Pinellas County and the Elusive Football State Title: Next up Admiral Farragut
Pinellas county football has always been much maligned when put in reference to its brothers from the West and South and that is due in large part to never achieving that shining glory of winning a state title in any classification. There have been 7 chances, some were close calls while others were complete domination’s but the end results have been the same LOSS after LOSS. Admiral Farragut is the next Pinellas County team to face the championship gauntlet but they face a very daunting task. They must fight history as well as a team that is nothing less than a Juggernaut of small school football and has won numerous championships over there storied history. 1st let us look at the past they must face and to exercise the Pinellas championship demons.
1975 1A Greensboro 28-0 over Shorecrest @ Shorecrest Prep, St.Petersburg
1976 1A FAMU High 38-0 over Shorecrest @ Bragg Stadium, Tallahassee
1984 3A Escambia 47-14 over St.Pete @ Escambia High, Pensacola
1986 5A Lakeland 14-10 over Dunedin @ Dunedin High, Dunedin
1986 4A Dillard 14-6 over Tarpon Springs @ Tarpon Springs High, Tarpon Springs
1987 5A Pine Forest 24-0 over Dunedin @ Dunedin High, Dunedin
1995 5A Ft.Walton Beach 24-0 over Dixie Hollins @ Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium,Daytona Beach
Many people would not believe that the Shorecrest Chargers (Led by Coach Hayford) are tied with the Dunedin Falcons (Led by coach Weir) for the most championship appearances for the county. It shows that times can change these 2 once storied programs are now nowhere near the top of the county upper echelon. Enter Admiral Farragut Blue Jackets. A team whose football team was a doormat of the county for many years, a team led by coach Chris Miller who was the quarterback of this very school graduating in the year 2000. Prior to this season The Blue Jackets had totaled one playoff win which just so happened to be last year. Now they are playing for the ultimate goal after taking down a perennial power in the Glades Day Gators. They are talented and hungry but the will face a team that by all means appears to be unstoppable.
North Florida Christian Eagles is the opponent. Since 1995 they have achieved 6 state titles and 3 runner-ups. They most recently won a state title in 2008 and they won 4 in a row between 98-01. Also this is not your normal small roster 2A school. While Admiral Farragut has only 30 players on their roster with most of their talented players going both ways North Florida Christian has a roster of 57 players. They do not play many if any players both ways and knowing that they have a Division one defensive back prospect (much like Rayshawn Jenkins) in Travis Blanks yet Blanks only plays defense. You may see him line up on offense sparingly but the fact that they have a player of his caliber yet they have no need to use him on offense speaks volumes.
More to the point they defeated 5A state semifinalist Wakulla in the regular season and also have beaten 9 teams with a winning record so they are very battle tested. QB Matt Dobson has thrown for over 2300 yards and rushed for 745 yards with a total of 37 touchdowns. That’s not all though they also have a 1400 yard rusher and they have 4 WR’s with over 20 catches.
All this does is frame up the challenge that Coach Millers team will face come Friday. But then we rewind back to last Friday and not many teams gave them a chance then either. They faced the state’s all-time leading rusher and all they did was walk through them for a 42-16 point victory. To get to this point it takes much and to get farther it takes more but The Blue Jackets are poised. They have talent, coaching, and they have the desire to make it happen. All of Pinellas county will be behind them and now it is time to see if the little brothers to Hillsborough County can finally get over that hump and win The Elusive state Title.