Two nearby counties host three of the best prep football teams in the nation.Hillsborough is home to Seffner Armwood and Tampa Plant, while Manatee County is home to Manatee High.
Yet the Hurricanes won't play either school next season.
"We're all in different classes," Manatee coach Joe Kinnan said Monday at McKechnie Field, where the Hurricanes were honored for winning the Class 7A state title. "I think all of us would rather play somebody from out of state."
Armwood opened last season in Las Vegas, where the Hawks beat Bishop Gorman en route to winning the Class 6A state title. They also beat Tampa Plant on Oct. 28.
Plant, which won the Class 8A state title, defeated New Jersey power Bergen Catholic during the second half of the Manatee Memorial Hospital Suncoast Challenge. The Hurricanes played another Jersey team, Don Bosco Prep, prior to the Plant-Bergen game and opened the season against Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney, Md.
The Hurricanes host Friendship Collegiate Academy during Week 1 of the regular season this year and travel to Sammamish, Wash., to play Skyline High two weeks later.
Armwood, Manatee and Plant were all ranked nationally last season.
"During the summer, Armwood and us, we throw against each other during 7-on-7 twice," Kinnan said.
Manatee hosts St. Petersburg Gibbs in a spring game May 25 but will also take part in a 16-team scrimmage in Pinellas County on Saturday, May 12. The scrimmage will take place at Clearwater Calvary Christian, home to a stadium lined with FieldTurf, and the Hurricanes will meet East Lake at 10:30.
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