BY THE NUMBERS: Hillsborough over Pinellas
By Don Haggard 

With the last Hillsborough County(Hills) versus Pinellas County(Pine) game of the season occurring this Friday, Plant at East Lake, in the Class 8A Region 2 finals; let us take a deeper look at the Hills vs. Pine numbers this season. 

To date, Hills is leading Pine with 21 wins to 17 wins in the 38 head-to-head match-ups and has outscored Pine 1131 points to 834 points.  The average score this season of an inter-county game is Hills 29.8 to Pine 21.9 (almost an average of 52 total points a game). 

The below chart provides a breakdown of Hills versus Pine head-to-head matchups by classifications.  Note that there are two independents (IND) within these counties that have played inter-county games this season: Seffner Christian (Hills) and Shorecrest Prep (Pine) and each played one game against a higher classification. 

 In the 12 head-to-head matchups in 2A while Pine won 7 and Hills 5, Hills actually has outscored Pine 435 points to 397 points.  The average score this season in 2A is Hills 36.3 to Pine 33.1 for almost 70 points a game between the two teams. 

The highest scoring game in 2A and overall in the inter-county play was Indian Rocks Christian 58, Carrollwood Day School 55 (113 total points) and the lowest scoring 2A inter-county matchup was Canterbury School 26, Carrollwood Day 20 (46 total points).  Some may remember the early season 2A game that was 12-10 withCanterburybeating Admiral Farragut but that was not inter-county play since both are Pine teams. 

The lowest scoring inter-county matchups overall was in 5A, Spoto 14,Dunedin7 and in 3A, Berkeley Prep 21, Clearwater Central Catholic 0 (21 total points). 

There are six undefeated teams in inter-county play this season to date, four from Hills and two from Pine: 5A Jesuit (3-0), 5A Robinson (3-0), 2A Admiral Farragut (2-0),  3A Berkeley Prep (2-0), 2A Canterbury (2-0), and 8A Hillsborough (1-0). The winner of the 8A Plant/East Game will become the seventh. 

There are five winless teams in inter-county play this season, one from Hills and four from Pine: 5A Middleton (0-3), 2A Northside Christian (0-2), IND Shorecrest Prep (0-2), 3A St. Petersburg Catholic (2-0), and 8A Largo (0-1). The loser of the 8A Plant/East Game will become the sixth.

 The team that scored the highest average points during inter-county play (50.0) was 2A Admiral Farragut and the team which scored the least average points in inter-county play (3.5) was 3A St. Petersburg Catholic.

 The team that gave up the highest average points during inter-county play (57.5) was 3A St. Petersburg Catholic and the team which gave up the least average points in inter-county play (0.0) was 3A Berkeley Prep.

 The largest victory margin during inter-county play was 63 points, Tampa Catholic 70, St. Petersburg Catholic 7 in a 3A contest; the 70 points was also the highest points scored by a team in inter-county play.

 3A Berkeley Prep had the most shutouts, 2, during inter-county play this season.  There were 4 shutouts during inter-county play, three by Hills and one by Pine; none of these shutouts occurred in the high scoring 2A inter-county play.

 In the 14 inter-county games decided by 7 points or less, Pine won 9 and Hills won 5; this is 53% of all Pine wins this season and only 24% of Hills wins. Close to 37% of the inter-county games were decided by 7 points or less this season.