10 Old High Schools That Have Never Won a Playoff Game

[OldSchoolLion]

These schools have all been around for 40+ years, but have never won a FHSAA playoff game.

Cocoa Beach - 6 appearances (last time in 2003)

Colonial (Orlando) - 2 appearances (last time in 1993); 12-35 over the past 5 seasons

Coral Springs - 3 appearances (last time in 2014)

Cypress Lake (Fort Myers) - 4 appearances (last time in 2006); 15-33 over the past 5 seasons

Fernandina Beach - 3 appearances (last time in 2007); 13-36 over the past 5 seasons

Interlachen - 3 appearances (last time in 1986); 10-39 over the past 5 seasons

Keystone Heights - 9 appearances (last time in 2017)

Lake Placid - 4 appearances (last time in 2018)

Mount Dora - 9 appearances (last time in 2014)

Southwest (Miami) - 8 appearances (last time in 2016)

 

[gatorman-uf]

Bronson High School? Not sure they have been playing football all that time, but the school has been around since the 1920s (they competed in 1929 boys state basketball tournament)

[OldSchoolLion]

9 minutes ago, gatorman-uf said:

Bronson High School? Not sure they have been playing football all that time, but the school has been around since the 1920s (they competed in 1929 boys state basketball tournament)

Could be.  I only looked at the larger schools, ie currently 3A and up, when compiling the list above.   

[OldSchoolLion]

Prior to 2018, Colonial was 31-108-1 over 14 seasons.  The Grenadiers finished 5-4 last year and upset Boone.  Those 5 wins were more wins than the prior 3 seasons combined.  The 56 points they scored against Boone was more than half of the points they scored in the entire 2017 season.  Let's hope Colonial does well again this season.  

 

[DarterBlue2]

5 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Prior to 2018, Colonial was 31-108-1 over 14 seasons.  The Grenadiers finished 5-4 last year and upset Boone.  Those 5 wins were more wins than the prior 3 seasons combined.  The 56 points they scored against Boone was more than half of the points they scored in the entire 2017 season.  Let's hope Colonial does well again this season.  

 

In the 22 seasons I have watched at least some area high school football, Colonial has had one good team, which went 7-3 in the first decade of this new century (I forget which year). It did not make the playoffs, but came close, and with the right draw, I think it could have won a playoff game. That team had a mobile QB, a receiver that went on to sign an undrafted free agent contract with an NFL team (I believe he briefly made a roster, before ending up in the Canadian Football League), and a decent defense. They have not been a factor again since. Colonial's zone is currently a working class area, that has a large Hispanic presence (not too many Latino kids gravitate toward the game), but still pulls enough kids which on the surface, should have enough talent to be competitive in football from time to time. 

It is somewhat of a mystery to me why they cannot raise their football profile and I believe a patient, experienced coaching staff could have some success there. 

[OldSchoolLion]

I have added some information to the original post.  Apologies to Lyman, who should not have been included.  They won a playoff game against Melbourne back in 2005.   

[DarterBlue2]

43 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I have added some information to the original post.  Apologies to Lyman, who should not have been included.  They won a playoff game against Melbourne back in 2005.   

Go Greyhounds! Another team that under-performs relative to talent that passes through the hallways. 

[Hwy17]

Lake Placid and Bradenton Bayshore.  Although I believe both programs are moving in the right direction.  

[OldSchoolLion]

4 minutes ago, Hwy17 said:

Lake Placid and Bradenton Bayshore.  Although I believe both programs are moving in the right direction.  

I believe Bayshore won a playoff game.  I did not list Lake Placid because I was not sure how old the school is.  Maybe it is 40+ years old.  

[Hwy17]

38 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I believe Bayshore won a playoff game.  I did not list Lake Placid because I was not sure how old the school is.  Maybe it is 40+ years old.  

Lake Placid has been around at least since the 1940's.  

[OldSchoolLion]

3 hours ago, DarterBlue2 said:

In the 22 seasons I have watched at least some area high school football, Colonial has had one good team, which went 7-3 in the first decade of this new century (I forget which year). It did not make the playoffs, but came close, and with the right draw, I think it could have won a playoff game. That team had a mobile QB, a receiver that went on to sign an undrafted free agent contract with an NFL team (I believe he briefly made a roster, before ending up in the Canadian Football League), and a decent defense. They have not been a factor again since. Colonial's zone is currently a working class area, that has a large Hispanic presence (not too many Latino kids gravitate toward the game), but still pulls enough kids which on the surface, should have enough talent to be competitive in football from time to time. 

It is somewhat of a mystery to me why they cannot raise their football profile and I believe a patient, experienced coaching staff could have some success there. 

Southwest in MIami is 94% Hispanic.  Some of the predominantly Hispanic schools in Miami-Dade have struggled to get traction.

 

[OldSchoolLion]

4 minutes ago, Hwy17 said:

Lake Placid has been around at least since the 1940's.  

I knew they had been around awhile.  Have added them to the list.  They are getting close to ending the streak.  Have made the playoffs 2 seasons in a row and lost by only one point in the playoffs this past season.

[DarterBlue2]

22 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Southwest in MIami is 94% Hispanic.  Some of the predominantly Hispanic schools in Miami-Dade have struggled to get traction.

 

I see Southwest as being closer to Cypress Creek or Freedom and not so much Colonial. Southwest is an upper middle income area of Dade County, while Colonial is in a decidedly working class, lower/middle income neighborhood of the Orlando area.

And while Hispanics are a majority of the enrollment, there are enough white and black kids there that it should not be that difficult to put together a team with enough talent to go .500 most years.  Now to become a deep playoff threat, they would need to get transfers, but to have winning seasons at least half the time should be doable. 

[Hwy17]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I believe Bayshore won a playoff game.  I did not list Lake Placid because I was not sure how old the school is.  Maybe it is 40+ years old.  

I stand corrected.  Bayshore has won a playoff game. 

[Hwy17]

4 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

I see Southwest as being closer to Cypress Creek or Freedom and not so much Colonial. Southwest is an upper middle income area of Dade County, while Colonial is in a decidedly working class, lower/middle income neighborhood of the Orlando area.

And while Hispanics are a majority of the enrollment, there are enough white and black kids there that it should not be that difficult to put together a team with enough talent to go .500 most years.  Now to become a deep playoff threat, they would need to get transfers, but to have winning seasons at least half the time should be doable. 

We played Colonial in the mid-2000's.  They didn't strike me as a really bad team.  

We had a discussion on this board before about certain programs who are in metro areas and have a reputation of being losers, when in fact they are a product of scheduling too tough. - George Jenkins for example.  

 

[OldSchoolLion]

7 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

I see Southwest as being closer to Cypress Creek or Freedom and not so much Colonial. Southwest is an upper middle income area of Dade County, while Colonial is in a decidedly working class, lower/middle income neighborhood of the Orlando area.

And while Hispanics are a majority of the enrollment, there are enough white and black kids there that it should not be that difficult to put together a team with enough talent to go .500 most years.  Now to become a deep playoff threat, they would need to get transfers, but to have winning seasons at least half the time should be doable. 

Southwest likely has about 85-90 non-Hispanic boys in the entire school.  That's not much of a pool.  Now obviously, I am sure there are plenty of Hispanic kids who do come out for football...just sayin' 

[DarterBlue2]

2 minutes ago, Hwy17 said:

We played Colonial in the mid-2000's.  They didn't strike me as a really bad team.  

You beat the 7-3 team I referred to above. That was not a bad Colonial team (certainly the best I have seen), and if I remember, the final margin of Hardee's victory was under a touchdown. I was actually at that game. 

Kevin (Sticky Fingers) Elliott was the receiver I referred to in my original post. 

[Hwy17]

23 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

You beat the 7-3 team I referred to above. That was not a bad Colonial team (certainly the best I have seen), and if I remember, the final margin of Hardee's victory was under a touchdown. I was actually at that game. 

Kevin (Sticky Fingers) Elliott was the receiver I referred to in my original post. 

I couldn't remember their record.  The year before they came to our house and we had trouble stopping their veer offense.  In fact, it prompted our coach to move away from the power I and go to their veer because we had graduated a big full-back.  

[Hwy17]

10 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I knew they had been around awhile.  Have added them to the list.  They are getting close to ending the streak.  Have made the playoffs 2 seasons in a row and lost by only one point in the playoffs this past season.

In 1986 Lake Placid went 9-1 but was an independent. This was 2 years after a 0-10 season.  The 1986 Lake Placid team was coached by John Webber, who would later coach at Immokalee and win a state championship there.