@swamprat, has the FHSAA ever floated the idea of going with neutral sites for the playoffs? Without actually knowing, I'm going to assume there's no shortage of quality facilities down there.

 

Class 6A Region 1, where Escambia is assigned, is spread out all over the place. District 1 is in the panhandle, District 2 runs across the top of the state from Lake City to Jacksonville, and Districts 3 and 4 run down the east coast from Jacksonville to New Smyrna. For them, as a #1 seed, it's worked out well, having all home games. Their opponents in the region were New Smyrna Beach (466 miles away) (44-0), Daytona Mainland (449 miles) (27-7), and Jacksonville Lee (358 miles) (39-13).

 

Florida also uses the RPI to determine seeding in the semis. Palmetto has the highest RPI in 6A and will be hosting Miami Central, who has the lowest RPI of the Regional Champions, in the other state semi.

 

Had Escambia had the higher RPI, Palmetto and Gaither would be playing next week (only 60 miles apart) and Central would have to travel to Pensacola. A distance of near 700 miles.

 

I'm not sure how those logistics would work out for a neutral site set up in advance given the uncertainty of the RPI before the season.

Saw that Gaither needed to raise $3500 to fund travel expenses for this game, even with Glory Days Grill, a Bay Area chain of sports bars, picking up the food. To their credit, they have raised almost $4200 to this point. This is the first time Gaither has been this deep into the playoffs. The fans are really all over it.

 

For the Miami Beach Bowl, a couple of years ago, Mrs. S and I did the tour bus package, which drove us from the USF campus, in north Tampa, to Miami and back. About 10 hours round trip. She and I were worn out when we got home and all we did was watch the game. It's going to be tough for the team to ride 7-8 hours on a bus, play a 3-3.5 hour football game, then hop on the buses and ride 7-8 hours back home. Even if they charter big tour coaches. In fact, under Florida law, I do not believe tour bus drivers can drive more than 8 or 10 hours a day. We had 2 drivers on our bus trip.

 

It's going to be Black Friday, too.

 

Surely to goodness they'd go up the night before, wouldn't they?!?

I'm not sure how those logistics would work out for a neutral site set up in advance given the uncertainty of the RPI before the season.

 

In Ohio, schools that meet a certain criteria (turf, adequate seating, availability, etc.) submit bids to host playoff games each week of the postseason and the OHSAA chooses based partly on geography, attempting to pick the location that falls somewhere between the two schools competing that week.

 

Winning teams don't know where they're playing in the next round until a day or so after the previous playoff game. It's a great setup for Ohio and would probably work for Florida, but probably isn't doable in Kentucky, due to the relative lack of artificial playing surfaces here.

Surely to goodness they'd go up the night before, wouldn't they?!?

 

Thanksgiving night/weekend? I'm not sure. How much would it cost to house a 30 or 40 player football team for a night? Could you get that many rooms on short notice, given the holiday in a tourist town? Tax, tag, and title tells me, more than $3500, the goal of the fundraiser. The $3500 looks more like the rental of a couple of tour bus coaches.

 

By the way, Gaither is a Hillsborough County public high school. My son graduated from there. Hence the interest on my part.

Thanksgiving night/weekend? I'm not sure. How much would it cost to house a 30 or 40 player football team for a night? Could you get that many rooms on short notice, given the holiday in a tourist town? Tax, tag, and title tells me, more than $3500, the goal of the fundraiser. The $3500 looks more like the rental of a couple of tour bus coaches.

 

By the way, Gaither is a Hillsborough County public high school. My son graduated from there. Hence the interest on my part.

 

I understand the logistics and costs aspects of it, but that's just crazy to spend 8 hours on a bus (even if it is a charter) and then be expected to play at your best. Good grief, can you imagine the Packers coming to Cincinnati for a Monday night game and riding a bus into town that same day? (Insert punchline here..."Of course, Green Bay would still win, because it's a prime time game, and the Bengals are...well, the Bengals.") But still.

In Ohio, schools that meet a certain criteria (turf, adequate seating, availability, etc.) submit bids to host playoff games each week of the postseason and the OHSAA chooses based partly on geography, attempting to pick the location that falls somewhere between the two schools competing that week.

 

Winning teams don't know where they're playing in the next round until a day or so after the previous playoff game. It's a great setup for Ohio and would probably work for Florida, but probably isn't doable in Kentucky, due to the relative lack of artificial playing surfaces here.

 

I'm not sure there are that many turf fields down here. The only 2 high school fields I've seen that were turf were at Tampa Jesuit and Calvary Christian in Clearwater. The Doak, the Swamp, Raymond James, Hard Rock, and the Wok in Orlando are natural grass. Camping World is turf, though.

 

Turf on not, that sounds like a solid plan. I'm not sure why the FHSAA hasn't looked into it.

Surely to goodness they'd go up the night before, wouldn't they?!?

 

Thanksgiving night/weekend? I'm not sure. How much would it cost to house a 30 or 40 player football team for a night? Could you get that many rooms on short notice, given the holiday in a tourist town? Tax, tag, and title tells me, more than $3500, the goal of the fundraiser. The $3500 looks more like the rental of a couple of tour bus coaches.

 

 

My understanding is they more than doubled the $3500 requested. They ended up doing both. Chartered a couple of tour buses and went up this afternoon.

Florida Semifinals

 

1A:

Madison County 37 Pahokee 36

Blountstown 21 Baker 13

 

2A:

Victory Christian 20 University Christian (Jacksonville) 7

Champagnat Catholic 30 Seffner Christian 21

 

3A:

Chaminade-Madonna 28 Clearwater Central Catholic 7

Florida State University 42 Lakeland Christian 10

 

4A:

Booker T. Washington (Miami) 9 Lakewood (St. Petersburg) 7

Bolles 20 Cocoa 14

 

5A

Miami Northwestern 42 Tampa Jesuit 21

Jones 21 Wakulla 20

 

6A:

Escambia 45 Gaither 21

Miami Central 34 Palmetto 30

 

7A

Edgewater 38 Armwood 27

St. Thomas Aquinas 42 Venice 0

 

8A

Apopka 41 Steinbrenner 15

Miami Columbus 28 Deerfield Beech 21

The 1st 3 games in Indiana drew over 19, 000.

Ohio Semifinals:

 

Division I

Elder 31 Springfield 24

Pickerington Central 28 Mentor 21

 

Division II

La Salle 35 Toledo Central Catholic 21

Massillon Washington 35 Avon 10

 

Division III

Mansfield Senior 27 Aurora 21 (2OT)

Trotwood-Madison 24 Bishop Hartley 19

 

Division VI

Anna 36 Mechanicsburg 6

Springfield (New Middletown) 42 East Knox 14

That DII title game between La Salle and Massillon Washington could be a doozy. The stadium in Canton should be packed with Massillon folks.

The 1st 3 games in Indiana drew over 19, 000.

 

Score on the Carmel/ Center Grove game?

Score on the Carmel/ Center Grove game?

 

Carmel won, 20-17.

Ohio Semifinals:

 

Division IV

Clyde 35 Wyoming 14

Licking Valley 25 Poland Seminary 24

 

Division V

Ironton 49 West Jefferson 21

Kirtland 28 Oak Harbor 14

 

Division VII

Marion Local 40 Patrick Henry 6

Lucas 15 Harvest Prep 12

How big of an upset is that Clyde/Wyoming result?

 

Also, Ironton returns to the state finals for the first time in twenty years. I've got family on that team, so I'll be pulling hard for the Fighting Tigers next week.