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FHSAA Boys 1A – April 20th – Quick Takes on the 1st Round

The Boys start tomorrow and there’s some stories to look at!

Region 1

In Region One, I’m keeping my eye on Gulf Breeze hosting Maclay. Maclay’s injury-filled season is well known, and now you wonder how much of the roster is back in action and in game-shape. Gulf Breeze hosts (the first time a Panhandle team hosted a non-Panhandle team?) and they played earlier this year, with Maclay winning 8-7 at home back on February 19th.

This is one where if Maclay’s roster is still depleted, Gulf Breeze will come away with the win. Either way, it should be the best game of the day in Region 1.

The other three top seeds will be easy winners, including Episcopal School as a road warrior versus Menendez.`

Region 2

Region Two has arguably the two most interesting first-round matchups. Montverde and LHP are going to meet for the THIRD time in 24 days, as each has taken the road game with a 5-goal win . . . Montverde 15-10 and LHP 13-8. Did LHP’s defense find a way to shut down their rival? We’ll see. But the MV offense vs the LHP defense might well be the key thing to look at.

Holy Trinity hosting Bishop Moore is intriguing given that HT will be hosting an established state program that was in the state title game as recently as 2018. A home game in this instance should draw an enormous crowd and is a big test for HT.

Until losing to LHP in the district semifinal, BM had run off 8 straight wins, while HT has not lost since Game 2 of their season. They have two common opponents, with BM beating Oviedo 12-8 on the road and losing in OT at home to Timber Creek, while HT beat Oviedo 9-8 on the road, and beat Timber Creek 13-8 at home. Not a lot to decide anything on.

This one I will be checking in on frequently, as it is a Brevard Sports Network broadcast.

Benjamin and St. Edward’s should have no trouble winning their opening games.

Region 3

Region 3’s first round does not look enticing, outside of the Osceola-Canterbury game, and that is a matter of watching Osceola’s first entry into the bracket.

Jesuit beat Cypress Creek 18-3 last week and that is no turning around.

Community School is red hot . . . wins over Gulf Coast, Belen, AH-Plantation and Riverview-Sarasota in a ten-day period. Bishop Verot played them well but that was back on March 8th. CSN will win this one.

Cardinal Mooney-St. Stephen’s is a district rematch, with CM winning 18-7 last week, and that is also not going to turn around enough.

Canterbury carries the higher ranking and the better SOS, while Osceola’s season was splitting with Berkeley Prep and pretty much not much else, with a weak SOS. What is interesting about Osceola is that they seemed to get their best results against the better teams they played, and that is something to watch. They did not play, and it should be noted that Canterbury beat Berkeley 17-3 earlier in the season.

It’s great to see Osceola make a bracket and win a district, but tomorrow will be a learning experience as they continue their growth as a program.

Region 4

First, the easy part. Saint Andrew’s will win their first-round game against Westminster.

I also think Pine Crest will go south and get the win over an inconsistent Gulliver Prep. PC’s resume is very strong . . . including an early season win over Gulliver.

Then we get to another rematch in SJP II and Oxbridge. On 2/22 it was Oxbridge winning 9-6 at home, then the Thunderwolves winning the district final 11-4 on a neutral site. Seems simple, right? Last season it was SJP II winning the regular season game 11-9 at home, only to lose the district game 11-8 on a neutral site.

I’ll be checking in on that one too.

And then we get an interesting match between Belen, at home, with AH-Plantation. On April 8th it was AH-P winning 8-6 at home. Both teams struggled down the stretch and the switch in location might make the difference. We’ll be watching that one closely too.

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