PLAYERS TO WATCH:

South Sumter: DB Keanu Neal, DE Darien Williston, DB Kenneth Maxwell, DB Bo Farmer, DE Brandon Curtis, RB Davarreus Gibson

Starke-Bradford; LB Phillip James, LB Lyndell Hampton, OL Murphy Allen, WR Kenny Dinkins, WR Deantre Burch.

THE OUTLOOK: Twenty-three. That's the number of seniors that South Sumter has back off last year's 8-3 squad that won the district, but bowed in the first round of the post-season.

That experience has led the Raiders to an unbeaten start and a chance to take the lead in the district by beating a very tough Bradford team.

Florida-bound Keanu Neal is the tenth-best DB in the state, in a year that the DB position is loaded. He's supported in the backfield by Farmer and Maxwell and the Raiders have been able to pretty much force teams to become one dimensional.

Starke-Bradford stumbled against rival Palatka, 30-20 - but has scored 39, 40 and 33 points in the last three games.

Like South Sumter, the Tornados are coming off a playoff run, but lost their starting QB and head coach from last year when Derek Chipoletti and son Austin left for Oakleaf.

Enter Steve Reynolds who - has taken advantage of the talent and built a passing offense centered around Dinkins (25 catches, 424 yards) and Burch

Can the Tornados throw the ball on South Sumter? If not, it may be a long night in Starke.

Prediction: South Sumter 35 Starke-Bradford 24

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