Santa Fe Corner

[gargs]

On Monday, November 19th the 3-0-0 Raiders host District rival Suwannee, whose record is listed at 0-3-0 (0-4-1 now). Santa Fe has already beaten their other two district rivals, so a victory Monday will mean they have started the season undefeated afer playing all their District competitors the first time. If they do it, they will have to accomplish the feat without senior co-captain Syami Erving (suspended for 2 games by the FHSAA) and junior Mathura Rico (suspended by Coach Nick Miller for 2 games). Despite playing without two of their starters, the Raiders should rather easily handle the Bulldogs, although stranger things have happened. The score could be affected by how close to the vest the referees call it, as Suwannee is known to play even a little more than a physical game (if you know what I mean). The Raiders have beaten them four games in a row for the last two years and I don't see that changing Monday night. How well the Raiders will actually play is another question entirely.

The football players returned this week and it appears that at least two of them will join varsity, if not more. One is Collin Mixon, who led JV in goals last season. He could give the team some additional scoring punch off the bench. The other is a kid named Justin White, who will start out by serving as the team's back-up goalie. He could also challenge Chay Jansen for the starting position over the course of the rest of the season.

The Raiders have tried to schedule some additional games. They have contacted Keystone Heights, Buchholz, Eastside, GHS, and Fernandina Beach among others. Unfortunately, no dates have been worked out yet, although they would still like to add some additional games if possible.

After Suwannee, a tough test comes in Lake City against Columbia on November 28th. Columbia is a fast physical team that is good in the air, and who may give the Raiders trouble if they are forced to play away from their strengths.

[gargs]

Boys State rankings are out and Santa Fe is listed at #24 out of around 100 teams in class 4a. They are just about the lowest ranked undefeated team because of their lack of sength of schedule thus far. According to the rankings, Santa Fe has a relatively easy district compared to past years. While Santa Fe is currently ranked 24th in class 4a in the state of Florida, Ridgeview is ranked 58th, Suwannee is ranked 71st, and Middleburg (a team Santa Fe only beat by one goal) is 73rd. That's a far fall for Middleburg from two years ago when they went to the State Final. Of course, that's what graduating a ton of seniors can do if you don't have the talent to step in a replace them.
We should be reminded that the season is young. Suwannee, for example, who have been District doormats for the last two years, sport an 0-4-1 record. While that is certainly not impressive, as of late they seem to be getting better, with one tie and two losses by one and two goals in the last three games. The young Suwannee Bulldogs have a ton of games scheduled this year (Eurosport lists 26, although that seems like over the limit), so they may be continuing to improve as the season goes on. When Santa Fe beat Ridgeview they were without one of their best scorers, so you can't count them out of the race either. Middleburg, lost both regular season games to Santa Fe last year but still beat them in the District semis, so the Raiders would do well to focus and take care of business out on the field.
Santa Fe plays Suwannee at home tonight and hopefully they will take advantage of the game by not taking them lightly and honing in their sharpness. The next scheduled game on November 28th will be against Columbia, who appears stronger than the team they tied last year. For your information the top 25 ranked teams (according to Downsouth's system) in Florida class 4a is listed below:

1 4 Merritt Island 3 0 0 41.00
2 4 Jensen Beach 4 0 0 34.00
3 4 Ridge - Davenport 1 0 0 20.00
4 4 Pasco 3 0 0 12.00
5 4 Menendez 4 0 0 11.50
6 4 Bartow 2 0 0 10.00
7 4 Cocoa Beach 2 0 1 7.33
8 4 Bishop Moore 2 0 0 6.00
8 4 Lecanto 2 0 0 6.00
8 4 Rockledge 1 0 1 6.00
11 4 Nease 2 0 1 4.00
12 4 Estero 4 1 0 3.20
13 4 Gulf - New Port Richie 1 0 0 2.00
13 4 Navarre 4 1 1 2.00
15 4 Harmony 1 0 0 0.00
15 4 Lake Wales 1 0 0 0.00
17 4 Forest Hill 2 2 1 -1.20
17 4 Golden Gate 4 0 1 -1.20
19 4 Miami Pace 5 0 1 -2.33
20 4 Stanton 5 0 0 -3.60
21 4 Palmetto Tampa 2 1 0 -5.00
21 4 Space Coast 0 1 1 -5.00
23 4 Gulf Breeze 5 0 0 -5.20
24 4 Santa Fe 3 0 0 -5.33
25 4 Lely 1 2 0 -6.67

In order to move up in these rankings, Santa Fe needs to take care of business against weaker teams and make a good showing against the stronger ones. A few quality games added to their schedule wouldn't hurt either.

[gargs]

Santa Fe 4
Suwannee 2

The Santa Fe Raiders defeated the Suwannee Bulldogs 4-2 at home today despite playing without two of their starters for the whole game, and five of their starters for about two-fifths of the game. Suwannee received about 6 yellows and two outright reds due to their constant fouling. Shyama Allard drew at least three yellows due to Suwannee players constantly kicking him. Joey O'Brien led all scorers with 2 goals and 1 assist before being tossed from the game with his second yellow. With the win Santa Fe improved their record to 4-0-0 on the season.

Suwannee struck first, as has been the trend for Santa Fe the last three games. Santa Fe evened up the scoring on a Josh DeGrove goal in the 23rd minute which was set up by Adam Palpant. When Thakura Borrero entered the game he quickly got into the attack and recorded two assists by setting up Joey O'Brien for two goals in the first half. The second of the two goals was a penalty kick which Borrerro was credited with the assist for. O'Brien recorded his first assist of the year by setting up Naveen Allin in the second half. Conversely, the shot was Naveen's first goal of the year. As usual Shyam Allard played well, playing the whole game again, and leading the team with seven steals while recording only two turnovers, despite his many touches. He controlled the middle of the pitch and passed it up the field for his teammates to finish off the attack. He also recorded five shots on goal. Austin Bishop did a good job clearing the ball when the offense threatened. Chay Jansen had perhaps his best game in goal despite giving up two goals. The goals by Suwannee were good shots that were hard to defend.

Suwannee is a team with some talent that plays a brand of soccer that doesn't really fit into the soccer category. If they wore red and yellow and changed their name to the Assasins, it would probably be more appropriate. If the referees didn't call this one close to the vest, some serious injuries may have resulted. The coaches and some of the parents of this team appear to encourage their so-called style. When a player gets a card it seems to be a rite of passage for this team akin with scoring a goal. The offending player usually starts a frenzy clapping and runs of the field to a bench and fan base full of maul ball hysteria. If they stopped the constant hacking and concentrated on the game of soccer they would be better off in the long run, in this writer's humble opinion.

Thanks Gargs. Sounds like this team should be banned from playing and ruining our great sport OR the coach needs to address the style of play and fix that maul ball attitude.

[gargs]

Thanks Gargs. Sounds like this team should be banned from playing and ruining our great sport OR the coach needs to address the style of play and fix that maul ball attitude.

I don't think they should be banned per se. There are nice players and parents there. But something definitely needs to be fixed.

[gargs]

Ridgeview beat Suwannee last night 4-3. After taking a 4-0 lead, Ridgeview let up 3 unanswered goals in the last 15 minutes, due partly to tinkering around with their lineup. That just illustrates the point that bringing in too many subs and playing people out of position can be a dangerous proposition. The standings for District 3 Class 4a are now as follows:

1. Santa Fe 3-0-0
2. Ridgeview 1-1-0
3. Suwannee 0-1-0
4. Middleburg 0-2-0

This is assuming I have all the scores between the four teams up to date.

[gargs]

The tournament schedule for the Gator Showcase Bobcat Invitational is out and Santa Fe has been put in the Gold Division, which is suppose to be the lesser of the two divisions. Curiously, Mount Dora, who Santa Fe handled rather easily in the preseason 3-1, without its full compliment of players, made it into the higher Black Division. Santa Fe had hoped to get the highest competition for this tournament to help prepare for District and playoff games.

Each Division has two groups who play among themselves. The winner from each group plays each other for the Division and tournament title.

Hopefully, Santa Fe will get to play some of the Black Division teams like Buchholz and GHS later in the season to prove they were misplaced in the lower division.

With these additions to the schedule in mind, Santa Fe's updated schedule/results are listed below:

11/08 at Hawthorne (0-2-0) W 8-0 1-0-0 0-0-0
11/10 * Ridgeview (1-2-0) W 4-1 2-0-0 1-0-0
11/13 * Middleburg (0-2-0) W 4-3 3-0-0 2-0-0
11/19 * Suwannee (0-5-1) W 4-2 4-0-0 3-0-0
11/28 at Columbia (2-1-1) 7:30 PM
11/30 at Fort White (0-1-2) 7:00 PM
12/01 P.K. Yonge (1-2-0) 11:00 AM
12/04 * at Suwannee (0-5-1) 7:00 PM
12/11 Hawthorne (0-2-0) 6:00 PM
12/13 * at Middleburg (0-2-0) 7:30 PM
01/03 vs Pensacola (0-1-0) 4:00 PM Gator Showcase (Bobcat Invitational)
01/04 vs Pompano Beach (0-0-0) 4:00 PM Gator Showcase (Bobcat Invitational)
01/04 vs St. John Neumann (0-0-0) 12:00 PM Gator Showcase (Bobcat Invitational)
01/08 at P.K. Yonge (1-2-0) 7:00 PM
01/10 Fort White (0-1-2) 7:00 PM
01/11 * at Ridgeview (1-2-0) 7:00 PM
01/16 Eastside (2-2-1) 7:00 PM
01/22 vs TBA (0-0-0) TBA District 3 Semis
@Santa Fe Stadium
01/25 vs TBA (0-0-0) TBA District 3 Finals
@Santa Fe Stadium
* District 3 Matches

Sounds like Bucholz did not want to play Santa Fe, so they put Mt Dora an average 3A school in their bracket for the easy win. Oh well it is their Tounament.

[gargs]

Sounds like Buchholz did not want to play Santa Fe, so they put Mt Dora an average 3A school in their bracket for the easy win. Oh well it is their Tournament.

That thought didn't cross my mind but I guess it's possible. Still, if whoever put the brackets together were aware how easily we beat Mount Dora, albeit in preseason, they should not have put us in the weaker bracket. Not that it is automatic that we would win even the weaker bracket, but it would be a shame to have the ability to possibly win the stronger bracket but not be given the chance. Our first and foremost need is to play stronger teams so we can get a reality check and prepare for late January.

I did some research and several of the teams in the higher bracket do not appear to be so strong either. Anyway, Santa Fe will do their best and try to have fun. But if they win the weaker bracket and then watch the team celebrating who won the stronger bracket, they will probably not help but wonder what if they were given their deserving shake.

Are the parents of the boys on this team comfortable with you posting intimate details about their sons' medical conditions?

[gargs]

Are the parents of the boys on this team comfortable with you posting intimate details about their sons' medical conditions?

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume this is a serious question. We probably will never know if the parents are comfortable with that because I haven't done that, as far as I know, and have no plans to reveal "intimate details" about anyone's medical condition in the future. If you could supply a quote from me, perhaps i would know if I am mistaken. In fact, I don't believe any of our players has had any serious medical condition to report on all season.

Practice resumed this week with the news of Syami Erving's injury while playing in the R3PL for Leg-A-Z last weekend. He hyper-extended his knee and got an MRI on Monday to check for possible structural damage. Hopefully, the MRI will clear him to play soon. Syami is a very important part of the Raiders hopes this year. The team is crossing their fingers that they will get good news today or tomorrow.

If my son was on this team, and you were posting on a web site about his injury with his full name, you and i would need to talk.

Big deal. Leave Gargs alone. He writes some good stuff. Why don't you write some stuff about your team?

Sounds like Bucholz did not want to play Santa Fe, so they put Mt Dora an average 3A school in their bracket for the easy win. Oh well it is their Tounament.

sure