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Lake O football programs hope to reach state
By
Lindsay Jones
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
BELLE GLADE ? The baseball hat star wide receiver Deonte Thompson so often wears is maroon and gold to show his loyalty to Glades Central. But the words embroidered across the front - "Muck City" - are to show his pride in an area far bigger than school boundaries.
Ten miles north on State Road 441, Pahokee players are wearing the same hat, but the colors are red, white and blue.
Muck City isn't a real city. It has no borders, no designation on the Florida map, but the football players and fans that live here in this 30-mile stretch of Lake Okeechobee's southeastern shoreline, know their "city" is home to some of the very best high school football in the state.
Especially this year.
The four schools that form "Muck City" - Glades Central (Class 3A), Clewiston (2A), Pahokee (2B) and Glades Day (1A) - have each advanced to the third round of the playoffs.
With wins Friday, Clewiston, Pahokee and Glades Day can each earn a spot in the state finals Dec. 1-2 at Dolphin Stadium. Glades Central needs two more wins to make it to the Class 3A championship Dec. 8.
The schools usually reach the post-season but it's rare that all four are still alive after two rounds. And with each school having a realistic chance to play in Miami, these teams know this year could be special.
"Now that we're all here and still playing, people are really noticing," Clewiston coach Larry Antonacci said.
And while no coach wanted to look past Friday's games, it was hard to ignore the December possibilities.
"It would set a place in history for the Muck," Pahokee coach Leroy Foster said.