About Buddy Collings

Buddy Collings is a senior sports writer for the Orlando Sentinel. He has covered high school sports since the 1970s, when you had to get fouled to make a 3-point play. For the more than 20 years, he has been the clearing house for state high school records in all varsity sports. buddy@varsitygridiron.com

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Buddy Collings' final regular-season picks: No upsets

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Written by Buddy Collings   

If you're looking for upsets to end the regular season you're looking in the wrong place.

It's almost status quo as teams get ready for next week's playoffs.

Non-district games are the norm across the state as the FHSAA playoff brackets are already set and the Road to Orlando -- site of this year's state championship games -- is already paved.

Now, onto the games.

Super 16 teams shouldn't have any problems getting into postseason.

As always, kickoff times in the chart below are at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Super 16 games

Game The Buzz Prediction
Seabreeze (5-4) at No. 1 Mainland (9-0), 7* Daytona rivals have split last six meetings Mainland by 17
West Orange (1-8) at No. 2 Dr. Phillips (8-1) DP leads ‘Ole Orange Crate’ rivalry 12-9 DP by 30
No. 4 Boone (8-1) at Edgewater (4-5) Eagles haven’t had a losing season since ’96 (4-6) Boone by 8
No. 6 Seminole (7-2) at Lyman (3-6) Seminoles outscored past 5 foes 208-29 Seminole by 21
Ocoee (2-7) at No. 8 Timber Creek (7-2) TC can match school record for regular-season wins Timber Creek by 10
No. 10 Osceola (6-3) at Oviedo (3-6) Kowboys outscored Oviedo 50-29 in ’07 Osceola by 8
No. 11 Pine Ridge (8-1) at Deltona (5-4), 7 Panthers have lost 3 of past 4 to rival Deltona Pine Ridge by 13
Hagerty (3-6) at No. 12 Lake Brantley (6-3) Huskies beat Brantley in a spring exhibition Lake Brantley by 7
No. 14 St. Cloud (8-1) at Poinciana (1-8) St. Cloud won close (17-14) last year St. Cloud by 20
Gateway (1-8) at No. 15 Wildwood (8-1), 7 Wildwood is on 6-game winning streak Wildwood by 24
Lake Howell (0-9) at No. 16 Winter Springs (6-3) Host Bears lead this series 9-1 Winter Springs by 21


Other games


Game The Buzz Prediction
Lake Highland Prep (5-4) at Bishop Moore (6-3) Past 3 meetings have been decided by 7 or less Bishop Moore by 3
Winter Park (5-4) at Lake Mary (4-5) Wildcats have won 3 in a row and 4 of 5 Winter Park by 6
Oak Ridge (3-6) at Jones (6-3)* Host Tigers look to avenge 36-0 loss from ’07 Jones by 7
Colonial (3-6) at Olympia (6-3) Titans won tight game (17-10) last year Olympia by 17
University (1-8) at Freedom (5-4) All Freedom losses to playoff-bound teams Freedom by 14
Cypress Creek (1-8) at Wekiva (3-6) Visiting Bears are the young team this year Wekiva by 21
Pine Castle (5-4) at First Academy (8-1) Royals vie for their first 9-1 regular season TFA by 18
DeLand (5-4) at New Smyrna Beach (1-8), 7* Bulldogs have won 5 of past 6 games DeLand by 21
Celebration (2-8) at Harmony (4-5) Harmony has had no trouble with Storm in past Harmony by 27
Mullberry (6-4) at Kissimmee Liberty (4-5) Liberty looks for .500 in second season Mulberry by 7
Eustis (1-8#) at Mount Dora (5-3) Eustis leads old Lake County rivalry 45-2-1-1 Mount Dora by 2
Crescent City (4-5) at Umatilla (0-9), 7 Final game for Umatilla Coach Ron Timson Crescent City by 9
Moore Haven (4-5) at CFCA (2-7#) 7 Xavier Fagan has 1,071 receiving yards for the visitors Moore Haven by 23
John Carroll (3-6) at Lake Mary Prep (3-6), 7 Fort Pierce school is in a tough 2B district John Carroll by 36
Westlake Prep (4-5) at Warner Christian (8-1), 7 2-way starter Matt Hukill has 108 tackles for Warner Warner by 16
Master’s Academy (2-7) at Pierson Taylor (2-7), 7 Eagles edged Taylor 22-16 a year ago Taylor by 14
Agape Christian (0-9#) at Hawthorne (3-6) 1B Agape has athletes to give 1A Hornets a run Hawthorne by 3
Lighthouse Christian (3-6) at Branford (6-3), 7 Chris Taylor has 9 TDs on 25 catches for Lighthouse Branford by 16
Saturday’s games

West Oaks (7-2) at Bradenton Prep (7-1) Bowl game decides top team outside FHSAA jurisdiction BP by 10

Sunshine State Conference Showcase games at The Villages


Game The Buzz Prediction
Leesburg First Academy (1-8#) vs. Tampa Carrollwood (3-7), 11 a.m. QB Kyle Vann has 1,505 rushing yards for First Academy Carrollwood by 12
Foundation (3-6) vs. St. Petersburg Canterbury (6-4), 2 Foundation’s Josh Mansingh has 13 touchdowns, 73 tackles Canterbury by 14
Mount Dora Bible (4-5) vs. Hernando Christian (9-0), 8 The South Division champ Lions beat MDB 29-7 in September Hernando by 21

(# records includes forfeits) *Home sites: Mainland game at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium; Jones at Florida Citrus Bowl; New Smyrna Beach at New Smyrna Beach Sports Complex; Last week: 36 correct, 6 fumbles. Season: 305-81 (.790).

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Buddy's Breaking News 

Buddy Collings is a senior sports writer for the Orlando Sentinel. He has covered high school sports since the 1970s, when you had to get fouled to manage a 3-point play in basketball. Collings graduated from Melbourne High and the University of Florida, then worked for the Gainesville Sun for 12 years before coming to the Sentinel in 1998. In college he began tracking Florida high school sports record and later  published record books. For more than 20 years he has been a clearing house for state records. He is married with three children. You can e-mail Buddy by clicking here.

The Lyon's Den

Austin Lyon began covering high school sports at the age of 15 as a correspondent for the Orlando Sentinel. He has also worked in radio and television, including handling play-by-play for numerous football and basketball state championship broadcasts. He was teh play-by-play voice for Friday Night Football, a weekly high school game of the week in Central Florida. He has lived in Orlando since he was 8 and is a graduate of Bishop Moore and UCF.

Cup of Joe

Joe Williams is the dean of sports in Lake County. In November, he’ll celebrate his 30th anniversary at the paper, and all those years were spent writing about athletes, coaches and sports in Lake. A native of Long Island, N.Y., Williams delivered papers as a boy for Newsday and the Long Island Press. He moved the New Port Richey, where he became a sports writer at the New Port Richey Press the summer he graduated from high school. In his prime, Williams was a feared softball player. He’s a proud father of four and still breaking stories for us. You can e-mail Joe by clicking here.

Gridiron Guru

Ty Ensor hasn't been a football coach all his life. It just seems that way. Ensor, a former football and baseball player at Baker High School (Class of '91), was a high school football coach in Central Florida from 1999-2007. Most of his experience is on the offensive side of the ball, and he served as a position coach Cypress Creek and Apopka, as co-offensive coordinator at Dr. Phillips, as offensive coordinator and Osceola. He was also Apopka's head coach from 2003-05. He is married with twin sons.

The Stat King

Charles King is the producer of the weekly Orlando Sentinel Varsity Sports television show. Before that, he created and ran his own high school football Web site, FridayNightFootball.net, from 2002-07. He also developed, produced and co-hosted Friday Night Football, a radio show that broadcast a high school game every week and followed up with a post-game show. The show broadcast more than 90 games, including six state championships. In 2004 he created and produced FNF-TV, a half-hour weekly TV show dedicated to high school football in Central Florida. You can e-mail Charles by clicking here.

Chip's Recruiting Tips

Chip Humble has more than 15 years of experience connecting athletes with coaches and colleges. He is director of scouting for Collegiate Sports of America PrepStar and co-founder of Next Level, a non-profit group that assists athletes in securing scholarships to college. He is also chairman of the Central Florida All-Star Game. Humble was born in Ohio, is a graduate of Florida Southern and lives in Lake Mary. He can be reached at chumble@csaprepstar.com