DON’T LIVE IN PAST
A primer on week three of the high-school football playoffs:
Work to be done
Dr. Phillips soothed a sore spot when it shut down reigning state champion Tampa Plant and avenged a 2011 playoff drubbing with a 24-7 victory last week.
But DP coaches have reminded players that polishing off a perennial power is only a piece of the ultimate goal. The topranked Panthers (12-0) continue their quest for an elusive state championship when they host Tarpon Springs East Lake (11-1) in a Class 8A quarterfinal.
Admission is $8 for this week’s region finals, $9 for small-school state semifinals.
“We told our players they did a good job against Plant, but your job’s not over,” DP coach Rodney Wells said. “It’s all over for nothing if we don’t finish the job and win three more games.”
DP moved to No. 15 in USA Today’s national rankings this week.
Defending dings
Kissimmee Osceola (12-0) has lost two defensive starters to injury and two to suspensions in the past month, but the Kowboys have continued to be tough.
The latest casualty is DT Darren Brackbill, who tore an ACL in last week’s 29-28 victory against Davenport Ridge Community. He had 55 tackles, 14 for loss.
Osceola has yielded only 137 yards per game and 3.2 per play. Ridge managed 284 last week — the most Osceola has surrendered — but the Kowboys stopped a 2-point conversion attempt on the final play.
“We rotated a lot of young guys into games early in the season, and now those guys are having to step up and get it done,” Osceola coach Doug Nichols said. “Dalton Banton has done a great job at defensive end, and our sophomore [linebacker], Shayvai Gordon, was player of the game against Lakeland two weeks ago.”
Flipped script
The prevailing notion was that if South Daytona Warner Christian (11-1) made it back to the state semifinals for the seventh time in eight seasons, the Eagles would be seeing 2011 2A state champ Tallahassee North Florida Christian again. NFC throttled Warn- er 54-13 a year ago in route to its championship.
Instead, Warner is hosting Jacksonville University Christian (11-1), which owns six state titles but hadn’t reached a final four since 1994. The Conquerors ousted NFC 44-31 last week.
“It was not as close as the score said,” Warner coach Steve Allen said. “They’re bigger, stronger and faster than we are.
“We’ll need everything to break our way to beat these guys.”
Right balance
Apopka’s offense is averaging 49 points per game in a nine-game win streak going into its 8A road trip to Neptune Beach Fletcher. Most of that comes on the ground, but the passing threat is keeping defenses honest.
“We’re averaging about 320 [yards] rushing and over 100 passing, and that’s about the ratio we want,” coach Rick Darlington said.
Winging it
First Academy (12-0) is a playoff yearling compared to its opponent, Madison County (11-1), which has a 33-5 home playoff record. The common ground is that both teams run the Wing-T.
“We feel that’s an advantage,” Royals coach Leroy Kinard said. “Our team sees it every day in practice.
“And because we both run the ball, the game is going to be shorter. We’re going to dress about 36 players and they have more than 50, but that’s not as big a factor because the clock is moving.”
Road warriors
Daytona Beach Mainland will have traveled more than 900 miles on three playoff road trips when it returns from its 6A game at Naples (11-0).
“At the end of the day, it’s a mindset,” standout Mainland DEQuinton Powell said. “If you go in thinking you’re going to lose just because of the hostile atmosphere, you’re going to lose. We go in believing we’re going to make it our house.”