Alligator Alley

great read and great article...there's a coach who is doing right and doing it for the right reasons...it's a shame that couldn't make the sports page and had to be in the "life section"....

Many in the city want to see Landmark play Gilbert, which are both riding ridiculous winning streaks.

Landmark=Sandalwood, Fletcher, mostly Southside schools
Gilbert=Jackson, Lee, usually Northside schools

I went to Landmark in the late 90s and remember my science classes with Mr. Foy well. He was (and appears to still be) a great guy. I tried out for the football team. He was just starting out as an assistant then. The team was awful, so I'm kind of amazed he's been able to turn things around so successfully. Good for him.

ugh i played OL at fletcher middle and high school....

landmark was a nightmare every year. its like their players are all 3 years older than everyone on the field.

bigger. stronger. and faster.

Miami's talents is high, but Jax often has to remind people, that it is generally 1 city-1 county, which should probably be split into 4. Magnets also rule the city, so essentially kids can go to pretty much any school due to the Magnet program. Both sides of the River have major shifts every so often. While Ciatrick's Fletcher's teams were good, they could not touch Fletcher when Eric Black - QB, Cooper and Hyatt - WRs were there with Searcy at RB. They should have won state, but no need to discuss the many mishaps of that coach. Also, Sandalwood had a powerhouse in the mid 90s with mega RB Frankie Franklin and a OL that was nearly 300lbs. Lost to the great "The West" from 305. Many in Jax feel due to Frankie being injured in a playoff game. On the other side of the bridge, Raines is pretty high with top NFL talent and First Coast reaped recent 20 year benefits from being the new Northside school and rezoning. It still makes no sense why Northside schools are so close. Raines and Ribault should be 1 school. First Coast and Jackson should combine. The 2 Northside Prep schools should be 1. Enough of my ranting. I am proud of Landmark and what it has done in its relative short time and also Gilbert Middle and its rich tradition as both a Middle School and a high school. Lots of pride and history in and around that school.

I am sure everyone has their opinion. But around the same time of First Coast being built, Stanton became a Prep school, which is off of Myrtle, which is basically on the same road as Ribault and Raines and maybe 7 miles from Jackson. The stipulation was it had to be at least 70% of the minority of the area. My theory seems to be at least on the right track considering Ribault has improved since getting the IB program. Essentially, for a while, you had a large population of Northside students, which would be top 10 at the Northside schools going to Stanton. Ask most in Jax, First Coast survived because of the make-up of Oceanway and it was a newer school. Quick history lesson: Ribault was an all-white school in the 60s that integrated while Raines was for blacks. The area of Turtle Creek was all white and after integration, it seemed many white people moved further North, creating the Oceanway area, where First Coast currently sits. When it was rezoned and took about half of the Raines/Ribault area, is when they started getting better at football.

Trinity Christian is balling remember the days of Jamie Harper and playing against Ernie Sims younger brother jville is back on the map