Cat, what Bucs linebacker are you referring to?

Cat, this is the first year I’ve even paid attention to the SSAA. I was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty good football which was enjoyable to watch. In the regular season I saw Umatilla play Mount Dora Christian. In the playoffs I attended Christ’s Church vs Master’s Academy. The SSAA might be the right situation for your Wildcats.

Who had St Petersburg beating Dunbar 35-0. After a very uninspired performance against Port Charlotte Dunbar appeared to right the ship so I had Dunbar taking care of St Petersburg. Are the Green Devils for real? Is there a reason Dunbar played so poorly? This week St Petersburg visits Naples. Are the Green Devils for real?

I didn’t see either of these teams play this year. I remember in the preseason the Palmetto players were real excited to have a new coach. You could really feel the players distain for the previous coach. If things were that bad you have to wonder if they will attract the players they need to win. With Manatee’s resurgence and Parrish Community looking like a viable option Palmetto needs to win to convince people it is the place to be. I had Palmetto beating Largo. So Largo gets a talented Wiregrass Ranch this week. Interesting game. Wiregrass Ranch can be their own worst enemy with multiple penalties.

or leave FHSAA and move over to the other side which I hope happens. I will be honest with you, high school football became very less enjoyable with me when we played American Plantation in the playoffs, I was down there talking with a gentleman who worked for the school part time. He told me he worked there to payoff his daughter's schooling which is a good deal between parent and the school. But he proceeded to tell me how they were actually recruiting from out of state, bring in players and give them free tuition. I sent an email to that Dr director at FHSAA at the time back in 2012/13 don't recall the year and talked with him about this. His reply was "my hands are tied by state legislatures"!! That's when high school football became less and less interesting for me and eventually I decided to quit watching.

Schools like Hardee and Desoto who use 99.9% homegrown players, who may get a transfer once in a while should leave FHSAA and move over to the other league. Just my humble opinion. There are many others in Hardee who believes the same way I do.

Private school recruiting has ruined high school football!! To be honest I quit watching college football after they began paying the players. I really don't care about the NFL, they are way overpaid, example the QB for Tampa Bay Bucs!!! He hasn't won a thing and they give him that huge contract and then push out your best ever Linebacker you ever had instead of giving him more compensation. The LB helped the team win a Super Bowl, the current QB wasn't even on the team but he is reward more. I hate the NFL because of this.

It sounds as if Charlotte played one of its best games of the season and was leading 21-14 with 4 minutes to go at The Sam. Green Wave came back, tied it up, and won in OT. This after FM beat us 42-21 regular season, but Tarpons had 5 turnovers in that one, then The Fish beat NFM who beat FM, so these were pretty evenly matched teams.

So, this is the 4th time in a row these teams (FT Myers, our oldest rival) have played each other regular season and in the playoffs, and the winner won both games—each team has done it twice now, dating back to, I believe, 2008. Tarps won first playoff game ever between schools and biggest game: The Regional Title (2016 Double OT), all at The SAM.

I can't count how many games each team has won in the last minute, last play, or OT. Easily a dozen.

Aside from Verot (and maybe PC), Wave and I agree, SW Florida is down talent-wise this season, even with free agency. We chatted last night and he said this would be close.

Ft Myers Offense has three guys who are pretty good. I believe the best was out when North Ft Myers beat them. But I don't see them hanging with Manatee very long. This is a pretty manageable bracket for a team with a hot hand.

I would say that it is either too many classifications or too many teams in the playoffs to begin with. The first-round games are majority blowouts.

Scheduling definitely makes a difference. Just because you have a good overall record and a dominated weak district doesn't guarantee you will be seeded high or even make the playoffs for that matter.

Raines beat Bolles and Mainland they look very good and Raines like a lot of schools around Florida did get a few transfers wink wink, the QB is very mobile and can make plays out of nothing with his running ability.

Well after about 5 years I guess I can finally post,I also have a soft spot for coach Beasley because he did take care of us during the finales years ago.I have to say this St.aug team has at least 7 starters on def and 7 on off that beat Choctaw last year and played in the finales,2 sr receivers one was committed to UCF the other has multiple offers and a jr who has offers from LSU ,Michigan and others,and the QB is going to USF and the RB may be 5’5 150 but he ran for 180 against Mandarin and is a shifty quick runner ,so I think we will go far and also don’t sleep on Riverside they played us close and besides WR Gelsey who’s going to Florida another WR is going to Indiana.Also Mark gatorman said 100% word for word how I feel 4a may play out

I agree that this is may the weakest classification with what appears to be a lot of mediocre teams. Before the season started everyone saw this class as a Miami Central Rocket cakewalk. Agree that Northwestern is the favorite but there a lot of fans of Jacksonville Raines that beg to differ. I have very little insight on Raines. Maybe they could pull it off. I would like to uplift Eau Gallie but their chance to really state their case at Lincoln fell flat where Lincoln fans considered it an easy win. This may not be popular and I will probably have egg on my face eventually but Booker might catch that magic that got them to the state semifinals last year.

Region 1: Agree with previous. The road to this region runs through Niceville. Always hearing what a tough place to play. Lincoln lost by 3 at Niceville a few weeks ago so if there is a rematch it should be fun. I can tell you Lincoln fans shudder a little bit about going back there. Mosley should be heard from. They lost their first game last week in the final 20 seconds to FSU High.

Region 2: Lakeland is the obvious favorite. Saw them sleep walk to a victory over a strong Lake Mary team. If their receivers weren’t so superior to Lake Mary’s DB’s Lakeland would have lost that game. If the next round is Tampa Bay Tech @ Edgewater that will most likely be the game I attend. Edgewater was like Vanguard but starting even slower before gaining steam. They did go to England and beat an NFL Academy team early. Not sure how to measure that. Tough schedule allowed them to get the 2 seed. TBT has the talent to match anyone in the state but I believe they have not played up to their potential. Probable weakness is a QB that is not always accurate. Only saw them play in Kickoff Classic so can’t really evaluate how they are now.

Region 3: Manatee. Haven’t seen them play but just about everyone I know thinks they are good enough to easily win the region. I love to underestimate them on the board because some Hurricane fans with will come in here and crush me. One of my favorite people in the world, Rich Lansky, is on the staff at Manatee. That by itself makes me a Hurricane fan. Would love to see Fort Myers do well but getting by Manatee would be a tall task for them.

Region 4: Saw STA in their Kickoff Classic and they were dominant and made everything look easy. I still say they are the most complete team I’ve seen this year. Their QB is not what I would consider elite but he is good. Might be a weakness you can point to. Not to sound like a STA hater but I would not mind to have someone knock off STA before the state finals. This may sound kind of envious but I would like to see someone else make it to the state finals for a change.

Region 1: It’s hard not to take St Augie in this region. I’ll try to get 307mac over here to give us a breakdown. He is a Yellow Jacket graduate. Would love to see Choctawachee get in. Their head coach Frank Beasley was very kind to this board back when he was head of Football Operations at the FHSAA.

Region 2: Having seen Jones play twice I cannot see them not making it through the Region. It appears they have been coasting the last few weeks. That may be because of some injuries but I don’t know. If their QB is healthy they will be hard to stop with those D1 receivers they have. If they have a weakness it is you can pound their interior defensive line and take advantage of it in the late stages of the game. I would be surprised if Lake Wales makes it through but they did play Jones tough in the regular season. I was at that spring game with Gatorman to see Vanguard. They started slow this season but have picked up steam as the season moved a long.

Region 3: This is a very competitive region. Gatorman gave a good breakdown. Is Port Charlotte for real? Does Naples still have the cache that the program is known for? Is Dunbar going to catch that magic they had in the playoffs last year? I’m going to see Jesuit @ Clearwater so I will be able to tell you more about them after Friday. Many fans think the game will be Clearwater’s talent vs Jesuit’s coaching.

Region 4: I would love to see Norland make it past Am Her Plantation. Not sure they will be able to beat them a second time.

Mitchell needs to schedule some tougher games outside of Pasco. That said they are a team you don’t want to play.

You probably already know this. Mitchell's opponents combine records are 36-63. That is one of the determining factors that go into determining power ratings is strength of schedule. Most likely the opponents had a better strength of schedule even though they beat that team...

Being a Manatee fan and not playing STA in the semifinals if the Canes can get there is big. Manatee has gone to battle with STA many times over the past 16 years. But this year I believe Manatee can beat them especially at home. I agree with Gatorman that Manatee has the easiest path to the semifinals. But you still have to win to move on!

Region 1
This is a tough region. Barring an upset, I think #1 Niceville will play the winner any of the following teams. #2 Lincoln and #3 Mosley. Sleeper team is #7 Mainland...
Region 2
I believe #1 overall seed Lakeland is the team to beat. But wow, do we have some games in this region! I believe the winner of the #2 Orlando Edgewater and #3 Tampa Bay Tech will challenge Lakeland for a trip to the Finals.
Region 3
Unless #1 Manatee gets upset, they are the clear winners of this region. This is the weakest region by far. But you still have to perform on the field and win to move on. Sleepers maybe are #2 Ft Myers, #3 Riverdale and #4 Immokalee.
Region 4
I really believe #3 STA will come out of this region. I do think they are a little down this year but still very talented and dangerous. The region finals will be #1 Atlantic vs #3 STA. With STA moving on to the semifinals.

My final 4 Semifinals
Niceville at Manatee
STA at Lakeland

Finals
Manatee vs Lakeland

Watch, there will be some big upsets, and all of this will be wrong!!