The Sideline Whisperer

Predictions for Saturday, December 15th, 2012

By The Sideline Whisperer

It's Thursday, and I think I've finally recovered from last Saturday's results. We had some strange ones, didn't we? Tridents went across the state and handed Naples their first defeat of the season in what looked like terrible conditions from the video we have on the site, while Brevard demolished Gainesville 66-0 and Daytona picked up their first win of the season as they hammered Jacksonville 81-5. Not sure what went on in all those games, but three results that prove anything can happen on any given day in Florida Rugby! Let's try and rebound this week, where we only have four Division Two games on tap, as the lone Division Three game -- Palm Beach at Indian River -- has been postponed until the new year. All Division Two games feature rematches from last month. Posted on 12/13/2012 11:21:09 AM		Actual results in parenthesis. Fort Lauderdale (2-2) at Miami Tridents (2-2) Talk about two teams with different momentum coming into this game. Lauderdale have lost two in a row to Naples and Boca Raton after starting the season 2-0, and another loss here could be devastating to their hopes of making the postseason. To make things worse, the Knights will have to travel south to face the Tridents, who are trending upwards after knocking off defending South champs Naples last week on the road and have won two in a row. This game should be a close one, and a very tough game to pick, especially with Christmas coming up and the potential of both teams not being at full strength because of that, and the realization of what's on the line for the loser of this contest. While I would love to have the cojones to pick a tie here, I'm going to roll with the Knights. Fort Lauderdale 22 (20), Tridents 20 (29) Miami (0-4) at Naples (3-1) This one is a little easier to pick, I think, but after last week, who knows? Naples beat Miami 52-3 in Dade County last month, and while Naples are coming off a demoralizing loss to the Tridents at home, I think they'll be angry and ready to take out their frustration against the Bumblebees, who at this point are pretty much just playing for pride after a surprisingly rough start to their campaign. Naples 45 (29), Miami 10 (28) Jacksonville (1-2) at Bay Area Pelicans (1-3) [THIS GAME WAS CANCELLED] Jax won this game handily back in November, but after last week's embarrassing loss at nearby Daytona, I'm really not sure to make of them heading into this rematch against the Pelicans. Another loss here for Jax would pretty much end their chance of making the playoffs, while the Pelicans already know they're just playing for pride at this point and have nothing to lose. I like the home team here, but not by much. Bay Area Pelicans 29, Jacksonville 20 Tampa Krewe (2-1) at Orlando (4-0) You might want to ignore the records of these teams here, since the result of their previous meeting earlier this season remains in South limbo after the game went to overtime instead of ending in a tie as it should have. Regardless, these two teams are the class of the North Division, and assuming both teams are at close to full strength for this game, this contest could decide who finishes as the No. 1 seed on their side of the draw. I'm going to side with the home team remaining undefeated. Orlando 35 (21), Krewe 20 (25) This Week: 1-2 Last Week: 4-3 Season: 15-9 (62%)

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