Manatee breaks pattern by not playing out of state

The new high school football season is around the corner, and aside from the glaring omission of the Southeast-Manatee rivalry game from the 2017 schedule, there’s one more item noticeably missing: an out-of-state game for the Hurricanes.

During legendary former coach Joe Kinnan’s second stint, Manatee became a national power. The Hurricanes ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the country by the 2012 season, while making trips away from the Sunshine State.

Following a state championship appearance in 2009, Manatee sought out-of-state competition. It started with a trip to Pennsylvania to face Woodland Hills in 2010.

In 2011, the Hurricanes went to Maryland, with an educational visit to Washington D.C., to play Our Lady of Good Counsel and they played host to Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.).

A trip to Washington state to play Skyline fell through with a lack of financial support in 2012, but the Hurricanes headed back to Maryland in 2013, went to Georgia in 2014 and visited Alabama in 2015 and 2016.

Through all the treks away from the Sunshine State, booster club support helped pay the way.

The trips also gave some players the chance to take their first plane ride or leave their home state for the first time.

Instead of continuing to look for out-of-state opponents, Manatee loaded its 2017 schedule with in-state foes that offer the same thing: playoff-caliber teams that prepare the Hurricanes for a playoff run. Instead of the out-of-state game and Southeast, Manatee added Lakeland and Braden River.

The two foes, coupled with a Kickoff Classic with Seffner Armwood and a matchup with a Palmetto team that’s come close to knocking off Manatee the past two seasons, generate a daunting opening four-game stretch.

“We just have to take one game at a time,” Manatee head football coach Yusuf Shakir told the Herald shortly after this year’s spring game.

The Kickoff Classic is just a preseason tilt, so that will not count in the standings. However, it can set the tone for the games that do count. And the opening stretch is something Shakir is used to.

At Tallahassee Lincoln, Shakir led the Trojans against Camden (Ga.) County, Niceville, Lake City Columbia and Manatee in 2015 to start the season. All the games, except for the Columbia game, were on the road. Lincoln lost three of the four, beating only the Hurricanes. They started 1-4 before catching a hot streak and reaching the second round of the Class 7A playoffs.

For Manatee this season, the Hurricanes and Braden River are finally playing.

The two have produced the best public school teams in the county over the past few seasons, and it’s a game that fans have been clamoring for.

A key for the game taking place in 2017 is the Florida High School Athletic Association’s decision to overhaul the playoff system. Using a points system, teams are rewarded for playing tougher schedules, receiving bonus points for playing a playoff team from either of the previous two seasons.

Of course, winning the district qualifies a team for the postseason all the same.

The new system means more intriguing matchups, and the Pirates will look to usurp the Hurricanes as the top dog in Manatee County’s public school debate on the gridiron.

But Southeast’s omission from Manatee’s schedule is puzzling, considering the Seminoles were a playoff team last year and appear, on paper, to be an easier opponent to beat than Lakeland, for example.

And when the 2017 season gets rolling, it will not matter if Manatee, Southeast, Braden River and the rest make deep playoff runs.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Manatee breaks pattern by not playing out of state."