Zephyrhills (1-0) at Sunlake (1-0)
With a tip-of-the-cap to some pretty good match-ups in the county such as the War for 54 that has Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass going at it, or Land O’Lakes and River Ridge lining-up in a styles-make-fights bruiser in the making–we prepare to light the fireworks for Sunlake hosting Zephyrhills. The Seahawks took it on the chin their first two years in existence against the ‘Dogs by a combined score of 69-6 (Hello, Georgia Tech vs. Alcorn State) then returned the favor to the tune of 66-0 in 2009 and 2010. The teams took a two year hiatus in 2011-12 and have split the spoils the last two seasons. Z-Hills brings a stout rushing attack with Antoine Simms and the ‘Hawks have zero tolerance for getting pushed around in the trenches, so this fuse is lit.

Northeast (1-0) at Pinellas Park (1-0)
Pinellas County has a bevy of firework displays to choose from with the two-ton elephant in the form of Countryside-Clearwater, along with East Lake at Largo, St. Pete at Lakewood and CCC at Indian Rocks Christian–but the two teams we’ve chosen for this week are sure to provide some old-school sloberknockin’ since they are extensions of the captains at the helm in HC’s Kenny Crawford (PPark) and Jeremy Frioud at Northeast. The Vikings are coming off a 44-0 dismantling of Dunedin and the Patriots got a stiff test from Osceola last week before moving to 1-0. The amount of splash plays, the amount of pads popping and the intensity that we’ve come to appreciate and love from both these programs will provide fireworks regardless of the final score.

Lake Wales (1-0) at Merritt Island (0-1)
The Highlanders are on the Space Coast this evening to face a team they “upset” in the regional semifinals back in 2013 when the Mustangs arguably had one of their strongest squads in a decade. Lake Wales squeaked past a vastly improved Ridge Community team, and Merritt Island got thumped by Palm Bay-Heritage–who, are arguably the best team on the Space Coast not-named Cocoa. All things being equal, this game will still feature offenses that will create some space and points and the Mustangs will be ready to avenge that 2013 loss regardless of who’s left on the roster.

Hillsborough (0-1) at Plant (0-1)
Both schools original members of the FHSAA since 1922–both teams needing to get back on-track and in a hurry–and both teams boasting some serious playmakers on defense. We’ll admit this game has the potential to get out-of-hand if the Terriers can’t find a way to produce on offense, but make no mistake if that HHS team that showed up for the half against Armwood can put together a second half to compliment the effort, then this old-school rivalry could produce some new-school bad blood–light the fuse.

Manatee (0-1) at Palmetto (1-0)
Had to flip the coin between this game and Braden River at Southeast–both provide all-or-nothing scenarios. The “all” portion would provide offensive fireworks for four quarters for these backyard rivalry games. The “nothing” scenarios would have Manatee and Braden River cruising. Not-so-fast, though–especially when it comes to the ‘Canes at the Tigers. If it’s going to happen for Palmetto and QB Jack Allison, this is the final season for the young man to do it. The Tigers haven’t defeated Manatee in the past five seasons and none of the games have been close. Something strange is in the air, though. If Allison and his teammates can come down with a case of amnesia and forget the past–then we could see a similar scenario to the 2010 game when Palmetto put up 36 on the ‘Canes–even though the final score of that game ended in a 56-36 romp for Manatee, it still provided the fireworks we were looking for. With that in mind, light that fuse!