TC finishes at #12 in the nation according to the Maxpreps Excellent 25 listing, but loses some very key pieces to graduation. There are a few teams that were young this year and will be ready to knock of TCJax in 2016( especially CCC, AHD and Oxbridge). Congrats to everyone for a great year of 3A football.
TCMan, JaxTCA will be the favorite for 2016. Yes, you graduate some key pieces; however, what you have coming back is impressive to say the least. I think you're set, as is, to have a strong chance at defending your title again.
So, who are the challengers?
American Heritage, I think has a fall off simply because Devin Singletary, DJ Davis, their starting linebackers and Benenoche graduate. Their coach said in a post-game interview they bring back 3 offensive linemen and plan on running with Alec Sincfield (#22). My husband made a great point. If that guy has play to play defense and offense, he won't be as effective as they need him to be. The Stallions will have to throw next year, so I think it's going to be huge for their QB to progress..quickly! I do expect the Stallions defense to take a hit- but Lamont McDougle is going to be really good.
Oxbridge is already on the tip of everyone's tongue for the 2016 season. They bring back a hefty amount of their team and even with the graduation of Travis Homer, they already had 2-3 running backs behind him that were pretty potent. I've no doubt the Thunderwolves will become an elite team, if they aren't already; however, I've always maintained they were the team of 2017. Oxbridge brings a lot back in 2016, but they're still a very young team.
Chaminade-Madonna is really sitting in a great position in Region 4. They bring back a healthy amount of their team, feature a strong defense and a potent offense. This is a team that's young, but has a chance to push for Orlando. The biggest question is who comes in at QB next year.
CCC brings back essentially everything from last year, they're going to be the popular pick to come out of the south in 2016. They have 5 very strong WR's, 3 very good running backs running behind a stout offensive line and return a talented QB. But what puts them over the top will be having a 4 year starter in CJ Cotman. The defense is set to compete against the heavy hitters for next year as well. IMHO, they lacked 2 things in 2015- depth and experience, they should have both in 2016. The question is, how does the team evolve in a post-John Davis era?
My early line is JaxTCA vs CCC in the 2016 Finals.
As always, we're talking 3A football and how the teams look now, will not be how they look in Spring and those teams will look different in August.