It’s elite 8 time in the Best of the Best Tournament and we’ve had some upsets! You can’t simply advance a team for their championships when their playing against some of the best teams ever assembled! Although the matchups are getting really tough, and round three is even tougher. Check out some of the teams that advance to the elite 8! We’ll be announcing the final four Friday afternoon at 6pm on our DuvalSports Kickoff Show streamed live on our website, youtube, and facebook at the Grave Yard! The championship participants and winner will be named Tuesday night 8pm from Gator’s Dockside Baymeadows during our first weekly DuvalSports Show! Come on out and discuss the entire Best of the Best tournament with us!
Now lets get to the action. The debate has been in high gear across all the social media platforms. The fans of football on the first coast feel very passionate about their teams and their football, but alas there can only be one winner.
95’Sandalwood vs 05′ St. Augustine
How do you decide who wins this match up? It’s almost virtually impossible! Exactly ten years separate them. Different eras of football, different styles of play, different dynamic of coaches, different makeup of players. This Best of the Best match up may actually be called the Best of a Guess match up. Because your guess is as good as ours.
On one hand Corey believes St. Augustine is the better team. His arguments are based off next level talent and history.
“St. Augustine (15-0) state champions led by cornerback Jacques Rickerson (Tennessee) 8 INTs, tailback and kick returner Brandon James (Florida) who scored 23 TDs coasted to title with a 31-15 win over Sarastota Booker. Of the 17 straight post season appearances by the school since 1999, the 2005 team by far was the most dominant.”- Corey Davis
I must agree those are some compelling arguments Corey. But instead of mentioning Florida’s Mr Football Sandalwood’s Frankie Franklin again, I had to dig a little deeper than records and players who went to college. Lets look at match ups and districts. Sandalwood in 1995 played in the 6A classification which is equivalent to 8A today, the largest classification. But unlike today or even 2005, in the 90’s your biggest athletes and toughest schools were mostly in 6A. The districts were a murders row of competition. Lake City Columbia, Tallahassee Lincoln, Middleburg, Mandarin, Orange Park, Tallahassee Leon, every week it was a playoff game. In fact St. Augustine was a brief member of the 6A classification in the 90’s replacing Middleburg from 1997 to 1998. How did they fare you ask??? Well they finished in the bottom half of their district with two losses to… yup.. you guessed it, Sandalwood. So my question is… how can they beat one of the best team’s in our area’s history in this bracket, when they couldn’t even beat them when they were in the same district?
Corey’s response was good. Head Coach Joey Wiles didn’t get to St. Augustine until 1999 and when he did St. Augustine began their 17 year dominance in the playoffs. That’s fair, but that still doesn’t negate the fact that St. Augustine moved down in classification. How can you move from 6A in 1998 to 3A in 2005 and believe they could beat a team that was a goal line stand away from defeating the 1995 Miami Northwestern Bulls? A Bulls team with former FSU Seminole WR Snoop Minnis and NFL LB Nate Webster.
Corey is a hard man to sway.. ” St. Augustine defeated some very tough teams convincingly the year they won the championship”. Their schedule courtesy of Max Preps below..
| Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 8/26TBA |
Location: First Coast High School
|
28 – 0Win |
| 9/2TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
26 – 0Win |
| 9/9TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
20 – 0Win |
| 9/16TBA |
Location: Menendez High School
|
48 – 6Win |
| 9/23TBA |
Location: Lake Mary High School
|
48 – 21Win |
| 9/30TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
37 – 10Win |
| 10/77:30p |
Location: Nease High School
|
20 – 14Win |
| 10/13TBA |
Location: Atlantic High School
|
51 – 0Win |
| 10/28TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
27 – 10Win |
| 11/4TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
56 – 0Win |
| 11/11TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
31 – 6Win |
| 11/18TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
28 – 21Win |
| 11/25TBA |
Location: Booker T. Washington High School
|
38 – 12Win |
| 12/2TBA |
Location: St. Augustine High School
|
20 – 19Win |
| 12/9TBA |
Game Details: Dolphins Stadium
|
31 – 15Win |
Some convincing wins for the talented Yellow Jackets indeed. Yet I too was able to secure Sandalwood’s regular season schedule and add their playoff games below. Take a look..
FHSAA Playoffs
1st round :Sandalwood (Jacksonville) 28, Niceville 7
2nd round: Sandalwood 35, Lake Howell 6
3rd round :Sandalwood 35, Winter Park 7
. Regional Finals: Sandalwood 12, Evans 10
State Championship: Miami Northwestern 12, Sandalwood 7
So there you have it, the tale of the tape. My argument vs Corey. Sandalwood vs St. Augustine. Since we are deadlocked with this selection, your vote determines which one of these teams advances to the final 4! VOTE!!
