Region 1: St Augustine HS and Choctaw seem to be the clear 2 best teams in this otherwise average region, as only 5 teams of the total 14 teams from this region, won more games than they lost. St Augustine only losing in OT to Neese HS and Choctaw losing to Pine Forrest and Niceville. I like the resume St Augustine has built much better than Choctaw's and I am picking them to be the Reegion champ.
Region 2: I see #1 seed Jones HS being the clear favorite, with Vanguard getting the #2nd seed. I watched Vanguard play this spring against Manatee, and to me they physically dominated Manatee, as well as exposed what the Manatee defense would be if not for all of its transfers at the LB position. I see a potential darkhouse in Lake Wales HS, but when all is said and done this is a Region that has to have Jones HS as its favorite.....Im taking Jones HS to be Region Champ
Region 3: Port Charlotte HS is the #1 seed, Naples HS as the #2 seed, Dunbar as the #3 seed, and Clearwater and Tampa Jesuit as 4 and 5 seeds. Port Charlotte has been good all season, but I see it a a team that has begun to peek with the end of the regular season. Naples HS appears to be a team that you could characterize as "As Shaw Simeon goes, so goes Naples HS football" in both of Naples loses this season Simeon failed to average 5 yards per carry or break the 100 yard barrier, in every other game Simeon average over 10 yards per carry and almost 200 yards per game. Naples HS looks to have a 2nd round rematch with Dunbar, that Naples won in OT during the regular season 21-20, that last 3 years (including this year) the Dunbar/Naples contests, have been games that kept every fan on the edge of their respective seat until the very last play of the game. This is a second round contest if you in a position to get to, I'd encourage you to go see! Darkhorse team in my mind is Tampa Jesuit, as I see Jesuit and Port Charlotte facing each other in the second round. I believe Jesuit could pull the upset here, but Im going to say Port Charlotte ultimately pulls out the win to setup a Port Charlotte versus Naples region final. I see Port Charlotte claiming the region title, primarily due to the home field advantage. This Region Championship is another final, that would be totally worth the price of admission!
Region 4: Norland HS and American Heritage HS are probably the best 2 - 4A teams in the state, that have the misfotune of also being in the same region. Their strenght of schedules of both schools rank 2nd and 3rd in the state of Florida. This is a region final that in my mind, when played is for the state championship! They played each other during the regular season with Norland taking that game 32-27, but later had to forfeit the win. Im going to to take American Heritage in the region final rematch.
State Final Im going to go with American Heirtage taking it all!
