Florida Youth and High School Sports News Blog

Florida Football: Week 8 5A Rankings

In case you didn’t see the earlier posts, we’re now going with separate posts for each class in an effort to shorten things a bit. Again, it’s also worth noting that some teams are now highlighted. Clicking them sends you to the individual Team Card page. For example, here’s Naples High.

Of course, there are still several teams that don’t have a Team Card page. As athletes, coaches, fans, etc., it’s your five-minute investment that creates the Team Card for your particular team. In most cases, there’s already a spot ready. You just have to register and go on your merry way uploading those pics of your son making the game-saving tackle, or maybe missing the game-winning field goal. But you still love him, right?

Click here to get started creating your Team Card. Also don’t forget that there’s also a Star Card option where you can focus on you, everybody’s favorite person, especially if you’re Rickey Henderson, who liked to talk about himself in the third person. If you don’t get it, ask your English teacher and start studying for that big test. Or, if you’d rather spend your time here, just realize that the answer is most likely C, no matter what the question might be. Of course, that’s only the case about 35 percent of the time. It’s the most common answer, but 35 percent isn’t what you want to see at the top of your test. For that one, just ask your math teacher, fool.

Anyway, create your card today and share the link with teammates, other parents, coaches, the high school newspaper staff or anyone else who might wish to contribute. It’s one team, but anyone who registers can upload under that Team Card.

We’re happy to report that Local Replay is rapidly going mainstream just three months since launching, and 2008 promises to be a big year. If you haven’t joined the party, you’re missing out. We’re adding photographers and writers every month, and we’re tweaking the site to add more features. My push is for a message board with sections for each sport and subsections by class.

Don’t forget that this isn’t just a football site. We purport to cover all prep sports, including AAU and other youth programs. This fall, we’re a little overwhelmed to delve too far into volleyball, swimming and golf. But there are sporadic posts on those sports, and we’ll have full coverage of the state swim meet in early November. We’re also set to roll into the football playoffs and then carry the momentum over to basketball and soccer seasons.

Coaches, we’d also like to have your rosters and team stats, which can be sent directly to me by e-mail at: rwhite3135@cfl.rr.com or to the regular Local Replay e-mail. There’s also a spot for a team photo. Drop the yearbook staff a line, and tell them to throw you a photo.

The photos, video footage and stats will be there for years to come, as the site doesn’t have any plans to remove anything. Local Replay’s computer gurus (me included) wouldn’t know a mike back if he hit ‘em in the groin, but we start to salivate if you talk about server space and bandwidth. Anyway, on to this week’s rankings and on toward a fateful stop in Orlando.

There were some rumblings in 5A this week, as St. Thomas Aquinas and Niceville lost their first games. The latter of the two dropped a 33-14 affair to Pace. Don’t laugh, but FHSAA has Pine Forest losing 140-0 to Foley, an Alabama team. We doubted that so much that we went out and found the real score, 14-0. Hey, an extra zero is an honest mistake. It might be the person who reported that score, rather than FHSAA, that made the error.

In any case, Pine Forest is now 4-3 but moves up the ranks with Bartram Trail and Alonso dropping down after they also lost.

There are now four unbeaten teams in 5A. Lakeland has its hands full in a few weeks with Osceola, so one of the unbeatens falls then if not earlier. Osceola has to deal with Lake Gibson this week. The loser figures to fall out of the Top 5. Manatee (7-0) is ready to accept that higher ranking. This week, they’re up to No. 4. Aquinas hangs on to No. 5, but Largo and Mainland are among those with legitimate claims to the same spot. Bartram Trail joins Pine Forest as the only three-loss teams in any classification to be in the Top 10. Fort Myers and Nicevlle, two teams with but one loss, probably have something to say about that., and Niceville can fix that this Thursday, when it faces Pine Forest. Meanwhile, Fort Myers can make a big statement this week against Cape Coral (6-1). Ed White, Gaither and Chamberlain all have arguments for being ranked this week. Another win probably gets two of them into the Top 20, but we’ll see how that plays out.

5A
1. Lakeland (6-0)
2. (Kissimmee) Osceola (7-0)
3. (Lakeland) Lake Gibson (5-1)
4. (Bradenton) Manatee (7-0)
5. (Fort Lauderdale) St. Thomas Aquinas (5-1)
6. Largo (6-0)
7. (Daytona Beach) Mainland (5-2)
8. (Pensacola) Pine Forest (4-3)
9. (Tampa) Alonso (5-2)
10. (Jacksonville) Bartram Trail (4-3)
11. Fort Myers (6-1)
12. Niceville (5-1)
13. (Neptune Beach) Fletcher (5-1)
14. Cape Coral (6-1)
15. (Delray Beach) Atlantic (4-1)
16. (Melbourne) Eau Gallie (5-2)
17. (Punta Gorda) Charlotte (4-2)
18. (Deltona) Pine Ridge (5-2)
19. Plant City (4-3)
20. (Pompano Beach) Blanche Ely (4-2)