Florida Football: Week 1 Preview
August 31st, 2007 Posted in Florida Sports, Recruiting News, High School Sports, Florida Football, football, High School FootballCall them non-traditionalists if you’d like, but the truth is that the season started a week ago with Miami Northwestern’s nationally-televised victory. Then, apparently unaware that football is supposed to be played on Friday nights, a few teams started the season a day early with Thursday games.
Up in the bend, Escambia showed why it has its sights on a 5A playoff spot with a 30-8 victory against Tate. Junior RB Trent Richardson showed his talent with 404 yards on the ground. When you play on a field named after past graduate Emmitt Smith, you can bet folks are going to draw comparisons. According to www.floridapreprecords.com, the total was not far off the all-time single game mark of 501 yards, set by Shawn Smith in 1985. Travis Henry ran for 436 yards 11 years ago. Smith’s 4-yard catch gives him Florida’s all-purpose record to at 505 yards.
In Tallahassee, Lincoln rolled to an easy 47-14 victory against Rickards.
In Orlando, two big-time 6A teams kicked off the season. Edgewater got a 21-14 win against Dr. Phillips, which will surely send Dr. Phillips down a few spots in the rankings.
Finally, in South Miami, Dr. Krop upended Hialeah 14-6 and Northeast defeated Fort Lauderdale.
Tonight, more than 400 teams take the field, and we plan to hit a few of the big ones.
One of the state’s biggest matchups this week pits Armwood against (Tampa) Plant. There’s already been lots of garbage talk between the teams for the sold-out game, which will feature several top recruits, including Plant’s newly-anointed starting quarterback. Armwood’s quarterback, though, might miss the game, according to this story from the St. Petersburg Times Web site.
Our crew, meanwhile, will be at tonight’s East Lake home game against Largo, a big 5A matchup of teams hoping to make the playoffs this fall. If you’re interested in that game, you’ll want to check back on Saturday, when you should find photos from the contest. New correspondent Greg Connell is covering that one for us, and he’ll also the Mitchell-Gulf contest.
In Miami, correspondet Nate Dappen will be at Friday’s game pitting Coral Gables against Sunset.
In Naples, we’ll have new team member Keith Ingram bringing you coverage of Monsignor Pace on the road at Naples in a good battle. Keith will also be bringing us part of the Barron-Collier vs. Lely game.
There are a host of big games tonight.
In Gainesville, Buchholz visits Eastside in a big rivalry. Eastside hasn’t won that matchup since 1999, but this could be the year they break through. Meanwhile, Pine Forest host Pace.
Another big matchup pits Citra North Marion with Ponte Vedra Beach Nease. Both are expected to make deep playoff runs in their classes in 2007.
In Orlando, one of the state’s top rated teams, Lake Brantley, hosts Apopka in a game that will shed a lot of light on whether the Blue Darters might be headed for an uncharacteristic poor season after losing their starting quarterback to graduation and some players to the city’s new Wekiva High School. We’ll also see whether Brantley is a potential state champion one season removed from losing the state championship game.
In Volusia County, DeLand hosts Daytona Beach Mainland in a matchup that has 60-plus chapters, most of them won by the defense-minded Bucs. The Bulldogs, led by junior RB Michael Gillislee, will showcase their new passing attack.
Further south, Palm Beach Lakes kicks off 2007 with a tough road game at Glades Central, and Palm Beach Gardens has it even rougher with a game at Pahokee.
Other interesting games feature American Heritage at Clewiston and Chaminade-Madonna hooking up with Glades Day. Plus, Cardinal Gibbons hosts St. Thomas Aquinas and Boyd Anderson plays at home against Ely.
All in all, it should be an interesting start of the season, if you can just forget for a moment that some of the non-traditionalists started without us on Thursday night.
And don’t forget, if you’re interested in joining our crew to provide written, photo or video coverage, drop me a line at rwhite3135@cfl.rr.com. And you can always register for free and upload your own content as well.
