Local grid champ may make noise

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Local grid champ may make noise

Sports

Friday, 12 August 2011 14:03

Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

High school football practice just started Monday, but it doesn't take much imagination to see the football seasons of the 7A District 6 winner and runner-up extending past Thanksgiving.

Six of Osceola County's seven public school programs, except Poinciana, are in newly-formed 7A-6.
That's good news because at least two Osceola County schools, the district champ and the runner-up, are guaranteed spots in the Florida High School Athletic Association playoff series beginning Nov. 18.
Here's even better news: There may not be a large stumbling block between the local champion and a deep trip into the regionals.
When the new district alignments were announced last winter, the satisfaction of having the local squads grouped together was tempered by the sight of Polk County bully Lakeland looming in adjacent 7A-5. The way the FHSAA playoff system is structured, the top two teams in 7A-6 and 7A-5 will lock horns in the regional quarterfinal round.
Since 2007, when Osceola High dumped Lakeland twice on its way to the Class 5A championship game, Osceola County is batting .000 against the Dreadnaughts: 0-5.
Long playoff runs this season from the locals, with the Dreadnaughts planted in the way, seemed improbable.
But, last week, the FHSAA confirmed to the Lakeland Ledger that it is investigating Lakeland after several players from Lakeland George Jenkins, including talented quarterback Jadrian Clark, transferred to the Dreadnaughts in January.
Polk County School District officials turned down their out-of-zone applications, but the players and their parents claim that they moved and now live within the Lakeland High boundaries. Clark threw for three touchdowns in Lakeland's spring football game.
The FHSAA investigation may turn up nothing; or, it could rule that the Jenkins players are not eligible for the upcoming season, leaving the Dreadnaughts without several key components less than a month before their season opener against St. Cloud.
Regardless of what happens, Osceola High Coach Doug Nichols, whose Kowboys played Lakeland last season when the schools were in the same district, said the Dreadnaughts will be formidable, but not unbeatable.
"There's no question that they are going to be a good team. With that coaching staff, they always are going to be good," Nichols said. "But, I don't know if they are going to be at the same level we've seen them; they may not have as many of those blue-chip kids as they've had."
St. Cloud Coach Mike Short said that he is opening the season against the Dreadnaughts because he wants to expose his team, a serious contender for the 7A-6 championship, to the playoff-style atmosphere at 8,000-seat Bryant Stadium, where Lakeland installed Fieldturf this week. Short didn't sound like a man committing his team to a hopeless mission when talking about the game.
"I think we can hang with them for a while, and then we'll see what happens," Short said. "Maybe they'll blow us out, who knows? On the other hand, we're not bad. Maybe we can throw a few twists at them that will cause them a few problems."
If the Dreadnaughts aren't a playoff team, things open up.
Lakeland's district, 7A-5, isn't loaded. Haines City and Davenport Ridge Community are solid, but Lake Region and George Jenkins look below average. It's realistic to see Osceola, which beat a good Lake Gibson squad in the spring, or St. Cloud, with its potentially high-scoring offense, beating the Polk County reps in the quarterfinals. The 7A-6 teams then would square off in the semifinals Nov. 25.
There's more encouraging news for that winner. Tampa Plant has jumped to Class 8A, removing another former state champion from the playoff path.
Manatee and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, two more football factories, are in the 7A south region and aren't a factor until the state championship game.
Don't pop the corks, yet.
There's still plenty of competition from the north. Tallahassee Lincoln, Jacksonville First Coast and Orange Park Fleming Island all are coming off strong playoff seasons and are potential regional final and state semifinal obstacles. Edgewater, East Ridge and Leesburg could be a problem.
Every football season, some team always seems to come from nowhere to make a splash.
But, maybe that team will be from Osceola County in 2011.