Plenty of fireworks are to be expected once the district play begins, but we wanted to highlight some of the non-district match-ups that pique our interests in the first month of the fall season. There’s plenty of games to choose from for various reasons, but these games standout to us.

8/28
Spoto at Lennard
Plant City at Armwood
Alonso at Sickles
Indian Rocks Christian at Tampa Catholic
Tampa Bay Tech at Jefferson

–The first weekend of the regular season gets us going in proper fashion. First, the Spartans will head down to Ruskin to face a Longhorn squad that is ready to turn some heads. Spoto defeated Lennard 24-13 last season after the ‘Horns were looking at an 8-2 record in the face continuing a streak for the Spartans that has lasted since 2011. In that time, Spoto has outscored Lennard 78-11, but with both teams looking to start fast all bets are off in this one.
Plant City at Armwood is a potential instant classic as even in the past the Hawks and their freight train usually take a few weeks to get rolling. This season, Armwood is faced with no preseason classic game to prepare themselves for an extremely talented PC team.

There’s not much more we can add to the Ravens and the Gryphons that hasn’t already been said. This game is a neighborhood rivalry plus when you add the high-profile transfer of Alonso’s QB to Sickles, things are ready to explode. Tampa Catholic will try to avenge a 56-21 demolishing at the hands of the 2A runners-up when they welcome the Eagles across the bridge from Pinellas. The final game features athletes-for-days (and nights) and this game should light the scoreboard up.

9/4
Jefferson at Plant City
Brandon at East Bay

–There’s a reoccurring theme with Plant City as they start the season with one of the toughest schedules in the Bay Area. This game versus Jefferson is not unlike the Jefferson/TBT game in that the amount of talent on the field should be an embarrassment of riches. PC’s wide receivers versus Jefferson’s DB’s should be fun to watch along with both teams boasting some beef in the trenches. Speaking of the trenches, there’s no better game to watch some old-school football when Brandon and East Bay hook up in week two. Both of these teams will want to establish physicality via the ground and will lean on defensive play that should provide eye candy for those that prefer their pigskin in a traditional sense.

9/11
Plant City at Brandon
Durant at Newsome

–The Raiders and the Eagles go at it following tough games the week before and that alone provides some intrigue for us to see how they both respond whether they’re coming off a win or loss. Plant City has won the last three meetings in this series and will look to continue that trend. The east-county rivalry between Durant and Newsome seldom ever disappoints. Last seasons’ game was an instant classic that resulted in a 33-31 victory for Newsome.

9/25
Pasco at Jesuit
Plant at Armwood

–Pasco and Jesuit have not met each other since Pasco defeated the Tigers 31-7 in the regional finals in Dade City. Jesuit will have some revenge on their minds and it should be interesting to watch stud RB Malik Davis take on the Pasco defense while watching the tandem of Michael Penix Jr. and Jayvaughn Myers try to light up the scoreboard. Much like the Alonso vs. Sickles game, not much can be added to two teams’ whose brands speak for themselves. This game should give us the theater we desire and the hype surrounding it should be fun to enjoy as we wait nearly the entire month of September for it to come.