swamprat

September 6, 1997, USF played their first game against Kentucky Wesleyan. I was 39 and that game was in Tampa Stadium, the old Sombrero. I wish I still had my ticket to that game. If all goes as planned at the moment... September 4, 2027, USF plays Louisville for the first game in the new OCS. Kind of a full circle. I will be 69 and I may be seeing one of my grandchildren playing in the game.

No backhanded reference to UCF there. 😅

First official rendering of the new stadium by the construction firm building it and in it's designated location on campus. And of course, they are already announcing delays. Now it IS 2027. I might start going to games again.

Florida Finals Matchups... (The teams I follow highlighted.) The Max Preps National top 25 rankings are included highlighted in blue. Class 1M. (2) Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) / Clearwater Central Catholic Class 2M (11) Miami Norland / Berkeley Prep (Tampa) Class 3M (10) St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale) / Homestead Class 4M Mandarin (Jacksonville) / Miami Columbus Class 1S Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota) / Trinity Catholic (Ocala) Class 2S (20) Cocoa / Bradford (Starke) Class 3S St. Augustine / Daytona Beach Mainland Class 4S Lakeland / Venice Class 1R Madison County / Hawthorne

For the 10th straight year I will be missing the FBS, so called, College Football Playoffs. For the 27th year I am watching the FCS (D1-AA) playoffs. 24 teams. Top 8 teams are seeded and get a first round bye. 10 conferences have automatic bids, with 14 at large bids. It is surprising how many games in the first round are NOT blowouts. In fact, this year has had some real nail biters, Sacramento State / North Dakota, Chattanooga / Austin Peay, and Delaware coming from behind in the 4th to beat Lafayette. Round 2 was highlighted by North Dakota State blocking an extra point in overtime to eliminate Montana State for the fourth straight year. I love me some Bison. (The fact that they are heavily recruiting my grandson has nothing to do with it. 😁) As usual, I will skip all the bowl games that do not include USF or Kentucky, but I watch as many of the FCS playoffs as I can. Villanova at South Dakota State, noon, Saturday, ESPN, should be a good one.

Florida Semifinals... (The teams I follow highlighted.) Class 1M. Clearwater Central Catholic 39 Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville) 32 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) 40 Archbishop Carrol (Miami) 7 Class 2M Miami Norland 28 Jacksonville Bolles 7 Berkeley Prep (Tampa) 17 American Heritage (Plantation) 14 Class 3M Homestead 42 Orlando Jones 35 St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale) 59 Gaither (Tampa) 14 Class 4M Mandarin 51 (Jacksonville) Monarch (Coconut Creek) 21 Miami Columbus 27 Tampa Plant 7 Class 1S Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota) 41 North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) 14 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 51 First Baptist Academy (Naples) 22 Class 2S Bradford (Starke) 22 Pensacola Catholic 21* Cocoa 41 Sarasota Booker 3 Class 3S St. Augustine 35 Dunbar (Ft. Myers) 14 Daytona Beach Mainland 34 Vanguard (Ocala) 12 Class 4S Lakeland 21 Buckholz 20 Venice 51 Deland 21 Class 1R Madison County 61 Bozeman 22 Hawthorne 49 Blountstown 0 Finals next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium in (Tallahassee). * @ATLCat Chaminade-Madonna / Clearwater Central Catholic is a rematch from last year won by Chaminade-Madonna 48-14. St. Thomas Aquinas / Homestead is also a rematch. STA won 38-21. Hawthorne and Cocoa are also looking to repeat.

Florida Quarterfinals... (The teams I follow highlighted.) The results are grouped by semifinal matchup. Class 1M. Clearwater Central Catholic 45 Carrollwood Day 41 Trinity Christian Academy 48 Orlando Christian Prep 20 Chamminade-Madonna 40 Cardinal Newman 0 Archbishop Carroll 38 True North Classical Academy 35 Class 2M Bolles 34 Bishop Moore 14 Norlan 31 Miami Central 28 Berkeley Prep 31 Calvary Christian 27 American Heritage 47 Cardinal Gibbons 35 Class 3M Orlando Jones 24 Tampa Bay Tech 21 Homestead 22 Miramar 17 St. Thomas Aquinas 28 Coconut Creek 0 Gaither 31 Jesuit 24 Class 4M Mandarin 28 Sanford Seminole 24 Monarch 35 Palm Beach 13 Columbus 31 Western 13 Tampa Plant 20 Sumner 14 Class 1S North Florida Christian 21 St. Joh Paul II 14 Cadinal Mooney 42 Victory Christian Academy 0 Trinity Catholic 38 Melbourne Central Catholic 14 First Baptist Academy 35 Moore Haven 0 Class 2S Pensacola Catholic 17 Florida State University HS 10 Bradford 43 Baker County 0 Cocoa 34 South Sumtner 14 Sarasota Booker 38 Bishop Verot 32 Class 3S St. Augustine 35 Choctawhatchee 26 Dunbar 12 Naples 10 Vanguard 52 Lake Wales 15 Datona Beach Mainland 35 Sebring 14 Class 4S Buckholz 37 Bartram Trail 17 Lakeland 77 Lake Minneola 48 Venice 49 Sarasota Riverview 23 Delan 37 Treasure Coast 6 Class 1R Boseman 28 Holmes County 14 Madison County 17 Union County 14 Blountstown 14 Port St. Joe 10 Hawthorne 34 Williston 16 https://fhsaa.com/sports/2020/2/11/FB_Brackets.aspx

Florida Schools I Follow... Class 1M Region 1 Clearwater Central Catholic 42 Indian Rocks Christian 14 Chaminade-Madonna 67 Avant Garde Academy 0 Class 4S Region 4 Sarasota Riverview 35 Manatee 30 Class 4M Region 1 Sanford Seminole 42 Apopka 14 Class 3M Region 2 Gaither 16 Largo 0 Jesuit 38 Northeast 7 Class 2M Region 2 Berkeley Prep 42 Tampa Catholic 21 Calgary Christian 48 Clearwater 20

My understanding is that NIL is being thrown open to high schoolers next year in some states. That changes everything in states with the NIL and lax transfer rules.

Florida Schools I Follow... First Round Class 4S Region 4 Sarasota Riverview 49 Palmetto 20 Class 4M Region 1 Apopka 22 Evans 13 Class 3M Region 2 Largo 25 East Bay 14 Gaither 42 St. Petersburg 14 Jesuit 40 Pinellas Park 7 Class 2M Region 2 Berkeley Prep 21 Middleton 0 Calgary Christian 56 Lakewood 28 Clearwater 35 Blake 12 Class 1M Region 1* Indian Rocks Christian @ Clearwater Central Catholic (11/17) Avant Garde Academy @ Chaminade-Madonna (11/17) * CCC lost to Chaminade-Madonna in the championship game last year. Max Preps has Chaminade-Madonna ranked #2 nationally. Nov. 17th... Class 4S Region 4 Sarasota Riverview @ Manatee Class 4M Region 1 Apopka @ Sanford Seminole Class 3M Region 2 Gaither @ Largo Northeast @ Jesuit Class 2M Region 2 Tampa Catholic @ Berkeley Prep Clearwater @ Calgary Christian

Florida Schools I Follow... First Round Playoff Matchups Class 4S Region 4 Palmetto @ Sarasota Riverview Class 4M Region 1 Evans @ Apopka Class 3M Region 2 East Bay @ Largo Pinellas Park @ Jesuit Gaither @ St. Petersburg Class 2M Region 2 Middleton @ Berkeley Prep Lakewood @ Calvary Christian Blake @ Clearwater Class 1M Region 1 Indian Rocks Christian @ Clearwater Central Catholic* * I live right next to Indian Rocks Christian. As much as I like CCC, I'd love to walk over and see a playoff game. CCC should walk in thing one, though.

Florida Schools I follow... Last Week of the Regular Season Class 3M District 7 East Lake 38 Countryside 0 Northeast 17 Largo 13 Pinellas Park 49 Seminole 34 Seminole Osceola 43 Dixie Hollins 14 Others Calvary Christian 56 Holy Trinity 13 Clearwater 27 Boca Ciega 10 Sarasota Riverview 54 Charlote 6 Apopka 29 Wekiva 28 Alonso 61 Brandon 30 Spoto 47 Tampa Freedon 0 Gaither 37 Newsome 35 Jesuit 66 Tampa Catholic 35 Berkeley Prep 42 Bolles 7

Florida Schools I follow... Class 3M District 7 Largo 34 Seminole Osceola 9* Others Apopka 33 Evans 13 Jesuit 28 Hillsborough 7 Calvary Christian 65 Dunedin 0 Berkeley Prep 28 Clearwater 14 Wharton 51 Tampa Freedom 0 Plant 42 Alonso 6 Gaither 84 Leto 0 Sarasota Riverview 48 Sarasota 6 * Largo wins the district. One week left in the regular season.

Florida Schools I follow... Weekend October 20th-22nd Class 3M District 7 St. Petersburg 49 Countryside 0* Palm Harbor University 20 Seminole 0 Seminole Osceola 42 DeSoto County 0 Largo 40 St. Pete Lakewood 16 Others Jesuit 35 Tampa Bay Tech 28 Sarasota Riverview 21 Manatee 14 Lake Mary 49 Apopka 21 Clearwater 22 East Lake 14 Gaither 35 Durant 21 Berkeley Prep 42 East Bay 0 Calvary Christian 35 Lakeland Christian 7 Middleton 15 Sickles 7 *Jeffrey Jones, QB for St. Pete, was the real deal. He led the state in rushing coming into the game with over 2000 yards. He's also scored 49 TDs this season. He added 2 more TDs rushing and 2 more passing Friday night. The game went to a running clock with 6:00 left in the first half. My grandson re-broke his thumb early in the game. It was the first game he had played without a cast or brace all season. I think he did it on purpose.😉 He had 6 forced fumbles when he had the cast. 😁

It's been a crazy week here. Florida Schools I follow... Monday, October 16th Class 3M District 7 River Ridge 29 Countryside 26 A game that was originally to have been played on August 31st.

My son-in-law and grandson were in the student section for this one. I got a video from the grandson when they stormed the field. That's going to be a great memory. As far as the game. Caleb Williams is not Larmar Jackson or Bryce Young. ND made him look awfully ordinary.

Florida Schools I follow... Class 3M District 7 Seminole Osceola 13 Countryside 10 Largo 34 Seminole 0 Others Apopka 27 Lake Brantley 7 Alonso 34 Strawberry Crest 30 Berkeley Prep 42 Dunedin 6 Calvary Christian 27 Clearwater 3 Clearwater Academy International 35 Sarasota Riverview 33 Armwood 60 Tampa Freedom 0 Jesuit 36 Gaither 35 OT East Lake 42 Sickles 7

Florida Schools I follow... Class 3M District 7 Countryside 15 Boca Ciega 14 Northeast 21 Seminole Osceola 8 St. Petersburg 48 Seminole 14 Others Clearwater 27 Pinellas Park 23 Apopka 25 Olympia 23 Robinson 48 Tampa Freedom 3 Gaither 50 Bloomingdale 0 Jesuit 36 Bishop Verot 29 Durant 44 Sickles 15 Calvary Christian 31 Trinity Catholic 2 Riverview 41 Alonso 30 Berkeley Prep 20 Sarasota Riverview 10

Now that's how you blow a 35-7 lead. UCF scored with 8:08 left in the 3rd to go up 35-7. Baylor added a field goal to make the score 35-10 after 3. Baylor then scores 26 in the 4th. Biggest comeback for a win in Baylor history.

Florida Schools I follow... Class 3M District 7 Largo 35 Countryside 0 Seminole Osceola 35 Seminole 7 Others Sanford Seminole 21 Apopka 3 Venice 35 Sarasota Riverview 14 Clearwater 56 Dunedin 0 Hillsborough 30 Gaither 20 Tampa Bay Tech 45 Freedon 0 Calvary Christian 28 Berkeley Prep 21 Palm Harbor University 23 Sickles 7 Plant City 54 Alonso 15 Jesuit 49 Leto 0

Florida Schools I follow... Class 3M District 7 Palm Harbor University 24 Countryside 6 Largo 27 Clearwater 26 Seminole 62 Dixie Hollins 21 Others Edgewater 27 Apopka 0 Blake 43 Tampa Freedon 3 Tampa Bay Tech 39 Gaither 30 Sickles 41 Tampa King 7 Alonso 46 Leto 6 Berkeley Prep 35 Tampa Catholic 7 Calvary Christian 57 Wildwood 6 Jesuit 28 Armwood 21

Final. Chaminade-Madonna 31 Miami Central 28

Chaminade-Madonna is ranked #1 in Class 1M. Central is ranked #1 in class 2M.

Great game being televised on ESPN2. Two nationally ranked teams going at it. #3 Chaminade-Madonna at #6 Miami Central. 31-28 Chaminade-Madonna end of the 3rd. Central 4th and 4 at the 50.