The Have's and Have Not's of Hillsborough County

[OldSchoolLion 2,033]

The purpose of this thread is to show the significant disparity in talent in Hillsborough County.  Of 29 public schools in Hillsborough County, there are arguably...  

• 5 "Have's" 
• 4 "In Betweens"
• 20 "Have Not's 

And we wonder why certain teams are having difficulty finding "local" teams to give them legitimate competition.  As I have stated elsewhere, this is Florida's dirty little secret(lots of poor/marginal teams), and it is not just an issue in Hillsborough County. 

The Have's

Armwood 5-4

Berkeley Prep 7-2

Bloomingdale 12-0

Gaither 11-1

Jesuit 13-0

Tampa Bay Tech 8-4

 

In Between

Hillsborough 8-2 (lost 56-10 to Armwood)

Jefferson 7-2

Newsome 7-3 (lost 38-10 to Bloomingdale)

Tampa Catholic 7-3

Wharton 7-2 (lost 21-7 to Newsome) 

 

The Have Not's

Alonso 2-7 (lost 56-7 to Steinbrenner)

Blake 1-7 (lost 49-15 to jefferson)

Brandon 0-9 (lost 72-0 to Hillsborough)

Chamberlain 6-4 (lost 34-6 to Gaither)

Durant 5-5 (lost 30-0 to Bloomingdale)

East Bay 2-7 (lost 47-6 to TB Tech)

Freedom 0-9 (lost 47-8 to gaither)

King 5-4 (lost 52-18 to Hillsborough)

Lennard 4-5 (lost 26-7 to Newsome)

Leto 1-8

Middleton 4-5 (lost 25-0 to Hillsboorugh)

Plant 2-6 (lost 45-7 to Armwood)

Plant City 5-4 (lost 37-20 to Bloomingdale)

Riverview 1-8 (lost 75-14 to TB tech)

Robinson 5-4 (lost 55-14 to Jesuit)

Sickles 2-6

Spoto 3-6 (lost 62-0 to Hillsborough)

Steinbrenner 4-3 (lost 34-10 to TB Tech)

Strawberry Crest 1-8 (lost 62-0 to Bloomingdale)

Sumner 7-1 (played an Independent, weak schedule)

 

[DarterBlue2 1,970]

I would not write Steinbrenner off just yet. They made the state semis a year ago and appear to be building a decent program. Yes, they had a down year but would give the the benefit of the doubt for at least another year. 

[OldSchoolLion 2,033]

5 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

I would not write Steinbrenner off just yet. They made the state semis a year ago and appear to be building a decent program. Yes, they had a down year but would give the the benefit of the doubt for at least another year. 

Am not writing them off, Darter.  The list above is a snapshot in time.  If we did the same exercise last year or the year before, it might look slightly different, but I think the overall trend would be the same, ie overall lack of parity.

[DarterBlue2 1,970]

4 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Am not writing them off, Darter.  The list above is a snapshot in time.  If we did the same exercise last year or the year before, it might look slightly different, but I think the overall trend would be the same, ie overall lack of parity.

Yes, Hillsborough, like many other areas, including the Orlando area, to a lesser degree, is lacking in parity. In most metros, sadly, all the kids want to play for the big fish. They think it provides more exposure in addition to the thrill of a deep playoff run.

[OldSchoolLion 2,033]

For some perspective...in 1982, St Thomas Aquinas finished 6-1 in district play.  They were in a district with 7 other Broward County teams(6 public and 1 private).  Of the 6 games against public schools, 4 were decided by 2 points or less and one was decided by 14 points.  That same year, 14/28 first round playoff games were decided by a TD or less.

Back in the day, one could go to any hs football game during the regular season and have a reasonable chance of finding a competitive game.  Nowadays, even in the early rounds of the playoffs, one has to search to find a competitive game.       

[DarterBlue2 1,970]

28 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Back in the day, one could go to any hs football game during the regular season and have a reasonable chance of finding a competitive game.  Nowadays, even in the early rounds of the playoffs, one has to search to find a competitive game.       

Talent exists in most communities. So, if kids go to their zoned schools, there is a much higher likelihood more games will be  competitive. But this is not the world we live in today. There are both benefits and detriments to the current state of affairs. I for one don't like it. But it is what it is. 

[OldSchoolLion 2,033]

Below are 5-year records to date of all Hillsborough programs.  Winning records are bolded.

Hillsborough

Public schools: 

Alonso 15-34

Armwood 54-11

Blake 17-32

Bloomingdale 45-15

Brandon 8-42

Chamberlain 35-18

Durant 27-25

East Bay 22-27

Freedom 12-36

Gaither 43-16

Hillsborough 37-16

Jefferson 34-20

King 13-39

Lennard 15-42

Leto 2-47

Middleton 25-26

Newsome 29-22

Plant 42-17 (2-6 this season)

Plant City 29-20

Riverview 20-31

Robinson 19-27

Sickles 19-30

Spoto 14-34

Steibrenner 29-21

Strawberry Crest 6-43

Tampa Bay Tech 43-16

Wharton 20-30

 

Private Schools:

Berkeley Prep 36-13

Jesuit 55-11

Tampa Catholic 35-21

[Vaquero 14]

Cambridge Christian 39-17

8 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Below are 5-year records to date of all Hillsborough programs.  Winning records are bolden 

Private Schools:

Berkeley Prep 36-13

Jesuit 55-11

Tampa Catholic 35-21

Cambridge Christian 39-17 

[OldSchoolLion 2,033]

Over the past 50 years neither Tampa Jesuit, Tampa Catholic nor or Berkeley Prep have won a state title.  As I have stated elsewhere, we don't a private school problem.  We have an issue with a relative few private, powerhouse programs.