The region final round doesn’t require a single word of hype to sell its importance.
You are so sweet if you manage a quarterfinal win. Just like Socceroo fans celebrated the qualification win on Wednesday night in Sydney, a semifinal win this morning has you in the elite group. A final victory in a region, well, that is what creates years on the billboards, expositions hardware and sets athletic legacies out.
We’ve know that as recently as 2020 with Niceville’s Grant Thompson, 2018 with Crestview’s Tim Hadden and 2016 Navarre’s Jay Walls, and in 2014 Choctawhatchee’s Greg Thomas and Niceville’s John Hicks who had four region championships and two state finals appearances in his career here in the ‘Ville.
All of those teams aimed to win it all like Baker in 2020, now only Choctaw and Niceville are out there fighting for region and state championships in their class. Frank Beasley’s second seeded crew is one of the teams that lost twice in the region finals and needs five set to avenge its loss to top seeded St Augustine to earn a Region 1-4A title. Thompson’s No. 1 crew is once again in the Elite Eight and with second seeded Lincoln as the last obstacle standing in between the Eagles and Region 1-5A championship.
Here are my predictions, as well as every other region finalist in 4A and 5A. I am going to be at Eagle Stadium on Friday, so check out X on @SethSnwfdn for score, video, statistics and commentary.
Region Championship Predictions (7-3 last week, 81-22 on the year)
5A Elite 8
- Region 1: Niceville 35, Lincoln 21
- Region 2: Lakeland 31, Tampa Bay Tech 17
- Region 3: Manatee 21, Riverdale 14
- Region 4: St. Thomas Aquinas 35, Atlantic 14
4A Elite 8
- Region 1: Choctaw 28, St. Augustine 17
- Region 2: Jones 42, Vanguard 21
- Region 3: Naples 27, Port Charlotte 21
- Region 4: Norland 28, American Heritage 21
