What we now take for granted in the fall is that it rains every Friday night in September, and Dr. Phillips, Bishop Moore and South Daytona Warner Christian win all of their district football games.
District dates are the ones that count, because they determine playoff participants.
DP (8-0), the top-ranked team in the Class 8A state poll, has won 27 consecutive district games over seven seasons going into its District 5 finale Friday night at Freedom (4-4).
That game should put a bow on another crown for the Panthers and surpass the long-standing Metro Conference record of 27 in a row established by Evans in its glory days of 1987-91.
Bishop Moore (8-0), which has climbed to No. 3 in the 5A state rankings, is side by side with DP with 27 straight district victories in the same time span. The Hornets have clinched the District 11 title regardless of the outcome of their Friday home game vs. Eustis (3-5), but you know Bishop Moore wants to go 10-0 for the second time in school history.
Warner (5-2), the 2A, District 3 champ, is 24-0 in district play since 2008.
Daytona Beach Mainland owns the longest district win streak in Sentinel coverage area history with a 30-0 run from 2000-05. Tied for the second on that list at 28 in a row are Sumter County neighbors South Sumter (2002-08) and Wildwood (1981-87).
Here’s a look at the final week of district play.
Champs crowned
Other district champions who already are peaking at the playoff brackets are West Orange (8-0) in 8A-4, Oak Ridge (8-1) in 7A-4, Kissimmee Osceola (8-1) in 7A-6, South Sumter (9-0) in 5A-6, Umatilla (6-2) in 4A-4 and First Academy (7-1) in 3A-3.
Tiebreaker talk
We could have some Monday night football, high-school style, next week. That’s the night tiebreakers would be played if three or more teams are tied for first or second place in a district and one team in the logjam doesn’t own head-to-head wins over the others.
Orange City University (8-1, 4-1) coach Brian Kells has said that his team really likes to play on the spotless synthetic-turf surfaces at Lake Brantley and Lake Mary. The Titans will have to be up to speed in a must-win game at Lake Mary (8-0, 5-0) on Friday night.
If University pulls off a road win on the rug and streaking DeLand (6-3, 4-1) takes care of business against Lake Brantley (2-6, 1-4), it would force a Monday night shootout. University would host based on best overall record.
Simple math
Four games between playoff-bound teams settle first and second place.
That’s the case for Thursday night’s Groveland South Lake (7-1, 2-0) at Edgewater (6-2, 2-0) game on Bright House Sports Network, Ch. 47, in 6A-10, and Friday’s 6A-9 duel between top-ranked Mainland (8-0, 3-0) and its Daytona Beach rival, Seabreeze (3-5, 3-0).
The extra incentive for Edgewater and South Lake is to avoid a first-round playoff date with Mainland.
Other Friday championshop bouts are Jones (4-4, 3-0) at state-ranked Cocoa (7-1, 3-0) in 4A-5 and Pierson Taylor (4-4, 1-0) at Crescent City (7-2, 1-0) in 1A-8.
The winner of Friday’s Timber Creek (6-2, 3-0) at Oviedo (6-2, 2-1) game is the 8A-3 champ, but the race to be runner-up is a little more complicated. Orlando University (4-4, 1-2) could steal the second spot if Oviedo loses.
Loser leaves town
Well, actually the losers of these second-place games just don’t get to go to the playoffs: Olympia (1-6, 1-1) at Apopka (5-4, 1-1) in 8A-4, Wekiva (6-2, 4-1) at Winter Springs (4-4, 4-1) in 7A-4, Harmony (3-5, 3-2) at Lake Nona (6-2, 4-1) in 7A-6, Tavares (6-2, 2-1) at Mount Dora (7-2, 2-1) in 5A-11; and Agape Christian (0-8, 0-1) at Foundation Academy (4-4, 0-1) in 2A-4.
Boone (4-4, 2-1) should secure second behind DP in 8A-5 by beating Colonial (3-5, 1-2).
bcollings@tribune.com. Read Buddy at SentinelVarsity.com and on Twitter at @VarsityBuddy.
