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Jason Lieser's football picks: Look for Dwyer, Jupiter Christian to lock up district titles
Thursday, October 22, 2009
by
Jason Lieser
West Boca Raton is the first to show up at this year's post-season party and several other teams can also book their reservations this week.
Royal Palm Beach and Santaluces can each earn playoff berths with a victory, but look for Lake Worth to top the Chiefs and take the lead in the race for District 12-5A's runner-up slot.
As if winless Okeechobee does not have enough problems, Dwyer will have defensive end Curt Maggitt back this week after a shoulder injury. Okeechobee will have trouble just finishing the game with positive net offensive yardage.
Earlier this season, an area coach watched film on the Brahmans and said simply, "Man, I just feel so bad for those kids."
Okeechobee will feel even worse watching the Panthers celebrate a district title at Blum Stadium.
Likewise, Jupiter Christian will have no problem clinching a district championship against Summit Christian.
The bigger and more balanced the district, the more that has yet to be determined as far as playoff berths. In District 8-6A, arguably the area's toughest, Boca Raton should beat Palm Beach Central and knock the Broncos out of contention. An Atlantic win over Seminole Ridge would nearly eliminate the Hawks, though they could still qualify with help. Ultimately, this is likely to be a three-team race among Atlantic, Boca Raton and Park Vista.
Seminole Ridge is coming off a 13-0 loss to Palm Beach Gardens — the Gators' only win this season — and is overmatched athletically against Atlantic.
The Hawks tend to throw off fast defenses with misdirection runs, but the Eagles have been working on that problem all week.
Instead of using a scout team offense, Atlantic coach Andre Thaddies has been lining up starting skill players Donnell Kirkwood, Quadarias Mireles and James Louis in the backfield this week to give his first-string defense a good idea of what it will encounter in Loxahatchee.
"If we can stop our athletes in practice, I'm pretty sure we'll be all right against theirs," Thaddies said.
Benjamin needs a win as badly as anyone this week and the Buccaneers will celebrate homecoming — and the return of coach Ron Ream — with a one-touchdown victory against Fort Lauderdale-Calvary Christian. I don't know why, but this one smells like overtime. A win would keep the Buccaneers in the playoff hunt and make things interesting down the stretch in District 7-1A.
Forest Hill and Spanish River play this week and unless there's a tie, one of these teams will have an unusual feeling after the game. That strange tingling in your arms is called winning.
Neither team has done much of that lately. The Falcons have dropped 37 straight and Spanish River is 2-35 during that same span. The Sharks have been outscored 253-14 this year.
The game seems destined to end in a tie, but this feels like Forest Hill's year. Start planning the parade.
Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter are two teams on the rise, but look for the Gators to carry the momentum of last week's win into this one. Palm Beach Gardens' four losses have come by an average of just eight points per game.
"They're a dangerous team," Warriors coach Charlie Persson said. "They've got good size and great team speed. They really gave away the Vero game on a penalty and they were in a lot of games."
Predictions
Dwyer 56, Okeechobee 0
Atlantic 29, Seminole Ridge 17
Coconut Creek-North Broward Prep 32, Inlet Grove 7
Glades Central 45, Boynton Beach 0
Jensen Beach 27, Eau Gallie 17
John Carroll 28, Orlando-First Academy 7
Boca Raton 35, Palm Beach Central 14
Park Vista 45, Suncoast 7
Royal Palm Beach 33, John I. Leonard 7
Lake Worth 21, Santaluces 19
Fort Pierce Central 31, Martin County 14
Forest Hill 36, Spanish River 34
West Boca Raton 21, Olympic Heights 7
Vero Beach 28, Centennial 13
American Heritage 49, Oakland Park-South Florida Prep 0
Sebastian River 21, South Fork 17
Benjamin 35, Fort Lauderdale-Calvary Christian 28
King's Academy 48, Pope John Paul II 7
Plantation-American Heritage 37, St. Andrew's 20
Cardinal Newman 22, Coral Springs Charter 18
Clewiston 30, Lake Placid 13
Pahokee 39, Fort Lauderdale-Pine Crest 13
Palm Bay-Bayside 34, Port St. Lucie 20
Village Academy 26, Dania Beach-Woods Haven 12
Glades Day 47, Berean Christian 7
Palm Beach Gardens 20, Jupiter 17
Jupiter Christian 48, Summit Christian 0
User Comments:
proud chief parent commented on October 22, 2009 at 2:20 p.m.: flag
Help - I am a little confused - how is that Royal Palm Beach is in first place in District 12-5A? This confuses me because both RPB and Santaluces have one District win each. However, Santaluces has more wins overall. Shouldn't this put them in first place?
Jason Lieser commented on October 22, 2009 at 2:28 p.m.: flag
No one said Royal Palm Beach is alone in first place. The Wildcats and Santaluces both are 1-0, so they are tied for first place.
Unhappy fan ... commented on October 22, 2009 at 2:48 p.m.: flag
RPB lost the swagger that was built the last couple of years from previous teams. Also the firing of Coach Studstill was shocking and swept under the rug. Why is that?
BobcatFan commented on October 22, 2009 at 2:58 p.m.: flag
Jason,
not sure how you get to including Seminole Ridge in the 3 team mix for 8-6A. assuming they lose to Atlantic as you predict and they have already lost to Boca. Clearly Atlantic and Boca are in the best position as they have already beaten a "contender" and all of the top 4 still have 2 games against the others. While there isn't time or space to run all the permutations and possible combinations let's at least agree that it's still a 4 team race.
football fan commented on October 22, 2009 at 4:45 p.m.: flag
yeah right seminole ridge has no chance vs. the atl....
rbp fans need to keep their mouths shut
i see river beating forest hill
nd i see boca winning closer than u think jason.... go home
Ridge FAn commented on October 22, 2009 at 4:48 p.m.: flag
this game is going to be a tuff one for the ridge but if they pull this out its gunna be a three way tie
old man commented on October 22, 2009 at 6:24 p.m.: flag
Hey Jason,
Any kickers vying for Groza Award!!
MR.G commented on October 22, 2009 at 9:03 p.m.: flag
There is no doubt, RPB is going to win their district hands down.
ladybluedevils commented on October 23, 2009 at 12:44 a.m.: flag
No Pahokee vs Pinecrest Predicition Jason?
ladybluedevils commented on October 23, 2009 at 2 a.m.: flag
wow...how did i missed that? SMH...Nevermind Jason...I thought you didn't make a prediction for the Pahokee game!
Football Fan commented on October 23, 2009 at 7:41 a.m.: flag
WOW..........Forest Hill vs Spanish River.....in the battle to see who is the worst football team in Palm Beach County!!!!!! This game should be laughable as bad as its going to be....
Shoulda been game of the week over the over-rated Seminole Ridge vs. Atlantic, which ATL should win be at least 4 scores.........and those 4 scores are touchdowns, not field goals!!!!
RPB Supporter commented on October 23, 2009 at 9:19 a.m.: flag
To Unhappy fan-RPB's problem has nothing to do with "swagger". If you have a clue about football you will know it is because they lost 27 seniors and almost their entire Defense, and just like last year their offense is bogged down by the poor game planning and play calling of their Off Coordinators.
To Ridge Fan- So sorry your dreams of glory were burst by a winless Gardens...Atlantic will pound you and once again you most likely won't make the playoffs AGAIN while the Wildcats win their 4th out of 5 District Titles.
Jason Lieser commented on October 23, 2009 at 9:35 a.m.: flag
When I said it would be a three-team race in District 8-6A, I wrote it was between Park Vista, Boca Raton and Atlantic. Somehow in the copy-editing process Boca Raton was changed to Seminole Ridge. It has been fixed.
Ridge FAn commented on October 23, 2009 at 3:34 p.m.: flag
TO RPB SUPPORTER- ur telling me that royal palm is in a good district seriously think about what ur saying and plus royal palm is not even the team they were last year also i would think that district 8-6a is a way harder district unlike you guys we actually play teams to make it to playoffs which is the harder way when royal palm sets up some competiton for districts then u can talk as of right now yyopu guys are playing in the easiest distrct possible and plus u guys lost to jupiter we beat them so come on now think who the better team is all i kno is cum SRH v RPB that better be the game of week with seminole destroying royal palm
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