Winter Park at Dr. Phillips

[DarterBlue]

This game promised to be a good one pitting 2017, Class 8A champion DP against the Winter Park Wildcats, which made it to the third round of the playoffs last year. Unfortunately, rain was the winner by a wide margin.

Final Rain 35, DP 14, WP 7. 

The game got underway 1 hour and 45 minutes late. Because of the delay, it was shortened to two quarter. Conditions were very soggy, and from my perspective the game should have been cancelled as game conditions were dangerous. Perhaps it was played to accommodate the college scouts on hand. For the two quarters, both teams demonstrated that they had talent on the field. However, it was very hard to evaluate the talent and relative strength of the two teams due to the shortened game and sloppy conditions. Both teams featured several QBs, so I it is not clear who will be the starters come late August. 

One thing that was surprising to me is that one of the Powell brothers, who both starred on defense, for DP actually played offense in this game and took several direct snaps from the wildcat. DP scored first when the center snapped the ball well over the head of the WP QB. In the ensuing confusion at least 8 players from both teams failed to get it till it was finally recovered in the end zone by a DP defender.  WP tied the game on a 38 yard pass from the QB which was caught knee high in the far right hand corner of the end zone. Late in the second quarter, DP took the lead for good on a QB, 18 yard scramble. In the dying seconds of the quarter, WP intercepted DP but the defender was tackled inside the DP red zone ending the half and the game. 

[954gator]

The weather in florida has been shit this week.

[DarterBlue]

2 hours ago, 954gator said:

The weather in florida has been shit this week.

For sure. The bad conditions have been pretty much statewide. 

[HawgGoneIt]

Nice write up @DarterBlue

We hear a bit about Dr. Phillips but not about Winter Park, so much appreciated.

[DarterBlue]

4 minutes ago, HawgGoneIt said:

Nice write up @DarterBlue

We hear a bit about Dr. Phillips but not about Winter Park, so much appreciated.

Winter Park has always been a solid Central Florida team. Among large schools, they have often had the best overall sports record in the State. However, when it comes to football, they are usually a bit short. Most of Winter Park, which is  just North East of downtown Orlando, is affluent. It is old wealth, not new wealth like DP and Lake Mary. On the Northwest end of Winter Park is a small African American community which has been somewhat over represented on the football team. the coaching staff has been intact for awhile and the HBC is a former UCF assistant. Also on the coaching staff is a former WP and UCF QB. 

The school is very conservative with respect to the football team and does not allow freshmen, regardless of talent, to play varsity. The school also has the most established IB program in the Orlando area and is usually an A school. They have made the State Semifinals in football twice, most recently in 2005 where they were unlucky to lose a close game 10-7 when the other team kicked a field goal as the clock expired. The following week, the team that beat them won the state title 49-24. So that must have hurt WP a lot. If WP actively pursued transfers, they could easily be an 8A contender as two to four key guys in would make them deep playoff competitive in class 8A as currently aligned. They eliminated Apopka in the second round last year before falling to Wekiva, a team they had beaten in the regular season, in the third round. From the limited number of touches I saw last night, they have not fallen off from last year.   

[Pipe Dreams]

Dr. Phillips was missing top running back Brandon Fields, who is still playing baseball. He will carry the load rushing. Wouldn't be surprised if Fields became a 2000 yard back next season.

Good to hear that one of the Powell's were in the wildcat... they play with a ton of confidence and make plays all over the field. Been with the program since Pop Warner from what I hear. They line up at OLB, SS and DE on defense which gives us flexibility to run a number of schemes. 

The QB battle will be interesting with 6'5 Brenden Cyr (Jr) and Canaan Mobley (So). Time will tell who will win the job, but that will not be an area of concern.

Due to the rain I'm sure DP was not able to be effective through the air. They have a number of upcoming sophomore and junior WR's who should make an impact come August. 

I expect Winter Park to have a good playoff season. Their program has found consistency these last two years.

Final note on DP: They will likely return 16-17 starters NEXT season. Very young team.

[DarterBlue]

8 minutes ago, Pipe Dreams said:

The QB battle will be interesting with 6'5 Brenden Cyr (Jr) and Canaan Mobley (So). Time will tell who will win the job, but that will not be an area of concern.

I like Cyr from what I saw. While Mobley is a bit quicker, Cyr's arm is superior. To the extent DP's strength is in its receivers, I would go with the former.