Well, it was a fun start to the football season, the prep level anyway.

I watched Crestview on Facebook, and am so thankful for the broadcast on this vehicle! I cannot abide the “local” announcers, so I usually have the audio muted, at least until the band take the field. Crestview looked very good offensively against Madison. They scored 42 points in this scrimmage with some different format with possessions, at different yard lines. The left handed QB made some good throws and the starting tailback is a good one. The back up QB came in several times and looked shaky with the ball, but boy is he quick! Line is huge and skill position players are legit and abundant. The defense was good but not great. I think this era of Bulldog football is so offense minded, that the defense will probably be good by not great. Will have to out score the better teams. Madison brought some excellent athletes and while they are a 1A school (less than 500 students, which is about how big Crestview’s band is) they field a team that can line up with 95% of the teams in the country. At least 3 D1 kids on the Cowboys this season, with FSU going after 2 of them. The real season starts this week with the Bay High tornados out of Panama City. They won big in their classic, so Dawgs better take them seriously. I noticed an update to the Crestview schedule. The Tampa Catholic game has been replaced by International School of Broward. That absolutely helps Crestview! BTW, ISB plays here in Nashville against Noah Josey and Brentwood Academy the week before they play Crestview.

After the Crestview/Madison “scrimmage”, I watched one of the best teams in Arizona play a very strong team from California. Just like last year, Centennial (Corona, Ca) beat Chandler Az. The numbers usually win out. California, like Texas and Florida have so many schools/teams, that the best from those states typically are stronger than the best from smaller states – not always, but generally speaking. At the same time I was watching Folsom Ca, try to end De La Salle’s NoCal win streak, on my phone. DLS won 14 – 0 to keep their streak going and the national reputation high.

This coming weekend, many other states get their prep season going and ESPN is having a big splash of inter-state match ups and a couple of key in state showdowns. Probably the biggest as far as national rankings go, is Mater Dai vs Bishop Gorman. Warren Indiana matches up with Louisville Trinity, Our Lady of Good Counsel (Maryland) plays Marietta, Ga. IMG semi pro team plays Pine Richland out of Pennsylvania. Colquitt Ga, takes on Trinity Catholic St Louis. Cedar Grove GA bumps heads with Hewett Trussell AL. Also in Alabama, to top 5 teams Hoover and Pinson Valley play at lunch time on Saturday on ESPN. Grayson GA is touted as the top team in the peach state, and they get tested by Tucker. Out west, Centennial CA, fresh off a whipping of Chandler AZ, gets Orange Lutheran. Finally, the state of Ohio has a big one, when Hoban (Akron) plays St Ignatious. The late game Saturday night is St Thomas Aquinas vs DeMatha – should be a good one. BTW, IMG the semi pro team out of Bradenton, get pushed around by Lake City Columbia in a preseason game. Not sure if that is more about how good Columbia is, or how unimpressive IMG was…

theOhioState proved that they are just as greedy and that football rules, as all the other power schools, even the ones I pull for in Florida...sad but true