Prep football: MaxPreps considers Florida's Class 8A the second-most toughest bracket in the country

Manatee's road to a sixth state championships is one of the roughest in the nation.
This according to Stephen Spiewak, national football editor for MaxPreps, who listed Class 8A second on his list of the top 10 toughest football brackets in the country.
"In many years, some of the medium-sized brackets in the state of Florida have the deepest fields," Spiewak wrote. "This season, Class 8A presents the most intrigue."
Manatee (16th) and Miramar (15th) are ranked in MaxPreps' Xcellent 25, and Apopka set the state record for points in the season before hanging 77 on Orlando University last week. The Blue Darters, who play Winter Park in a Region 1 semifinal, won the Class 8A crown last year and have recorded 601 points this season.
No one thinks the 11-0 Hurricanes will have an easy time Friday against 9-1 Fort Pierce Central in a Region 2 semifinal, nor will the winner get an easy draw next week, when its either Orlando Dr. Phillips or Tampa Plant in the regional final.
Then there is undefeated Deerfield Beach, which rolled past Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas during the regular season. Deerfield Beach meets Miramar on Friday in a Region 3 semifinal, with the winner getting Palm Beach Gardens or Palm Beach Central next week for the regional championship.
Florida was one of two states (California being the other) to land two brackets on the list: Spiewak ranked Class 6A at No. 6. That class features national powers such as Miami Central, the 6A defending state champion, and Seffner Armwood.
The No.1 ranking went to Texas' Class 5A-Division I bracket of the University Interscholastic  League, which includes Allen, currently at the top of MaxPreps' national composite rankings.

Prep football: Bosco no longer Rivals' top team

Don Bosco Prep may have left Hawkins Stadium on Friday and returned to New Jersey with its winning streak still intact. But the Ironmen are no longer sitting atop the RivalsHigh100.

Bosco, which defeated Manatee 22-16 during the first game of Friday's Manatee Memorial Hospital Suncoast Challenge for its 37th-straight win, is now fifth in Rivals' latest rankings, which were unveiled this morning.

Allen High in Allen, Tx., is the new No.1.

"A game of tough sledding against Manatee last Friday proved enough evidence to move the team down," wrote Dallas Jackson, Rivals' senior analyst for high school sports, on Monday's rankings, "especially in a year when so many top schools have more impressive road wins."

Manatee led the Ironmen 10-9 with less than seven minutes remaining in the game.

The Hurricanes dropped three spots on Rivals' list and are now at No. 83 heading into the bye week.

When it came to Bosco, however, not everyone had a change of heart. The Ironmen are still No. 1 on ESPNRise's Powerade Fab 50 football rankings as well as MaxPreps' Xcellent 25.

Manatee is still ranked by ESPN, having dropped 20 spots to No. 39. And it appears the voters have taken Manatee's schedule into account: the Hurricanes are the only team on the list with two losses.

Prep football: Manatee-Good Counsel makes MaxPreps' list; Good Counsel the favorite

(photo by John Lembo)

Manatee's game tonight in Olney, Md., against Our Lady of Good Counsel has made the list of MaxPreps' top 10 high school football games of the week.

Most of the site's writers are picking Good Counsel, ranked 15th in MaxPreps' Xcellent 25, to hand the Canes their first Week 1 loss since 2006 (Southeast).

Listed below are the predictions:

Mitch Stephens: Manatee, 21-20

Steve Montoya: Good Counsel, 27-14

Stephen Spiewak: Good Counsel, 21-17

Kevin Askeland: Good Counsel, 28-21

James DeMoney: Good Counsel, 24-10

Prep football: Canes, Tigers, Noles crack Freeman's top 10

(photo by Grant Jefferies)

Another day, another ranking.

This ones comes courtesy of MaxPreps, which unveiled its Freeman football rankings earlier this week.

Three area teams made the top 10 of their respective classifications: Manatee is third in Class 7A, while Southeast is fourth and Palmetto, coached by Dave Marino, above, is ninth in Class 5A.

MaxPreps also ranked Manatee 16th overall the state, the highest of the 10 area teams.

Southeast is 31st, while Palmetto is 60th.

Listed below are the rankings for the area's other schools.

BAYSHORE - 36th in Class 5A, 209th overall.

BRADEN RIVER - 30th in Class 7A, 159th overall.

BRADENTON CHRISTIAN - 26th in Class 2A, 424th overall.

CARDINAL MOONEY - 32nd in Class 3A, 419th overall.

LAKEWOOD RANCH - 40th in Class 6A, 146th overall.

OUT-OF-DOOR ACADEMY - 15th in Class 2A, 331st overall.

SAINT STEPHEN'S - 48th in Class 2A, 526th overall.

Want to know how MaxPreps came up with these rankings?

Click here.

Prep football: Manatee's Sandberg a junior to watch

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)

Manatee quarterback Cord Sandberg has caught the eye of MaxPreps' Stephen Spiewak, who listed Sandberg as one of the top 100 players to watch for the Class of 2013.

The players were listed alphabetically.

The lefty-slinging Sandberg has already received five offers, according to rivals.com, with Auburn, Cincinatti, Clemson, Iowa State and Western Kentucky vying for his services thus far.

Manatee opens the regular season against nationally-ranked Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney, Md., and then hosts powerhouse Don Bosco Prep out of New Jersey on Sept. 16, a pair of games that are already meriting national attention. If Sandberg performs well, his stock will even rise.

Sandberg, the Hurricanes and the rest of the area football teams officially begin practice Monday.

Prep baseball: Ranking the Class 5A final four

Two of the top 15 teams in the nation are in the hunt for the Class 5A state baseball title, according to MaxPreps.
Pace is ranked 10th and Lakeland is 15th in MaxPreps' latest Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings.
Pace faces West Boca Raton Community and Lakeland plays Manatee in Friday's Class 5A state semifinals at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie.
As for the Hurricanes, MaxPreps ranks them seventh overall in the state and third in Class 5A, behind Pace and Lakeland.

Prep baseball: Canes keep climbing MaxPreps' polls

(photo by Paul Videla)

The Hurricanes had plenty of reasons to celebrate during Saturday's 13-3 win over Tampa Gaither in a Class 5A-Region 3 semifinal, and have more reasons today thanks to MaxPreps.

The Canes, who head to Largo Pinellas Park on Friday for the Region 3 championship, are second in Class 5A and fourth overall according to the site's rankings, which were updated today.

Last week, the Hurricanes were fourth in the Class 5A and 11th overall.

Pace is ranked tops in 5A and third in the state, and plays Orange Park Fleming Island for the Region 1 title Friday.

MaxPreps also has Manatee 37th in the country after listing the Canes at 84th last week.

Prep baseball: Where they rank

(from maxpreps.com)

All three Manatee County baseball teams playing in Friday's regional semifinals moved up in MaxPreps' state baseball rankings.

Manatee is ranked the highest in the overall rankings, going from No. 30 to No. 11 following its 15-5 win over Tampa King during Tuesday's Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinals. Ranked 84th in the nation and 4th in Class 5A by MaxPreps, the Canes host Tampa Gaither 7 p.m. Friday in a semifinal.

Not far from Manatee is Lakewood Ranch, ranked 16th overall in the state following its 3-0 win over Tampa Jefferson on Tuesday. MaxPreps ranks the Mustangs 2nd in Class 4A, a slot above Tampa Jesuit, which hosts Lakewood Ranch on Friday in a Region 3 semifinal.

The Mustangs are 116th in the national rankings.

Southeast moved into the top 100 to No. 96 in the state with Tuesday's 5-3 win over Cape Coral Island Coast. The Seminoles are 13th in the state in Class 3A, and head to Fort Myers on Friday to face Bishop Verot in a Region 3 semifinal.

Bishop Verot is ranked second in Class 3A, 11th overall in the state and 89th nationally by MaxPreps.

Manatee rise on ESPN, USA Today polls, dip on Maxpreps

Manatee's 56-36 on Friday over Palmetto was enough to impress ESPN RISE and USA Today - but didn't have a similar effect on the folks at Maxpreps.
The Hurricanes hopped a spot to No. 2 on ESPN RISE's Fab 50, putting them behind only Trinity out of Euless, Texas. Manatee has 243 points to 250 for Trinity, which received first-place votes from all five of the poll's panelists.
Manatee also moved up a spot in USA Today's Super 25, sitting at No.4.
Maxpreps, however, had a different opinion, bumping the Canes down two spots to No.5 on its Xcellent 25.
According to Maxpreps, Manatee's star fell a bit in part because Woodland Hills, Pa., which the Canes defeated at home in Week 1, fell to 0-2 Friday.
Manatee takes a 2-0 record into Friday's rivalry game with 2-0 Southeast.

Manatee ranked 15th by MaxPreps

Manatee's football team has been labeled by MaxPreps as one of 25 national contenders for the 2010 prep football season.
The Hurricanes were ranked 15th on the list, and MaxPreps.com writer Stephen Spiewak said Manatee re-established itself as a football powerhouse last season despite falling to Tampa Plant in the Class 5A state championship game.
"The Hurricanes have a foundation in place that could position them to be better in 2010," Spiewak writes.
He notes that the team's two top players from last season, quarterback Brion Carnes and wide receiver Ace Sanders, are being replaced by the talented tandem of Cord Sandberg and Quenton Bundrage, which teamed for four touchdowns during Manatee's spring victory over Palm Bay Bayside last Friday.
Electric playmaker Mike Blakely returns, along with most of the defense - most notably the front four of Drakkar Wilson, brothers Chris and Quinton Pompey, and Marquis Dawsey.
Dawsey saw time at linebacker against Bayside, an idea that was tossed around last season.
Click here to see the rest of the top 25 football teams throughout the country, according to maxpreps.com.