Manatee’s big win, Palmetto’s rematch and a Braden River star’s return dissected

Camp is over and preseason games are a wrap.

The 2016 Florida high school football season is no longer a tease. The games start counting this week, so Numbers Game is zeroing in on the week ahead and giving a look back at some intriguing digits from the Kickoff Classics.

So let's dig in:

45

Rushing yards Manatee's defense allowed in the second half against Seffner Armwood in last Friday's 28-19 victory. The Hawks employ a dazzling running attack that's led them to three consecutive state championship appearances. The Hurricanes shut that down in the final two quarters, while quarterback A.J. Colagiovanni returned from an injured foot to complete 70.6 percent of his passes.

2006

The last year Fort Myers lost a home opener before Palmetto ended the streak last season. The Tigers host the Green Wave this Friday at 7:30 p.m. Palmetto is coming off an impressive defensive showing that slowed Sarasota Booker's starters to 106 total yards of offense in the first half. And 93 of those yards came on one play during the 39-8 victory. Palmetto boasts the 10th toughest schedule in Class 7A, according to FloridaHSFootball.com, too.

1

Carries Braden River running back Raymond Thomas received last Friday. The senior tailback saw his first game action since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last October against Palmetto. Thomas didn't gain a yard on the play, but it saw him take his first contact in almost 10 months.

He's expected to get an increased workload moving forward.

0.2

Percentage of last year's team interceptions that Grant Delpit secured in Saturday's preseason victory for IMG Academy. The No. 4 ranked Ascenders racked up more penalty yards (82) than total yards (74) in the first half of their 17-7 win over visiting Miami Carol City. Delpit, an LSU committed safety, snagged two picks in the game. IMG only had 10 all of last year. Of course, Kickoff Classic stats don't count toward the regular season, but still food for thought, especially when the 2015 team possessed two-year starting cornerback Saivion Smith, who is currently at LSU. The Ascenders meet the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, Grayson (Ga.), in an ESPN2 televised game on Saturday.

20

Average margin of victory for Tampa Jesuit over Lakewood Ranch in the last three years. The Mustangs travel to Jesuit on Thursday for the first regular season game for Manatee County football programs, and they've dropped three straight meetings with the Tigers. Last year's contest was a 39-6 rout, with the narrowest meeting taking place in 2014 when the Mustangs fell by three points. The Mustangs are coming off a 3-7 campaign, but are riding a two-game regular-season winning streak after defeating North Port and Arcadia DeSoto to end 2015.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Manatee’s big win, Palmetto’s rematch and a Braden River star’s return dissected."