Memorial Day: Final Rankings for Spring

My Son: George "Michael" Zaleuke Jr. 

 

Today is Memorial Day.  I would like to dedicate this blog entry to my son Mike.  He turned out to be everything I always wanted in a son, and I am so proud of him.  Mike is preparing for his second deployment to Afghanistan very soon.  His deployments are no joke. INFANTRY, INFANTRY all the way.  Please support the Military.  They make it possible for you and I to live in a free country.  GO ARMY. 

 

Today is when I am going to offer my final Spring Rankings of the fifteen (15) teams I viewed with my own eyes. The past month has been sort of bitter sweet.  I missed coaching during the spring, but I also enjoyed the down time and visiting all the different football programs in the area.  In some cases, it was very eye-openings to actually see these teams from a different perspective....from the sidelines. 

 

I really struggled with just how I was going to rank these teams.  Truthfully, there is no fair way to rank these teams, because I visited some of these programs at different times during the spring.  Also, most of these teams do not even play in the same classification which makes it even more difficult.

(For Instance:  St. Edwards will rank in #15. The only thing keeping them down in the rankings is their 1A classification and the number of athletes they currently have on their roster.  STEDS has great coaching, and they will be fine in their own district.)   However, this was the only small school I visited during the past month, so I had to start the rankings somewhere.  I decided (with help from Kristin my daughter) to group the bottom 5 together, then count down the top ten in reverse order.  I struggled with Sebastian River because of my long relationship with the program, and my love for the kids still participating....it's not their fault adults act the way they do. I am going to give my honest and un-biased opinion of how each team is looking right now going into summer conditioning.  That being said, here is the bottom five IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. 

 

St Edwards:  Pisses me off I actually have to rank them with public schools. 

 

Ft Pierce Westwood:  Watch this team closely.  They actually WON their spring game, and they have some very nice looking kids.  They will make some noise during the regular season.  UPSET ALERT.

 

Sebastian River:  Very Young.  New Coaches.  Huge losses to graduation.  Watch out for Mason Wilborn, Zack Finnegan,  Raul Martinez, Nick Cooper and  and Dion Jones QB. 

 

Martin County:  I could not get a great feel for this team.  They have nice size, and good skill kids.  Putting in a brand new spread offense this year, so it is going to take some time to get it down.  Got drilled by Rockledge on Friday night.   

 

South Fork:  Coach Lavelle said he is starting over.  I saw SF early in the Spring, and they were very young.  Lavelle is a great coach, and SF will get their wins.  Late season team I am betting. 

 

Top 10 in Reverse Order. 

 

#10  Centennial 

Got beat by Jensen in overtime last Friday night.  This team is in a tough district, but they are going to make some noise this year.

# 9  Jensen Beach 

 

Beat the larger Centennial 14-7 last Friday night.  Tough, gutsy group.

 

#8  Port St Lucie 

 

Obviously this team can put up some points  Great athletes at key positions.  Could be interesting. 

 

#7  Palm Bay Bayside 

Big and Fast.  Trying to get to the next level.  By the looks of them, it will be a short trip. 

#6 Melbourne Bulldogs

Melbourne and Bayside are ranked together...very closely.  Which makes sense since they share the same athletes from the same little league programs.  Here is your district winner. 

#5 Treasure Coast Titans 

Great athletes at every position.  Great defense....again!  Will be a great battle with Vero Beach and Ft. Pierce Central for district title. 

#4  Palm Bay Heritage   

I respect this team.  They flat out kicked our rear ends last year in the playoffs.  Tremendous athletes in the right positions.  If they get on a roll, this team will be a real handful for ANY team. 

#3  Palm Bay Pirates 

How does Coach Burke do it?  Year after year, same result.... Just WIN baby!  Big and strong, and athletic.  Great program. 

#2 Vero Beach Fighting Indians

 

Don't let the Spring Game results fool you.  Counting Vero out this year would be a big mistake.  VB is very talented.  Tremendous depth and great athletes.  The District Championship still comes through Vero Beach...just wait and see. 

 

#1  Ft Pierce Central 

Very Fast, Very Big, with GREAT skill position kids.  How can you ask for more?  If they get their defensive backfield straight, they will be very hard to beat.  They may have to build a special press box for all the College Recruiters visiting this program.  Great team in a tough district.  Should be interesting. 

Well, there you have my rankings....but really, what do I know?  I could only rank the teams I personally visited, so I missed a lot of great programs.  I only wish I could have visited teams like Cocoa, or Rockledge, or Merritt Island, or Astronaut...because the rankings would have surely looked different.  I will be following the 7 on 7 tournaments this summer, and I am actually working a couple of camps this summer too.  Who knows, I may pop up somewhere in the fall. 

I will be blogging all Summer.  Please check back with me. 

GZ