Manatee vs. Braden River: It would've been nice to see
The regular season is over and we still don't know which is the best public school football team in Manatee County.
Get used to it. Things are not expected to change next season or anytime soon.
So fans of Manatee and Braden River can shout from the rooftops they're No. 1, and we can just sit and wonder andm of coursem argue.
It would've been a great game and made money for both schools if they had played, which is something that can't be ignored in this day and age.
So we ask why can't the powers that be make this happen?
We try to get excited about Manatee and Southeast, and there is a lot of tradition there, but the Seminoles have not been able to keep up their end of the bargain for almost a decade.
Manatee vs. Braden River could have pitted two exciting quarterbacks in the Canes' A.J. Colagiovanni and Braden River's Jacob Huesman.
Manatee's explosive offense that is averaging 47 plus points per game going against the Pirates, who allowed 8.1 points per game this season. Who wouldn't want to see that?
Braden River will lose a lot of players that are graduating this year, but Pirates head coach Curt Brad
ley has built a good base, and Braden River figures to be a regular among the area's better teams -- even if it falls a little next season.
It's unfortunate the state has these uneven districts that prove to a burden. Manatee is in a seven-team district, which severely cuts into its scheduling options and its desire to play elite programs to prepare for the postseason.
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As we head into the playoffs, it's that time of year to look at possible MVPs. Two names that can't be ignored are Manatee's jack-of-all-trades Kavious Price and Southeast running back Kevin Johnson.
Price leads the area with 1,293 all-purpose yards and is a magician on the field. You either can't catch him or find him, and he's the catalyst for the area's most prolific offense.
Johnson leads the area with 1,342 rushing yards on a team that has no other offensive threat. He is just a one-man bulldozer. Southeast would not be going to the playoffs without the senior, who many coaches have said is the hardest guy in the county to tackle.
There are a lot of good coaches, but the job John Warren did in taking the Seminoles to the playoffs after a 1-9 season and dealing with a lot of unexpected personnel losses is something that can't be ignored.
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It's good to give back to the community so kudos to Sean Williams, offensive coordinator for the Manatee Mustangs Junior Pee Wee team (10-11 year-olds) that is headed to Miami this weekend in the second round of the Pop Warner Regional playoffs.
Williams played his senior year of football for Manatee, where he led the Canes with 1,472 yards rushing and scored 18 touchdowns. He helped them go to the state final four where they lost to St. Thomas Aquinas on the road.
The Manatee Mustangs Pee wee team (11-12 years old) is also going to Miami where it will play Sarasota. Talk about a waste of gas money.
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Manatee County is turning into proving grounds for USF and its highly touted softball program coached by nationally renowned coach Ken Eriksen, who has been head coach of the USA Women's national team since 2011.
Eriksen is a man who knows talent, and on Thursday, he got two of the county's best when Bayshore standout LaShara James -- who can play multiple positions -- and Braden River first baseman Bethany Keen signed to play for the Bulls.
They join Braden River graduate Kenya Yancy who is a sophomore at USF. Bayshore standout pitcher Miriam Schmoll, a junior, has verbally committed and says nothing will stop her from signing with the Bulls in her senior year.
This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Manatee vs. Braden River: It would've been nice to see ."