The addition of two more wild card spots voted in by the Florida High School Athletic Association in the offseason, not only gives rebuilding teams like Episcopal, Providence and St. Joseph high hopes but also rewards the top two teams in each region with a bye also.
Which for teams like Baldwin and Fort White, the chance to secure home field advantage and a bye in the first round is the top priority for both of those teams.
Note: Helmets courtesy of FloridaHSFootball.com
Baldwin Indians
Coach: Steve Shields
Record: 5-5
Key Players: Gavin Screws (Sr., QB), Xavier McGriff (Jr., WR), Christian Sanderson (Jr., RB/WR/DB), Richie Coffey (Sr., WR), Dana Poole Jr. (Sr., DB/WR), Tyler Pritchett (Sr., WR/DB), Tyler Toliver (Sr., WR/DB), Aaren Sims (Jr., DB), Michael Barnes (Sr., DE/FB), Raymond Hill (Jr., DB/RB), Nicholas Sprague (Jr., K), Noah Crews (Sr., OL/DL)
Newcomers: Amos Porter (Jr., RB/DB/WR), Montrell Bradham (Jr., WR/DB), AJ Mealer (Sr., RB/ATH), Marcus Lundy (Fr., LB)
Schedule
Aug 24 Hamilton County
Aug 31 at Bradford
Sept 7 at Dixie County
Sept 14 at Stanton
Sept 21 Union County
Sept 28 at West Nassau
Oct 5 Westside
Oct 12 at Englewood
Oct 19 at Santa Fe
Oct 26 OPEN
Nov 2 Paxon
Outlook: There isn’t usually a lot of hype for a team coming off a .500 season but when they won four of the last five games and return the bulk of their starters it becomes clear why Baldwin has high expectations this season. Third year starter Screws (151 of 303 for 2,390 yards, 26 touchdowns),a Troy commit, is back as is a receiving core returning three of its top four receivers from last year including: McGriff (39 catches for 664 yards,17.0 y.p.c., 7 TDs), Sanderson (26 catches for 411 yards, 15.8 y.p.c., 3 TDs) and Coffey (13 catches for 213 yards, 16.4 y.p.c., 4 TDs). Newcomer Mealer, a transfer from Orange Park, will get the bulk of the carries after Hill was moved to the defense. Toliver and newcomers Porter, a transfer from Raines, and Bradham, a transfer from Trinity, will also see time at receiver as well. The defense is stacked led by Barnes (88 tackles) and a solid secondary featuring Pritchett (81 tackles, 3 sacks), Sims and Poole.
Episcopal Eagles
Coach: Mark Brunell
Record: 4-5
Key Players: Zack Blair (Sr., QB), Freddie Dollison (Sr., OL/DL), Jack Barksdale (Sr., FS/WR), Jake Tylski (Sr., OL/DL), Matthew Cooper (Sr., WR), Mike Hodges (Sr., WR), Justin McKee (Sr., RB), Curry Pajcic (Sr., RB/LB)
Newcomers: Jackson Chappell (Sr., OL/DL)
Schedule
Aug 24 Christ Church
Aug 31 Warner Christian
Sept 7 West Nassau
Sept 14 Creekside
Sept 21 OPEN
Sept 28 at Hilliard
Oct 5 at Bishop Snyder
Oct 12 Providence
Oct 19 at Jackson
Oct 25 at Wolfson
Nov 2 Bishop Kenny
Outlook: The good news is their is plenty of momentum heading into the season, as after starting 0-3 the Eagles rebounded to go 4-3 down the stretch. The concern is which team will shown up, the one who scored 40 points in all four wins or the one that gave up 39 or more points, including 61 to Providence, in four of their five losses. Offensively, the Eagles will have Blair (498 yards, 8 TDs), Cooper, Hodges, McKee and Pajcic all back in Brunell’s spread attack as well as lineman Tylski and Dollison, which along with newcomer Chappell, a transfer from Rock Hill, SC, should pave the way for an explosive offense. The hiring of former teammate Jaguar linebacker Kevin Hardy as the defensive line coach should help fix the issues on the defense.
Fort White Indians
Coach: Demetric Jackson
Record: 7-4
Key Players: Corey Durden (Sr., RB/DE), Stephen Pilkington (Sr., LB/TE), Deondre Cray (Sr., WR), Kameron Calhoun (Jr., LB), Matt Dimauro (Sr., OL), Stanley Maxwell (Sr., RB/LB), Kanell Stewart (Sr., WR), Brayden Summers (So., RB), Rahman Paul (Sr., WR/DB), Donovan Jenkins (Sr., DB/WR), Terrance Jones (Jr., WR), Derrick Roberson (Jr., LB/WR)
Newcomers: Dylan Blair (Sr., QB)
Schedule
Aug 24 at Suwannee
Aug 31 Providence
Sept 7 at Santa Fe
Sept 14 Taylor County
Sept 21 Bradford
Sept 28 Williston
Oct 5 OPEN
Oct 12 at Union County
Oct 19 Dixie County
Oct 26 at Newberry
Nov 2 Parker
Outlook: An established program like Fort White doesn’t worry about the past and is always looking ahead to the future adopting the next man up motto. That couldn’t be more true this year with the loss of 5 starters on offense. That’s not to say the offense is bare as Dryden (473 yards, 4 TDs), Maxwell (498 yards, 4 TDs) and Summers (137 yards, 3 TDs) are all back in the backfield along with four of the five lineman. Blair (64 of 120 for 1,597 yards, 11 TD, 3 INTs), who transferred from Columbia, takes over at quarterback and will have plenty of weapons to choose from including Pilkington, Cray, Stewart, Paul and Jones. The defense returns five starters and looks to Dryden (76 tackles) and Roberson (82 tackles) and should be solid again.
Providence Stallions
Coach: Bobby Dan McGlohorn
Record: 3-6
Key Players: Michael Gilligan (Sr., QB/DB), Nolan Mitchell (Sr., WR), Mac Hughes (Sr., OL/DL), Cavron Calder (Sr., FS/WR), Blake Hawk (Sr., WR/FS), Luis Delatorre (Sr., DB/WR), Jordan Brown (Jr., RB/DB), Koel Johnson (Jr., DB/WR), Jacob Young (Jr., K/P), Jeremiah Wallace (Sr., OL/DL), Christian Rollinson (Sr., TE/DE)
Newcomers: None
Schedule
Aug 24 Jackson
Aug 31 at Fort White
Sept 7 West Nassau
Sept 14 OPEN
Sept 21 North Florida Christian
Sept 28 at Lake Highland Prep
Oct 5 Wolfson
Oct 12 at Episcopal
Oct 19 at Trinity Catholic
Oct 26 at Atlantic Coast
Nov 2 Westside
Outlook: After stops in South Florida and most recently in South Carolina, new coach Bobby Dan McGlohorn is hoping to rebuild a struggling Providence program in a tail spin its been stuck in for a while. After back-to-back three win seasons, the program needed a new direction and a fresh start to get back to what it once was. McGlohorn spent all of spring and summer teaching the basic fundamentals and installing his own offense and defense, the kids responded to it well putting up 50 points in the spring game. Its going to be an uphill battle for the Stallions as the loss of 17 seniors and the return of two starters are both sides of the ball will extremely difficult. A small roster is not only forcing everyone to play both ways but also making it a huge problem with depth.
St. Joseph Academy Flashes
Coach: Brandon Tidwell
Record: 4-4
Key Players: James Drysdale (Sr., RB/LB), Dylan Thibault (Sr., QB), Ethan Senderling (Jr., LB/WR), Patrick Lane (Jr., WR/DB), Miles Ayers (Jr., OL/DL), Christian Kes (Jr., DB), Will Cowles (Sr., RB/DE), Tyler Strausbaugh (So., WR/DB), Tim Colbert (Jr., OL/DL)
Newcomers: Gregory Allen (Fr., RB), PJ Stevens (Fr., WR), Kent Hall (Fr., WR), Cameron Helt (Fr., OL/DL)
Schedule
Aug 24 at Cedar Creek
Aug 31 St. Francis *
Sept 7 Eagle’s View
Sept 14 at Oak Hall *
Sept 21 Cocoa Beach
Sept 27 at Florida Deaf *
Oct 5 at St. Johns *
Oct 12 at John Paul II
Oct 19 OPEN
Oct 26 Deltona Trinity
Nov 2 NFFC Cross Over
Outlook: Hired two months before the first game, Tidwell did a heck of a job stepping into a tough situation and guiding the Flashes to a .500 season. With a full year now, the sky is the limit for the program and its expectations. The hiring of former Swiss Point coach Don Luczak was a great hire and should bring some winning attitude back to the program. Tidwell returns six starters on both sides of the ball including playmakers Thibault (90 of 136 for 1739 yards, 19 TD, 3 INT) and Drysdale (558 rushing, 317 receiving, 15 touchdowns) as both were All-Conference selections.
