Kevin_Holden's Blog

District games... they're what separate the contenders from the pretenders. They're what decides who makes the playoffs. And there were district openers galore in Fox Hilites Friday night.

There's been a lot of buzz on the website about Mainland and Pine Ridge - the unstoppable offense vs. the immovable defense. And in this case, the unstoppable offense kept on rolling. After a slow start, Mainland's Bucs put up 34 points to notch an impressive 34-6 win and stay undefeated. It's Pine Ridge's first loss, and there's no doubt the Panthers will be heard from again this season, but tonight was Mainland's night.

Winter Springs had a new addition in Week 4 - an 8 1/2 foot tall, 600 pound bronze kodiak grizzly bear named Ursa Major (big bear in Latin). Unfortunately, the new bear didn't bring good look to Winter Springs in its district opener, a 28-21 loss to Lake Brantley. The Patriots started 0-2, but George Clayton clearly has his troops motivated and hungry for another playoff berth. Winter Springs' next district game doesn't happen until October 23rd, so they have some time to tweak before that rough stretch against Oviedo, Lake Mary, and Seminole.

Edgewater got into the win column in style, 28-0 over Evans. Edgewater started slowly in this game (a microcosm of their 0-2 start to the season), but one win is all Bill Gierke's boys need to gain some confidence for a tell-tale October slate of games. The Eagles host Apopka next Friday - one of Orlando's best games every year! Apopka bounced back strong 49-0 in its district opener, putting that loss to South Panola, Mississippi in the rear view mirror.

Other tidbits from around the area - Cocoa scored 41 points in the first quarter (!!!) en route to a 70-6 win over Viera... Seminole has now lost two straight after being ranked 9th in the state in mid-September... Boone stayed undefeated with a 34-9 win over Oak Ridge - Boone's last regular season loss came in 2006... Bishop Moore got bitten by the upset bug in the form of St. Cloud, 21-14. St. Cloud is 3-1, matching their win total from all of last season... Trinity Catholic nearly set a state record for yards from scrimmage last week, and followed it up with a 56-3 thrashing of P.K. Yonge. Will we see the Celtics at the Citrus Bowl in December?... Colonial won "The Boot Game" with an 18-9 come-from-behind win over University - read more on Eric Clinkscales' blog... Merritt Island has now posted very impressive back to back wins over Melbourne and Seabreeze - watch out Brevard, the Mustangs are on a roll... Two weeks after their first win in school history, Wekiva made some serious noise in picking up their second. Wekiva blasted West Orange 58-14... East Ridge and Olympia kept the scoreboard operators busy, with East Ridge's Knights capturing the shootout 42-35.

Thanks for watching and be sure to check out Fox Hilites every Friday night during Fox 35 News at 11!