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Travel Considerations Cited In Football Format

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2007

PLANT CITY - The spirit of the Florida high school playoffs has undergone a transformation, and a lot of coaches don't understand it.

Count Raider head coach Kevin Kelley among them.

Without much notice, and thus without some such as Kelley noticing until recently, the Florida High School Athletics Association tweaked the football format.

Ever since the association began allowing two teams to qualify per district, the bracket was set up so that those teams could not play each other until the regional finals.

But now, district foes can't both advance beyond the second round.

Travel considerations were the big reason cited for the change.

For Plant City, the impact really has nothing to do with the presence of its district rival Brandon - it's those two District 5A-8 teams sitting so close in the 5A bracket.

The Raiders will have to, in all likelihood, knock off the top two teams in the state just to get to the regional final. Friday's Plant City-Kissimmee Osceola winner plays either No. 2 Lakeland or Brandon in the second round.

Last year, football powerhouses Lakeland and Lake Gibson were on opposite ends of the 5A-2 regional bracket, meaning no one would have to meet both teams in the first two rounds.

On the other hand, now a team like 5A-5 champion Gaither won't have to venture out of Hillsborough County to gain entry to the region final. Gaither, which needed a 47-yard field goal on the last play against Wharton to win its district title, takes on the weakest team in the region, 5A-6 runner-up Sickles. The winner gets either Wharton or Chamberlain, as opposed to having to take on Lakeland under the old setup.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib.com.

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