5 takeaways from Florida high school football's Week 8 slate

A week scrambled because of Hurricane Milton, we give you five takeways from the Friday night games from Week 8

Newberry Panthers quarterback Collin Dunmore (7) hands the bal to Newberry Panthers running back Jamarcus Wimberly (10) against the Hawthorne Hornets during the first half at Hawthorne High School Football Stadium in Hawthorne, FL on Friday, August 30, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun] / Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Let's to honest, the Week 8 slate of games went from epic to kind of a mess because of Hurricane Milton's impact across the state of Florida.

High school football took a big back seat to a storm that greatly effected the Western Central Florida and also areas all over the Sunshine State. Games did take place, however, in certain regions, including the Florida Panhandle, Mid-Central Florida and some areas in South Florida.

We give you five takeaways from last week's Friday night of action:

1. What will the FHSAA do about the rest of the 2024 schedule?

This is the great question being asked around the state and was vocalized not only by coaches, but high school football players as well. No one could've ever expected back-to-back hurricanes to directly hit the and that happened in the last couple of weeks. With that, football programs are being stressed with trying to reschedule district games and non-district tilts with only three weeks left in the regular season. One high school football player stated the potential slate he and his team could be playing a total of five games in just 15 days. The prospect of something like that happening brings up into question how much is player safety being considered, with minimal practice time allotted in these last three weeks before the playoffs begin. The Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA) posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday that they're hosting a special presser on Monday afternoon. Could this be the association addressing the issue of the regular season? Could the FHSAA be adding an extra week to the season? It's a wait and see regarding that assumption, but that could be coming down the pipeline as Florida's neighbor to the north, Georgia, already added an extra week to their season.

Broward County closed schools on Wed and Thur out of an "abundance of caution". We could have played the district game against Nova last night. Now we have to play on 10/18, 10/21, 10/25, 10/28 and 11/1. That's 5 games in 15 days. I thought the @FHSAA cared about safety.

— Nick Dyer (@NickDyer_QB) October 11, 2024

The @FHSAA is talking about making up games from today on Monday or Tuesday. When kids and teams haven’t been together for more than a week.

Every conversation surrounding football is about player safety, and there are even rules in place for player safety, that are more

— Kyle Shafer (@Coachshaferfb) October 11, 2024

🚨 Join us for a Press Conference on Monday, October 14th at Noon, live on the FHSAA YouTube channel! 🎥📢 All media members wishing to participate and ask questions, please email rharrison@fhsaa.org for zoom credentials. #FHSAA #PressConference #FHSAA #StateSeries pic.twitter.com/wk1R6E3dCt

— FHSAA (@FHSAA) October 12, 2024

2. Chaminade-Madonna reminds everyone why they're the best team in South Florida

Chaminade-Madonna standouts RJ Alphonse (56) and Derrek Cooper (1) after the Lions roar past Miami Norland, 45-20. / Joe Frisaro

After two weeks, there might've been some folks around the state hitting the panic button on Chaminade-Madonna. Why? An 0-2 start could only speak to some kind of demise going on with the Lions. Well, think again. Just a few weeks later and now Dameon Jones' group is back atop of the South Florida pedastal as they edged out St. Thomas Aquinas 29-22 at Pitbull Stadium on Friday night. This will certainly catapault the Lions up the newest set of High School On SI Florida's Top 25 rankings and probably back into the national scene. I mean, why there was really any doubt on this team still being one of the best around shouldn't have been a question to begin with as they have proven year in and year out that they will eventually figure things out. They're back to looking like the undisputed favorites to win the Class 1A state championship.

3. Newberry makes a statement with win over Bradford

Newberry Panthers kicker Dustin Earl (80) and Newberry Panthers kicker Zane Spires (0) celebrate a field goal against the Hawthorne Hornets during the first half at Hawthorne High School Football Stadium in Hawthorne, FL on Friday, August 30, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun] / Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

This Newberry team has been so close to notching a season-defining victory, but no cigar as of yet. That was up until Friday night when the Panthers welcomed undefeated Bradford into town and they made sure to hand the Tornadoes with their first loss. Newberry was dominant in a 21-7 victory behind a strong defensive effort led by Ohio State commitment JarQuez Carter. When looking at the kind of talent is up and down the roster of the Panthers, it was not a matter of if they would ever notch a statement win, but when they would pull it off. That moment occurred last week and now they enter the conversation as one of Mid-Central Florida's top teams.

4. Vanguard on a red-hot winning streak

Vangaurd Knights Nasir Allen (15) celebrates his touchdown in the first half. The Vanguard Knights hosted the North Marion Colts at Booster Stadium in Ocala, FL on Friday, October 4, 2024. Vanguard lead 21-6 at the half. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner] / Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Edwin Farmer's crew opened up the season with a 24-7 loss to Buchholz. What have they done since then? The Knights have won six games in a row and Saturday night was just the latest example of how hot this team is right now. Vanguard cruised to a 40-13 shellacking of Lecanto. With games against South Sumter, Gainesville and Forest still remaining, we could see the Knights capping the season at 9-1. If Farmer could do so, it would be a very impressive coaching job by he and his staff after dropping the opener against the Bobcats.

5. Gadsden County is for real

The Gadsden County Jaguars played the Rickards Raiders in a football game at Gene Cox Stadium on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. / Ehsan Kassim/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

We acknowledge you, Gadsden County. Since the preseason in which Gadsden County lost to Class 7A power Venice 34-19, the Jaguars have week in and week out tried to show everyone why they need to be taken a little more seriously. Well, here's us saying we see what you're doing as the regular season winds down. With Russell Ellington's team only dropping a game team Georgia power Coffee County, Gadsden County has notched impressive wins over Tennessee's McCallie, Lincoln and FSU High. Let's give the Jaguars their flowers and say they're for real and could make some noise in this fall's Class 2A postseason.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl