It’s week five of the season and already we have teams that have blown past their win totals from last year. We’ve highlighted seven teams below that have caught our attention. Four of them are teams that have already smashed their records from last season, while three of them are teams that are surprisingly already on the cusp of tying or moving past those marks from a year ago. All of the teams with the exception of Bartow got their fist district wins last week and are setting the foundation for some amazing runs to the postseason if they can keep the momentum going.
Palm Harbor University
2014 record: 1-9
2015 record: 3-0
What’s going on? – The ‘Canes are on a mission to eviscerate last year’s memories of winning just one contest and are doing an effective job this season so far. Palm Harbor University has obviously tripled their win total from last season, but what’s their ceiling? Could they be headed to six or seven wins at least? They’ve got winless Sarasota-Riverview on the road this Friday then contests with Alonso, Manatee, Steinbrenner, Tarpon Springs, Riverview and Dunedin the rest of the way. Their most wins ever as a program (est. 1996) was eight wins in 2012 and they’ve reached the 7-win benchmark just two times. Could this be the year something special happens?
Ridgewood
2014 record: 2-8
2015 record: 3-1
The Rams have already exacted revenge on teams that defeated them in 2014 to surpass their win total from last year, but can they too like Palm Harbor go well beyond their 2 victories from last season? Well, two of the teams they beat (Anclote and Fivay) remain on the schedule still and they’ve got games against Hudson and Gulf they will be expected to get results from and they could even disrupt the plans of River Ridge and Zephyrhills under the “any-given-Friday” theory. Who knows? Are the Rams capable of turning in a 5-5 season at the worst? The last time they even won that many games was 2010. Big things are happening in Pasco.
Crystal River
2014 record: 2-8
2015 record: 3-1
The Pirates have blown past their win total from last season winning three games straight and taking on one of the two teams they defeated last season versus Nature Coast Tech. Granted, this version of NCT is tearing up opposing defenses and the Pirates will have their hands full, but they won’t lack for confidence in attempting to double their win total from 2014. Crystal RIver needs to split their remaining games to reach their highest mark since 2012 and we can see them making this happen.
Steinbrenner
2014 record: 3-6-1
2015 record: 4-0
The best record in school history is 7-3 and the Warriors are well on their way to making history–although they’ll need to go 4-2 against Riverview, Manatee, Newsome, Palm Harbor University, Alonso and Berkeley Prep to make that happen. Their biggest prize will be to make the playoffs regardless of their win/loss record and a 3-1 finish in the district would tie AND send them through which is something they’ll gladly take.
Palmetto
2014 record: 4-6
2015 record: 3-1
The Tigers will have their games versus Braden River and Venice ultimately decide their postseason fate, and their week eleven game with Charlotte is no guarantee whatsoever, but with winless Bayshore, a one-win Lakewood Ranch team and North Port left it’s safe to say Palmetto and their offensive attack can get them a good look at being 2-3 games better than their season in 2014–and much closer to the expectations of those that know how talented this team is.
Durant
2014 record: 5-5
2015 record: 4-0
The Cougars are one of the youngest teams in Hillsborough County, so the future is bright to say the least, but nearly matching last year’s total before we’ve even reached the halfway mark is an insane pace from the boys out-east. We would say things get tougher, but with wins over Hillsborough, Spoto, Newsome and East Bay–that’s about as battle-tested as it gets–and with games remaining against Lennard, Bloomingdale, Strawberry Crest, Plant City, Tampa Bay Tech and King–who knows what crazy total could come from the dream start?
Bartow
2014 record: 5-6
2015 record: 3-1
The Yellow Jackets are crazy-young as well and are off to a fast start looking to breeze past that 5-win total from last season. Bartow’s going to be have to go 3-3 against Fort Meade, Lakeland, Kathleen, Bishop Moore, Winter Haven and Lake Wales in order to finish better than their 5-5 regular season mark–and as you can see have their work cutout for them, but as you can see–this season has been up-is-down-and-down-is-up.