Vote: What hypothetical Florida football game would you want to see the most in 2024?
It seems like it was just yesterday that we were in Tallahassee for the Florida High School Athletic Association’s high school football state championships at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Now we’re back to the off-season, which seemingly never disappoints when it comes to head coaches departing/new hires, transfers and of course, game scheduling.
With the FHSAA releasing the tentative new classifications/districts for the 2024-2025, 2025-2026 seasons for football, programs are on the phones nonstop trying to finalize their schedules.
We don’t know what all the matchups will be, but there’s ones we’d obviously love to see for the next season. A lot of talk through social media has tipped the cap on which ones people would like to see.
Below are the 15 games we’d love to see for the upcoming 2024 Florida high school football season, all hypothetical of course.
We’ve added a poll as well so everyone can interact and vote on which game they’d like to see the most.
Here’s the game nominations below:
Chaminade-Madonna vs. IMG Academy: We feel like everyone got deprived of this game in 2023. Can this be made possible for 2024?
St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Miami Central: 24 state championships between the two programs. Roger Harriott vs. Jube Joseph. Sounds like a battle everyone in South Florida would love to see.
Bartram Trail vs. Raines: The schools are 35 minutes apart from one another and are always amongst the most talented in Northeast Florida. We feel like this would be a battle for the 904.
Niceville vs. Edgewater: We feel like the ‘Battle of the Eagles’ was entertaining enough in a 2020 Class 7A state semifinal that it should happen, again.
Cocoa vs. Lake Mary: Brady Hart and Noah Grubbs. Sign us up all day and everyday.
Chaminade-Madonna vs. Venice: Both schools have publicly gone back and forth via X, formerly Twitter, about having a game. Can the parties come to some kind of agreement?
Armwood vs. Lakeland: This game is usually reserved for the preseason or spring, but you can always feel the uneasy tension between these two teams. The short trip along Interstate 4 provides for one of the best informal rivalries around.
Cardinal Mooney vs. Clearwater Central Catholic: The Class 1S state champions versus the Class 1M state runner-ups looks like a really good one on paper. A solid private school contest in our opinion.
Sanford Seminole vs. St. Augustine: Both teams will enter 2024 with a lot of talent coming back and in the conversation for state championships. Bokey against America’s oldest city sounds good to us.
Bradford vs. Hawthorne: Separated by a mere 30 minutes and a trip along US 301 would be worth it for both schools. Both played in state championships last season, so why not go head up in the regular season?
Columbus vs. Mainland: However it needs to get done, whether the Buccaneers hop on a bus down I-95 south or the Explorers head north, this one would provide plenty of intrigue. The Class 4M champs against the Class 3S champs.
Berkeley Prep vs. Jesuit: Fresh off of winning his first ever state championship as a head coach, how about Dominick Ciao take his Buccaneers up against his old school, the Tigers?
Apopka vs. DeLand: Another game that features a head coach against his former team. I’m sure Rick Darlington and Jeff Rolson have chatted about making this one happen.
Naples vs. Williston: Nothing ties these two teams together at all. We just would love to see both single-wing teams against each other. Oh and seeing Shawn Simeon (Naples) and Tranard Roberts (Williston) running the ball a combined 50-plus times would be a treat.
Mandarin vs. Plantation American Heritage: We saved one of the best for last. There’s so much star power in this game from both quarterbacks (Tramell Jones, Dia Bell) and receivers (Jaime Ffrench, Malachi Toney) that plenty of people would line up to purchase tickets.
