The first round of the state playoffs begin Thursday and Friday for 192 football teams, the dream to win a state title is their for every team.
The playoff format is simple just ‘survive and advance’ and move on to the next round of the playoffs. It takes 4 wins to win the small school state title (1A-4A) and 5 wins to win the big school state title (5A-8A).
So without further ado, here is my prediction for all of the eight classes.
Projected spreads are from notorious expert Joe Pinkos, who has a mathematical formula for picking high school football games across the state of Florida
First round
Region I-7A
Columbia (6-3) at Lincoln (4-4)
Pinkos: Columbia by 7
Corey: Columbia
Outlook: The Tigers are hot right now and haven’t lost since the lost to Lee. Its hard to go against Davin Shuck right now and the Tigers defense as well.
Leon (8-2) at Lee (7-1)
Pinkos: Lee by 17
Corey: Lee
Outlook: Lee has been preparing for this moment for over a year, a first round loss last year should be all the motivation they need to get past this one.
Hagerty at Buchholz
Pinkos: Buchholz by 3
Corey: Buchholz
Bartram Trail (6-4) at Ocoee
Pinkos: Bartram Trail by 1
Corey: Bartram Trail
Outlook: This is Ocoee first playoff game since 1969 and the excitement of the historic game could be over quickly. Bartram Trail is a playoff veteran and is known for its long playoff runs as well.
Final 4
Lakeland over Lee
St Thomas Aquinas over Braden River
State title
Pinkos: St. Thomas Aquinas over Plant
Corey: St Thomas Aquinas over Lakeland
