Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

District playoff spots up for grabs

Friday's games will decide many races, or muddle them up further.

By SCOTT PURKS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 31, 2002

TAMPA -- Eight weeks of twists and turns have led the county to Week 9, or district week as it is commonly known. Some teams are in must-win situations, others could lose and still get a wild-card pass to the playoffs. Any way you look at it, there's a lot on the line in several districts.

"But we can't really think about all that," Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia said. "What we need to do is focus on winning Friday night. We have to focus on that."

But the Times doesn't. The Times can focus on the districts and all the scenarios.

So here goes:

CLASS 6A, DISTRICT 4

This one is easy. The one county team in this district, Bloomingdale, is toast. The Bulls are 0-8 and looking at an 0-10 season.

CLASS 5A, DISTRICT 5

Durant, Lakeland and East Bay are in. Durant (8-0, 4-0) will most likely beat Riverview Friday, sealing its first district title, which comes on the heels of its first winning season.

Lakeland (7-1, 3-1) and East Bay (7-1, 3-1) play Friday for second place. The trouble for the Indians is that they are at Lakeland, arguably the toughest place in the state to win (outside of Belle Glades and Pahokee).

If East Bay loses, it should still be a wild-card lock because of its strength of schedule based on its opponents' number of wins.

CLASS 5A, DISTRICT 6

The front-runners are Chamberlain (7-1, 5-0), Wharton (7-1, 4-1) and Hillsborough (7-1, 4-1).

If Hillsborough beats Chamberlain on Friday, it would most likely cause a three-way playoff. Wharton, barring a huge upset by district-foe Gaither on Friday, would get the top seed, meaning Hillsborough and Chamberlain would play the first quarter of a shootout. The winner of that quarter plays Wharton for the championship.

Of course, if Chamberlain wins Friday, then it is the champion and Wharton (barring that Gaither upset) is the runner-up. Hillsborough would have to hope for a wild card.

CLASS 4A, DISTRICT 8

Jefferson (7-1, 3-1), Armwood (6-2, 3-1) and Brandon (4-4, 3-1) are alive and kicking ... themselves.

No doubt Brandon is kicking itself for a 10-7 overtime district loss to Sickles, Jefferson is kicking itself for a 24-0 loss to Armwood, and Armwood is kicking itself for an 18-13 loss to Brandon.

All of those are arguably the upsets of the year.

The big game Friday is Jefferson at Brandon, because whichever team wins is in.

Jefferson is favored, but the Dragons need to be careful, as do the Hawks, who travel to Sickles for their final district clash.

If Armwood wins, it is in.

CLASS 3A, DISTRICT 8

Jesuit (6-1, 4-0) is playoff bound while the rest of the bunch is battling to stay alive.

Bradenton Southeast (6-2, 3-1) is the favorite to be the runner-up, but Friday's opponent, Blake (3-5, 2-2), has proven it can play well against anybody.

If Blake pulls off the upset over Southeast and Jesuit defeats Sarasota Booker (3-4, 2-2), then the Yellow Jackets slip in the back door.

CLASS 2A, DISTRICT 7

If Tampa Catholic (2-6, 1-1) defeats Clearwater Central Catholic (4-4, 2-0) on Friday, then it would cause a three-way playoff with St. Petersburg Catholic.

If CCC beats TC, then CCC is the district champion and SPC goes to the playoffs as the runner-up.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright