Things gleaned from fifth football rankings
Venice returns to top of FHSAA power ratings
There is a little more clarity for some teams after the Florida High School Athletic Association released its fifth power rankings Tuesday afternoon.
There also is a little more urgency for some teams to make a late-season push for a playoff berth.
Only weeks remain in the regular season, so the jockeying for position has begun.
Some teams, like Venice, Cardinal Mooney and Charlotte have wrapped up district titles.
Other like Manatee, Palmetto, Parrish Community, Port Charlotte, Booker and Lemon Bay will play for a district championship Friday.
While the picture is not completely clear, here are three takeaways from the fifth ranking release:
Venice back on top
After winning and falling behind a Manatee team that had the week off, Venice jumped back to the top of the Class 4 Suburban-Region 4 rankings. Venice now is 41st in the state (after starting at 255th when the first rankings were released) and eighth in the class, also its highest ranking.
Losers of two straight, the Hurricanes dipped to 84th in the state, 15th in the class and 2nd in the region.
After snapping a three-game losing streak with a win at Manatee, Riverview jumped to third in the region.
Palmetto remained fifth and Charlotte seventh.
Lakewood Ranch stayed in the eighth and final spot, just ahead of No. 9 Sarasota.
Current first-round pairings: Venice (1) vs. Lakewood Ranch (8) Manatee (2) vs. Charlotte (7) Riverview (3) vs. Immokalee (6)
Gulf Coast (4) vs. Palmetto (5)
Gaps close in 3S-4 and 2S-4
Last week, it looked as if Port Charlotte and Booker could win their respective districts and not jump above the team it defeated.
Now, it does. in 3S-4, Parrish Community dropped three spots in the region to sixth, just one place ahead of Port Charlotte. The teams will battle Friday at the Pirates Cove for the District 13 crown.
It does not look as if the loss would dampen a playoff berth as the top eight in Region 4 appear to be set.
Even after its win over district champion Charlotte, Braden River does not look as if it has enough time to climb from 10 into the top eight.
Lemon Bay (third to fourth) and
Booker (fifth to sixth) both dropped after losing last week. Seemingly, there still is a possibility the Tornadoes could defeat the Manta Rays and not move ahead of them in the rankings, since Lemon Bay holds a 7.025-2.704 ranking margin.
Booker still is scheduled to play Estero and Lemon Bay is pitted against Hardee County in the first round, but that certainly will change after Friday’s outcome.
Despite its lopsided win at Marco Island Academy, Bayshore fell a spot to 10th and must jump two teams to get into the playoffs.
No changes in 1S-3
Cardinal Mooney’s loss at Bishop Verot did not hurt the Cougars. They remained fifth in Class 1S, third in Region 3 and still on pace to face Zephyrhills Christian Academy, as they have for the past three weeks, in the first round of the playoffs.
State rankings
41. (55) Venice
84. (54) Manatee
119. (83) Lemon Bay
133. (186) Riverview
135. (94) Parrish Community 144. (134) Port Charlotte
155. (143) Cardinal Mooney 213. (190) Booker
229. (217) Palmetto
271. (295) Braden River
281. (270) Bayshore
309. (271) Charlotte
314. (322) Lakewood Ranch 357. (365) Sarasota
432. (415) Southeast