Thoughts enter about the top three teams in Tampa Bay. Armwood, Plant and Largo…all really good teams. Strong history, fantastic coaching staffs and outstanding players. But, who should be at the top of the mountain?
Currently, Armwood sits alone at the top, with Plant at #2 and Largo digging their claws in, to climb the mountain focused on Armwood. Below are some thoughts on why or why not, these schools should move up or down in our Sweet 16 team ranking.
Armwood
A disappointing loss to American Heritage, bounce back by pulling apart Tampa Bay Tech and showing resilience to come from behind, scoring 35 unanswered points to beat Jefferson.
Plant
After John Curtis sent the Panthers back to Florida bruised and defeated, Plant has shown the will to get up off the mat and keep punching. They waxed Jefferson and tugged back and forth with Tampa Bay Tech.
Jefferson and TBT, the two common opponents which both Plant and Armwood have had different outing with. Armwood struggled early with Jefferson, but hammered Tampa Bay Tech. Plant let the dogs out on Jefferson, but needed every minute of the game to earn a win against TBT. In defense of both Jefferson and TBT, each week brings new life, more practice and dedication. Meaning they both should have improved after TBT lost to Armwood and Jefferson lost to Plant. More the reason why Jefferson scared Armwood and TBT took blows and gave them back to Plant.
Then there is Largo. News flash: Countryside and East Lake are two very good teams. Largo is better. Defeated both teams in a business like manner with little sign of let up. Only scare of the season came week 1 vs Southeast where the Packers pulled off a 15-14 win in the final seconds of the game. Their body of work is very impressive. Have defeated Southeast, Countryside and East Lake. All three teams with a core of veteran players who were on the playoff teams last season.
So what now? Puts us between a rock and a hard place. Armwood and Plant have shown championship character. Largo has displayed a will to want to be great. Look out for the rankings in the morning.