Florida Youth and High School Sports News Blog

Florida Football: Week 8 Review (Special Edition)

By special edition, what I really mean is that Brighthouse, those wonderful people who provide me with high-speed internet service and reruns of Wonder Years, had some issues today. My ISP was down for several hours. They had this nifty service where they said their computer would call me when the service was back up. The service returned at about 6 p.m., just before I left the house. I got the call at about 8 p.m. Very friendly computer voice, I must say.

Anyway, what I thought I’d do to remedy the fact that we lacked a preview of games in Tampa and Central Florida is to focus on them tonight and Saturday morning in the review of the Friday night action. I’ll also have a full story in the morning on the 1B clash between District 3 rivals Lighthouse Christian and Trinity Christian. Trinity got the win 35-6 to improve to 3-0 in the district. Lighthouse is now 2-1 in district games and will determine its playoff fate next Friday against Daytona Beach Warner Christian.

Trinity, as you might recall, was involved in a wild game a few weeks ago. That one featured some nasty play from both the Eagles and Ormond Beach’s Calvary Christian. I’m happy to report that things were much more pleasant in this one. Allen Johnson seems to have his Eagles focusing on football, and that is what stands between them and the state title. Of course, Lighthouse Chrsitian deserves lots of credit. The team is only in its second year of football.

While that game was taking place in one part of Deltona, there was another big game across town at Deltona High School. The Wolves put their undefeated record on the line in a big game with Flagler Palm Coast, and FPC got a 35-7 win that might give the Bulldogs (5-2, 3-0) the district title. FPC has been kind of in the shadows this season due to some early wins against good teams. The Bulldogs opened the season with a 24-7 to St. Augustine and followed it with a 21-13 loss to Seabreeze in Daytona Beach. FPC’s Mark Jones is a great quarterback, but the truth is that he’s likely to be selected in the early rounds of the MLB draft next June. One area fan I talked to thought Jones was nuts to play football this fall, but it says a lot about the kid’s heart.

Deltona is still in the running for that runner-up spot in District 6A-2, but the Wolves will need a win next week against Spruce Creek, a 29-21 winner Friday night against Jacksonville Mandarin.

Now that I’m done with the games that were played right here in my back yard, let’s get to the good stuff in Central Florida. The game I really wanted to talk about this morning was in Kissimmee, where Osceola won 34-31 tonight in a key District 5A-8 game against Lake Gibson.

Kowboys’ Coach Jeff Rolson told me last week that his team was a little anxious to play the game and might have overlooked last week’s opponent, New Smyrna Beach. But there plenty of reasons to put the focus on this district game. After all, Lakeland appears to have its hands tightly wrapped around the district title, which means that either Osceola or Lake Gibson misses the playoffs. After seeing tonight’s score, it surely will be a tough week at practice for Lake Gibson, which was eliminated from playoff contention despite starting 4-0 and giving Lakeland a nice battle. The Dreadnaughts, by the way, were 54-14 winners against George Jenkins and now focus on a Nov. 2 game with Osceola that will decide which team claims the district title.

In Orlando, Edgewater won its fifth straight game with a 42-13, against Colonial to stay in the driver’s seat in District 6A-3, and Timber Creek defeated Evans 26-0 to improve to 2-1 in the district, just a game back of Edgewater, which won 21-13 when it played Timber Creek three weeks ago. It looks like TC might be one to watch at this point.

In District 6A-2, Oviedo (6-2) improved to 3-1, just a game back of idle Lake Brantley. The Lions defeated Winter Springs 24-10. The Bears are now 0-2 in district play and appear out of the playoff hunt, which means that Oviedo is all but a lock to reach the playoffs despite losing 28-21 to Lake Brantley a week ago.

Staying with the 6As, Apopka (7-1) defeated Olympia 51-22 to set up next week’s District 4 championship game with East Ridge, a 70-9 victor against Wekiva, a first-year school also based in Apopka. East Ridge is 5-1 since opening the season with back-to-back losses to South Sumter and Kissimmee Osceola. Apopka and East Ridge both enter next Friday’s game with 3-0 district records.

Then there’s District 6A-5, where Boone (7-0) defeated Cypress Creek 21-6 and Dr. Phillips won its fourth straight game after an 0-3 start with a 35-7 victory against Freedom on Thursday. That puts the West Orlando school in the running for the second playoff spot awarded in District 5, and DP probably deserves a trip to the playoffs after suffering tough losses to the likes of Edgewater, Apopka and an excellent South Carolina team in the first three weeks of the season. The trio of losses was by a total of 15 points. Oak Ridge defeated Gateway 55-6 on Friday to stay on DP’s heels. The teams meet on Friday to determine which one gets the playoff spot.

In 5A, Lake Howell defeated Hagerty 21-11 to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot out of District 4, where Pine Ridge improved to 1-1 in district games after defeating Lyman 24-0 on Friday. Lake Howell (3-4) hosts Pine Ridge (5-2) next Friday. The loser is out of the hunt in this district, where Mainland is marching to the district title in Daytona Beach.

Speaking of Daytona, its best team might be Seabreeze, which likely won the district championship Friday with a 20-9 victory against Rockledge. The Sandcrabs (7-0) should roll over Lake Mary and New Smyrna Beach before putting their unbeaten record on the line in the regular-season finale against Mainland, which shares a field with Seabreeze.

I suppose the relief for Rockledge (5-2) is that Titusville (6-2) lost to Merritt Island. That dropped the Terriers to 1-2 in District 4A-7. Rockledge, meanwhile, moves to 1-1 and faces Rockledge next Friday to decide which team moves into the driver’s seat for the runner-up spot.

Down at 3A, Eustis improved to 6-1 with a 39-0 victory against St. Cloud. Eustis is now 2-0 in District 7, where the team is tied at the top with Bishop Moore, also 6-1. Bishop Moore had the week off, but they’ll get Eustis at home on Nov. 2.

In 2A, South Sumter kept stretched its win streak to seven games with a 30-0 victory against Umatilla. The boys are now 7-1 and finish district play next Friday against Jones before traveling for an interesting Nov. 2 game at Oviedo. Jones, Mount Dora and Lake Highland Prep are all fighting for the runner-up spot in 2A-4. All three are now 1-1. Mount Dora, which had the week off, hosts Lake Highland next Friday.

Crescent City (7-0) won a big home game, 13-6, against The Villages to set up an interesting scenario in District 2B-5. The Villages (6-2) is now 2-1 in district games. That puts them into a dogfight with Wildwood (5-2), which is also 2-1 in the district. The teams meet on Nov. 2. With a bye next week, The Villages has two weeks to prepare. With a playoff spot on the line, count on the team being present next week when Wildwood hosts Umatilla.

Finishing off the night for Central Florida’s schools, Pine Castle Christian won 44-8 against Central Florida Christian to improve to 5-2 overall and 5-0 in District 1B-5. Lakeland Victory Christian (3-4) defeated Santa Fe Catholic (5-2) to move into the lead for the runner-up spot in this big ol’ seven-team district. Meanwhile, Master’s Academy (5-2) moved a step closer to sealing up the District 1B-4 title with a 36-6 win against Lake Mary Prep. On Nov. 2, Master’s likely claims the district title by defeating Orangewood Christian (4-3, 2-0).

I’ll have lots more for you in the morning. Among the biggest stories from tonight’s action:

• Jay defeated previously unbeaten Liberty County 21-10 in District 1A-1.
• American Heritage defeated Glades Day 33-8.
• Bolles defeats Fernandina Beach 70-21.
• Miami Northwestern puts down American 36-12.

I’ll see you Saturday for more from around the state.