CLASS 4A
Another 7-1 finish with Panama City Bay going on the road and beating Paxon of Jacksonville by three points. Bay gets to take another trip to the First Coast to take on top overall seed Jackson. Its pretty impressive that three of the four region finals are #1 vs. #2 affairs. The other one, Jackson/Bay, is #1 vs #3.
Best Matchup: On the one hand, the two teams closest in ranking is #20 Brooksville Central heading to #18 St. Pete Gibbs. On the other, you have #2 Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian hosting #5 Miami Mater Lakes. However, we’ll give the nod to the Satellite vs Lake Highland Prep matchup. The Scorpions of Satellite, despite a solid 25-2 record, have labored in obscurity all season. Overlook them at your own peril.
Best Chance for an Upset: Hard to see one in 4A. Despite being matchups of top ten teams, it just feels like Jackson and Calvary will be able to overpower their respective opponents. Gibbs could very easily underestimate a 23-4 Brooksville Central team with a sub-par strength of schedule.
Our Picks
Jacksonville Jackson over Panama City Bay
Orlando Lake Highland Prep over Satellite Beach Satellite
St. Petersburg Gibbs over Brooksville Central
Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian over Miami Mater Lakes Academy
CLASS 5A
This is where we tripped up, going 6-2 on Tuesday night. Tampa King winning on the road at Leesburg by eight wasn’t nearly as surprising as Naples Barron Collier rolling up I-75 and dusting Punt Gorda Charlotte by two dozen. After surviving Bradenton Southeast by just three, St. Pete high better be able to turnaround quickly to face a hot Collier team.
Best Matchup: The Stranahan/Norland contest in South Florida features #2 Stranahan hosting the #3 Vikings. These two teams mirror each other in terms of style and tenacity. There may not be a lot of points scored but every possession will be treated as life or death.
Best Chance for an Upset: After watching Tampa King win on the road, it wouldn’t shock if they did it again at Orlando Jones. Likewise, it will be interesting to see if Barron Collier can duplicate is offensive eruption when it visits St. Pete.
Our Picks
Jacksonville Riverside over Pensacola Pine Forest
Orlando Jones over Tampa King
St. Petersburg over Naples Barron Collier
Miami Norland over Fort Lauderdale Stranahan