Football: No time to be looking ahead

The Golden Eagles, Trojans and Indians have made the playoffs. Naples will host Bradenton-Manatee, Immokalee will host Cocoa Beach and Lely visits Venice. So next week is mapped out for them.

But to get to next week, they have to play this week.

Collier County's playoff-bound squads still have the last game of the regular season to worry about. And while the postseason is exciting for all three teams, none of them are looking past tonight's matchup.

Naples coach Bill Kramer says he's using tonight's game against Cypress Lake as a tool to prepare for next week's playoff game. The Golden Eagles (8-1, 4-0 in Class 5A-12) beat Gulf Coast 18-0 last week, the team's fourth shutout this season, but Kramer wasn't too happy with the team's overall performance. He was looking for some inspired athletes this week in practice and says he got it.

"We were looking for better tempo and better effort," he says. "We had a lot of distractions this week, but we rallied around each other and the effort has been great."

Naples already has tied the school record for shutouts in a season. If the Eagles blank the Panthers tonight, they break it. The defense stifled Gulf Coast last week, sacking quarterback Chadd Rivera eight times.

Immokalee's playoff picture had a dramatic change after last week's win at Clewiston. If they had lost, the Indians (6-3, 3-1 in Class 2A-6) would have been staring at a Monday three-team shootout with Bishop Verot and Dunbar. Their 46-21 win over Clewiston gave them the district title.

The Indians have to travel across the state to play American Heritage and their star tailback DiIvory Edgecomb. Edgecomb is Broward County's second leading rusher, but playing a ground-pounding team like Clewiston gives Immokalee some good experience against running teams.

The Indians aren't to bad on the ground themselves. Against the Tigers, they rushed for 356 yards and seven touchdowns.

Interim coach Phil Vogt says the Indians are a hard team to read, but they're focusing intently on the task at hand.

"If you're a competitor, you play to win," he says. "If it's going to count as a win or a loss, then you play to win. Every game is important."

Lely coach Chris Metzger relishes tonight's game against the Pirates. Port Charlotte played Venice close earlier this year and the Trojans (4-5, 2-2 in Class 5A-12) are trying to recover from a 26-6 loss to Dunbar last week.

"It helps the kids understand the type of focus we have to have," he says. "Port Charlotte played Venice so tight, it gives us an interesting challenge."

It's been a different atmosphere surrounding the end of the season at Lely. The Trojans went winless last season, but won three straight -- including two over Barron Collier and Gulf Coast -- to climb into the playoffs.

"Everyone around the school has been talking about the playoffs," Metzger says. "But our kids have done a great job of staying focused on this game."