Margin of error slim in small district

Charlotte High football coach Binky Waldrop was born and raised in Charlotte County and aside from his college years, has lived all his life in Charlotte County.

He was a three-sport star at Punta Gorda Charlotte and coached baseball and football at Port Charlotte High before moving back across the Peace River to coach football and baseball at his alma mater.

And in all those years, playing and coaching in all those games, Waldrop made only one trip to Wauchula for a high school football game, and that was on Sept. 18 when Palmetto made the trip east to play Hardee.

The reason: Friday night’s Class 4A-District 11 opener against Palmetto in Punta Gorda.

“Whenever you have a chance to scout a district opponent you take it,” Waldrop said.

Football teams play a 10-game schedule, but only the district games count toward a berth in the regional playoffs.

“Post-season, that’s all the matters,” Palmetto coach Raymond Woodie said.

So, whether you are 5-0 Charlotte or 1-3 Palmetto or 2-3 Lakewood Ranch, which opens its district season Friday in Port Charlotte, this week is the start to the real season.

“This changes the mentality a little bit about how you approach games,” Mustangs coach Shawn Trent said.

What makes Friday’s games even more important is they involve the only teams in 4A District 11 — Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Charlotte and Port Charlotte (1-4). A four-team district means a three-game district schedule.

“It kind of decreases your margin of error,” Trent said. “If you lose one game your back is against the wall. Another loss and you’re out.”

Charlotte is ranked second in 4A, sharing the spot with Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer. The Tarpons have allowed only 39 points while scoring 264. The tarpons have half the 10 combined wins of the four district teams.

“They’re big and strong,” Woodie said. “They’re one of the best teams I’ve seen.”

On paper, it appears Ranch, Palmetto and Port Charlotte are playing for the district runner-up spot in the region playoffs, which makes the games among themselves all the more important. In a larger district, you can lose and hope someone knocks off the top team. In this district, that hope is slim.

“Hey,” Woodie said, “we got to play the hand that was dealt us.”

The Tigers earned their first win against Bayshore last Friday. Woodie was pleased with the improvements the Tigers made since that night in Wauchula.

“The kids showed a lot of heart,” Woodie said. “They graded out a little better last week.”

The Tigers also scored 27 of their 40 points for the season against the Bruins, though six of the points came from the defense.

Trent’s Mustangs had an uneven night in a 35-14 loss to Manatee last Friday. It was a six-point game early in the fourth quarter before the Hurricanes pulled away.

The Mustangs take a two-game losing streak on the road with them Friday night, but Trent was quick to note those two losses came against a pair of undefeated teams — Cape Coral Ida Baker and Manatee.

“On the one side, you feel confident, but on the other side, you want to kick yourself because there were a couple of times in both games we had opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them,” Trent said.

The good news is those losses didn’t come in district play. What matters is what happens in three of the Mustangs remaining five games — the three against Port Charlotte, Charlotte and Palmetto.

“The good thing is it doesn’t matter if you’re 5-0 or 1-4 or 2-2 or 2-3,” Waldrop said. “Starting Friday, everybody is 0-0.”