopka. They would beat the Mandarin team that beat Apopka in good game. 

With the above said, Mandarin has clearly improved since the playoffs began. My guess is that this is a classic battle between a great defense versus a great offense. I could see either team winning this game to be honest. I will pick Wekiva by 3-7 points based solely on home field advantage, but would not at all be surprised if Mandarin won the game. 

I believe the winner of Region 1, will win fairly easily against the winner of Region 2 in the semifinals. So either Mandarin or Wekiva will have a shot at a state title for the first time ever. 

I have watched Mandarin for several years and have seen most games live and in person this year.

With so many new pieces and coming off a bad year last year no one knew what to expect.  Talent has never been a question, but it took them almost two entire seasons to put it all together.  Having a brutal stretch of games (Godby, Lee, Deland, Raines, Apopka, Sandalwood) didn't do them any favors but they survived and are currently light years better now than they were when they went down to Apopka almost two months ago.  Their QB is the real deal and will likely end up as one of the best two or three in the country coming out next year, barring anything unforeseen.  There is definitely a reason why Saban offered him so early.

Comparing schedules and like opponents only goes so far because it is all about match ups.  But, for what it is worth, the Mandarin team that will show up Friday is the same one that showed up to WP last Friday and completely dominated, in a game that was never competitive from the opening kick off.  That's the same WP team that played Wekiva to a virtual stalemate and dominated the rest of their schedule.  I feel the best thing they did all year was rest some guys during the Fletcher game.  It cost them a seed in a game that Fletcher HAD to have, but it seems to have paid off.  There was some let up toward the end of the year and it seemed to kind of reset things.

Wekiva looks solid, but not unbeatable, as with most of 8A. It is debatable whether this will be the best defense Mandarin has faced this year because the Raines defense takes a backseat to no one and Mandarin handled them quite well.  Mandarin is also an excellent road team (4-0 in Volusia/Orange counties) so that is a non-factor.

And yes, as an earlier post listed, they are two OT's and one play from being 11-1.  The Lee game is an outlier because their QB and top two backs did not play due to injury, and even then, it was 13-13 in the 4th quarter, before it got away from them with a few bad plays.

Mandarin was in this same position in 2015.  This current team is far better and would beat that group by 2-3+ touchdowns.

Just my $.02.  It should be fun.

 

  

   

 

[joeycash2004]

13 hours ago, shredstar said:

I have watched Mandarin for several years and have seen most games live and in person this year.

With so many new pieces and coming off a bad year last year no one knew what to expect.  Talent has never been a question, but it took them almost two entire seasons to put it all together.  Having a brutal stretch of games (Godby, Lee, Deland, Raines, Apopka, Sandalwood) didn't do them any favors but they survived and are currently light years better now than they were when they went down to Apopka almost two months ago.  Their QB is the real deal and will likely end up as one of the best two or three in the country coming out next year, barring anything unforeseen.  There is definitely a reason why Saban offered him so early.

Comparing schedules and like opponents only goes so far because it is all about match ups.  But, for what it is worth, the Mandarin team that will show up Friday is the same one that showed up to WP last Friday and completely dominated, in a game that was never competitive from the opening kick off.  That's the same WP team that played Wekiva to a virtual stalemate and dominated the rest of their schedule.  I feel the best thing they did all year was rest some guys during the Fletcher game.  It cost them a seed in a game that Fletcher HAD to have, but it seems to have paid off.  There was some let up toward the end of the year and it seemed to kind of reset things.

Wekiva looks solid, but not unbeatable, as with most of 8A. It is debatable whether this will be the best defense Mandarin has faced this year because the Raines defense takes a backseat to no one and Mandarin handled them quite well.  Mandarin is also an excellent road team (4-0 in Volusia/Orange counties) so that is a non-factor.

And yes, as an earlier post listed, they are two OT's and one play from being 11-1.  The Lee game is an outlier because their QB and top two backs did not play due to injury, and even then, it was 13-13 in the 4th quarter, before it got away from them with a few bad plays.

Mandarin was in this same position in 2015.  This current team is far better and would beat that group by 2-3+ touchdowns.

Just my $.02.  It should be fun.

 

  

   

 

This is by far they better team then the 2015 team offensively.... But defense is kind of suspect. Its like week to week... Yeah they had a brutal schedule and they survived. Its funny because we haven't lost a game in 8A all year. All the loss came to teams in smaller classes..(Raine's, godby, Fletcher-starters sat out, Lee). So many weapons on offense.