Northside cancels game against Fort Walton Beach

Northside Christian canceled this week's football game at Fort Walton Beach, Mustangs coach Andre Dobson said.

"We didn't think it was wise to play a game against a team four classes above us at this time," Dobson said.

Northside, a Class A school, suited 18 players for last week's game against Fort Meade. The Mustangs do not have a junior varsity program.

Fort Walton Beach, a Class 4A team, is the one of the most experienced teams in the state with 43 returning players.

The contract was for one-year against Fort Walton Beach. Northside tried to find another opponent, but it was too late in the season.

"We'll just have two byes this year," Dobson said.

-- BOB PUTNAM, Times Staff Writer

Comments

[Concerned Parent]

That is probably the smartest move Northside and Dobson have done all year. Finally they are starting to consider the kids and not how the program looks.

[Steven]

Dear Concerned Parent, It was a logical move on their part BUT....NCS has NEVER been concerned about building...or even maintaining a football program. When Raul Hernandez took over as AD he was on a demolision mission to destroy the football program and to make baseball sport# 1 at Northside. The AD along with the administration fired (or forced out) a WINNING football coach and hired a guy (Dobson) who was 12-17-1, NEVER had a winning record and falsified a "city championship". NCS also bypassed a number of WAY-MORE-QUALIFIED and WINNING coaches with experience in Christian education. Knowing he lost 14-15 seniors, Hernandez knew the roster would be young and depleded...waht did he do?? schedule Ft. Walton Beach, Bradenton Prep, and The First Academy ( all playoff teams). Way to go Raul! way to kick'em when they're down. Football is now a laughing stock...are you happy?

[Another Concerned Parent]

NCS, how's that new Coaching hire working out? You fired a proven winner and a coach who won over a 100 games for you. The program was respected in the county and now look at it. NCS Parents, Alumni and Faculty need to step up and question the NCS Administration and the decisions they are making.

What AD would have scheduled this game. Ft. Mead wouldn't have scheduled this game. If you wanted to get beat by a 4A school you sure didn't have to go all the way to Ft Walton Beach!

This was a set up by the AD

you idiots. BOD DARE made this years schedule. not Hernandez. the schedule for this year was out before Dare left. seriously this was actually a good move by protecting the kids and all you can do is bash? be thankfull that they didn't send your kids to be killed this week.

[An NCS Insider]

8:46 You are the idiot! Hernandez scheduled Ft. Walton Beach, First Academy, and Bradenton Prep. Raul...quit defending yourself! You've been successful! You hired a coach that is incompetent, has no discipline, thinks defense is something you put around a yard and now Northside is staring at 0-9 in the face! Congradulations...the destruction of NCS football is now complete!

Dare was fired before christmas and didn't do schedule, if he did they still had plenty of time to change it. So they are the idiots.

[long time football guy]

Football schedules are not done before Christmas. None are!

i love how you all have so much confidence in the kids on the football team...they will beat farragut pretty handily next friday and beat shorecrest and keswick

[Hank Goldberg]

They lose to all

Farragut 21-0
Shorecrest 28-0
Keswick 7-0
Indian Rocks 55-0

the schedule was already posted in the athletic office before dare was gone. i dont know why they didnt change it and i think they should have. but the schedule was made before the whole coaching debacle.

Bob Dare would have NEVER committed "schedule suicide" knowing he already plays Ft. Meade and losing 14 seniors. As a matter of fact Raul Hernandez was critical of Dare scheduling "too soft" of a schedule. (Heard it with my own ears!)Hernadez has thrown the football program "under the bus"

[Seminole Parent]

I just wanted to thank NCS for firing Coach Dare. He is doing an unbelievable job at Seminole. Seminole is now 2-2 and has a really good chance of going 3-2 seeing that they are playing Osceola this week. Once again just wanted to thank NCS for all their help, we couldn't have done it without you!

[bobganoosh]

AS a concerned parent i dont want my child getting run over and jacked up by some kid from this 4A school...our NCS football is like the keswick christian golf team

[Northside fan]

People you need to get your facts straight first. Bradenton Prep is a 1B school, smaller than NCS so it is a good team to schedule, 1st Academy is a 1A school that has been on the schedule for several years. Sometimes they win like two years and sometimes NCS wins big, like last season. Another good team to play because they also are a playoff contender in NCS class. Both of these teams just were better than NCS because of the fallout from the Dare dismissal and were scheduled by Coach Dare. Anyone that has any good sense will know that starting freshmen and sophomores against seniors regardless of the team will usually end up in a lopsided score.Get real people.
FT.Walton Beach is a 4A school, playoff team every year, a school that is 1935 students which is over 1600 more students than NCS and this game was scheduled by Raul Hernandez. Maybe being a baseball guy he did not see any significance to the size of school but obviously it would have been devastating to the team. So even if it cost NCS $1500 to rectify a mistake it was a smart move to cancel the game.
Finally, everyone knows that NCS blew it with the whole coaching change and it will be several years before they can be a playoff potential contender again. Coach Dobson is caught in the middle so he should not shoulder any of the blame, it should go to the AD, who is in charge of the entire athletic department not just baseball and the Head of School

[Steven]

Northside fan,

I have to agree with you. That is a very good assessment however, Hernandez KNEW there was going to be a fall-out. He also KNEW the football team lost 14 seniors...and he schedules Ft. Walton Beach anyway!!!??? Clearly, getting rid of a WINNING head coach, hiring a LOSING one, and scheduling Ft. Walton when Ft. Meade, IRCS, 1st Academy, and Bradenton Prep (who is LOADED because of recruiting which they have been fined for by FHSAA) was already on the schedule is just irresponsible and poor judgement. It's not just a schedule boo boo...he hired a guy who is clueless about how to build a program muchless maintain one. NCS has been out scored 184-14 in 4 games! Word is that Defensive practice is an afterthought and Special teams work is almost nil. Such poor judgement makes it appear as if Hernandez has a hidden agenda! This is just sad...the kids of NCS deserve SSSOOO much better! When is the administration going to start thinking of the kids instead of themselves???

[Juan]

Wow, still lots of vitrol surrounding NCS and the Bob Dare fiasco!

Cancelling this game is smart but it does not excuse the fact that it should have NEVER been contracted in the first place!

Regardless of who or how the 2008 NCS football schedule came to be, the more pressing matter is the current (and future) codition of the football program. Unfortunately, that condition and outlook is very poor! Practices are disorganized and unbalanced. Dobson has created an environment of laissez faire amongst the players; no consequences for missing or being late to practice which culminated in several players deciding to not show for the game against Ft. Meade. Our they off the team? No.

There is plenty of blame to be had and many different people at the school that deserve to shoulder that blame but the truth is, Dobson was hired to coach the football program. The ultimate blame must fall to him for how the program is being run in its day-to-day operation. Letting players miss, neglecting important areas of team preparation, allowing parents to dictate roster decisions...signs of failure!

While I laughed at the above post that was meant as sarcasim from Seminole, there is a lot of truth to those sentiments about Dare.

While there is no turning back time for NCS, families that are wanting a strong and respectable football program at the school had better start making their collective voices heard by anyone that will listen. Voice your concerns about Hernandez and Dobson!

Six comments, count them six were made saying what a smart decision it was to cancell the game. What about the opponent who practiced all week getting ready for this contest. And (bye) the way coach, it's not a second bye it's a loss. There are no mulligan's in football.

dude the game was canceled weeks ago. even over the summer we said that we didn't know if we were gona be able to make it or not. so its not like we just out of nowhere backed out the week before.. several players didn't show for the Meade game? everyone that was currently on the roster was there. dont know where u got that "fact" from. but it doesn't matter, cuz obviously everyone on here are experts, know exactly whats going on, and tell the complete truth.

This game would have been 100-0 and the Northside players would have gotten hurt. Good move. FWB is one of the better teams in class 4a, not some joke like Blake or Leto, who would also beat Northside 100-0.

[Steven]

The arguement has never been was it the right thing to do...of course. With only 18 players on the roster (that number shrinks everytime its posted) and a lack of discpline on the field, a coach who thinks offense is the only part of football....yes the NCS would have been smoked and gotten hurt. THE ARGUEMENT IS...WHY WAS IT SCHEDULED IN THE FIRST PLACE??? Raul, answer the question!

7:53,

You're drinking Kool-aid made by Dobson aren't you?

http://web.mac.com/fwbvikings/2008/Vikings.html

JUAN! WHERE YOU BEEN? How's that move to Calvary working out for you? Oh yeah, they fired the basketball coach, not the football coach. Ha.

Thanks NCS fan-anyone around for any amount of years know that 1st Academy has been on the schedule since they started playing-even more now that they have Coach Don. B Prep was supposed to be an easy win, but no one knew who they were recruiting this year (see the report last summer of them being put on probation).

Bottom line, this team was gonna suffer no matter who was coaching them. Juan was probably one of those complaining 3 years ago when Coach Dare went 2-8 and the team stunk. At least he doesn't have to smell it anymore

Steven, why are you asking Raul to answer you on here? Why don't you man up and call him yourself. The number is in the phone book.

BTW Juan, most people at Seminole don't even know who coach Dare is. They all hate the head coach, and don't even know who the assistants are (been there for a game or 2)

[Steven]

2:38 First off...Have YOU ever talked to Hernandez? I have...he's SO COCKY he would not admit to this blunder under ANY circumstances! Besides..his plan is working!...dismantling the football program! Fact is NCS has been outscored 184-14 in 4 games and Dobson has 45 min practices??? How much did they "practice today...or the day before for that matter??? SURELY that have SOMETHING they could work on! PLEASE! Raul's plan is working perfectly!...fire a winning coach...bypass the WINNING candidates, hire a guy who has NEVER...I said NEVER had a winning season....got FIRED from his last job, Lied about a "mythical city championship" and get outscored 184-14. Yes...Raul...your plan is working PERFECTLY! Raul doen't have to answer to me BUT he SHOULD answer to all the boys, parents, and fans who deserve better. Maybe your one of those parents who wouldn't let your kid play in the Ft. Meade game??? What a shame when losing and political crap is acceptable with the LORD's name on it...SICKENING!!!

[Juan "Am I a sexy beast next to Sarah?" McCain]

Hey Steven, lighten up on NCS. This week they only were outscored by one point! Maybe they should cancel all the games then brag that they were only one point away in the rest!

steven, are you actually dumb enough to believe what your saying is true? its entertaining to sit a watch you ramble about whatever ur trying to say. ur sitting here blabbering on about all this drama that doesn't exist.. if tony dungy would have come to coach at northside the team wouldn't be much better. thats what happens at small private schools, one year you might have a great team and the next you might suck. sometimes you just dont have the talent to win a lot of games, thats all. its not because of the coach, AD, or whoever. it doesn't even matter what school it is the same thing happens to all of them. so take a chill pill

[Steven]

12:30AM First off Tony Dungy would not have been hired...he's a WINNING coach. Secondly, Yes I know that from year to year the dynamics of your team changes. That being said...this whole mess was a BLUNDER from the outset. In fact NCS lost two good starters for they way they treated Dare! NCS actually advertised on FHSAA web-site before they fired Dare. Please keep in mind that this is a "Christian" organization! Then, they gave the media, students, and parents the "silent" trearment about the whole ordeal. Thirdly, the REALLY blunder the hire! I know at least two of the other candidates...and one personally. Now Dobson doen't give his defensive coaches the time of day and thinks there is nothing "special" about special teams. Dobson lets kids skip practice and even games as I'm told from inside sources. What about this new $1500 (customized by Hernandez) bye week? Well the boys were given numerous days off and pretty much went through 45 min walk-throughs. You mean at 0-4 and being outscored 184-14 they have nothing they improve on? It's one thing when do the little things well (discipline, fundamentals and techniques) and getting your butt kicked because your young and inexperienced....but this is NOT the case with Dobson! True the boys are young and they're going to take their lumps...but Dobson is clueless! I don't know about you but I want my son to be apart of a REAL football program...not some little-league-give-the-boys-something-to-do crap. So... to answer your question...YES I believe all this "stuff" because I know its true! You however need to get your head out of the sand and quit drinking "koolaide" made by Dobson, Hernandez, and the rest of the incompetent administration!

[Chad Rose]

Wow. Not surprised in the least bit about the outcome of this season so far. I'm just sorry that my cousin Will had to be a part of a team that is not only lacking a coach but are also lacking the great spiritual leadership and character building that coach Dare provided for Northside. Hang in there guys. This season may be tough but look toward the future and use these tough times as a motivation to work hard and become better for the seasons to follow. As for Dobson and Hernandez you knew what you were going to face after such a controversial decision was made. Rise to the occasion. God bless Northside.

Thanks for the insight Chad. Oh by they way, why did YOU quit on Coach Dare (and your teammated) last year? Sorry, that fact gives you NO credibility in the eyes of those who know what happened.

Steven, there are some teams out there looking for coaches this off-season. I hope you apply, as you are obviously the most qualified football (and probably sports) personality in the Bay area.

by whose standard was this a good coaching change? by what standard was this a good coaching change? I thought by reading the earlier post that the principal was the bad guy (girl) here?

[Steven]

9:36...You have no idea!

no actually its just you. i played with chad. and what he says is true. his better sport was weight lifting and he chose to focus on that and try and win a state title.. that's the problem with the football team, it has basketball players, weightlifters, baseball players, wrestlers, soccer players etc all having to come out and play football because there are very few true football players in a school of roughly 300 students. so those players (chad) who play, but are better at other sports get criticized(by you 9:34) for not always putting football first, and focusing on the sport they are best at.(and probably like more than football) so get real. football is by far not the biggest or best sport at northside.. so if football is your true passion, then you should either do what you can to make it better, or go somewhere else where football is king.

10:35 You are absolutely correct...Thanks to Raul Hernandez and the rest of the incompetent administration...football is not only no longer king...it a DOORMAT!

it never was king. football is a popular sport but its definitely not the biggest at northside. technically girls golf is the best(most successful) sport at northside. when has football ever gone far in the playoffs? last year was considered a good year and that team didn't even make the playoffs. so how can you say that football is a bigger sport than say softball, volleyball, baseball, or girls golf who all actually have a chance of winning a state title? or are you like Seminole baseball who likes to have a great regular season only to get knocked out the first playoff game they play? how is that seen as success?

Here is the solution to the NSC athletic problems, just do what the baseball team did a few years back. Hand out free scholarships to talanted people who can play football. Ta daa, problem solved.

[PrepObserver]

You guys know Fort Walton Beach wins by forfeit? Don't you? 0-5!

wrong. the game was canceled. not forfeit. idiot.

[forfeit loss]

http://sports.fhsaa.org/fb/results.php?date=10/3/08

[Sunshine]

Unfortunately for our Mustangs, it is a forfeit loss. But again, it is only a 1-0 loss! That is the best defensive performance of the year.

[Steven]

6:33....Now who's the idiot??!!!!

Funny how Steven is so much against this game, as many people were back in the spring, so they cancel it and now he and several others are mad about cancelling it too (just because it's a forfeit)???? If they had played you probably would have complained about that too. It's not like another loss is gonna hurt their record is it? If your gonna complain, find something good to complain about, like play calling or reffing, but not something they did positive and make it a negative. Sheesh

Funny how 3:17 brings up a "solution" but who was AD in those days? Hmmmm.....it was Steven's hero. Oh, and Juan's too. HA, ironic isn't it.

[Phil]

10:54 AM, what cool-aide you been drinkin? Football has never been king at NCS. Matter of fact, the closest thing to a king they had was when girls sports ruled the roost back in the 90's. And maybe baseball in the early 00's. Football has only had 1 final 4 appearance (compare that to basketball and baseball) and that was WAY before coach Dare. Now I am curious, how did you come up with that King idea????

[Steven]

First off I was not for the game. Under the circumstances it should have NEVER been scheduled. 11:56 you need to re-read (if you can read to start with) my past post. I said "it was a logical move on their part"...that IS NOT a criticsm! The whole fiasco from that handling of the whole Dare deal, hiring of Dobson, to the scheduling of this game show incompetence of the powers that be. Maybe you're OK with that...but someone who pays tuition and claims to be a Christian shouldn't be...someone needs to wake up!

[Steven]

Bob Dare is not my hero...he's just a good football coach who put in 20 plus years at a institution who handled his dimissal in the most illogical, Un-Christian way I've ever seen! NCS had every right to make a change...it's the WAY they did it that STINKS!

[Former NCS parent]

I can't believe that we're still at this. Stop running your mouths and let the healing process being.

BTW - We didn't leave NCS over football, don't want anyone to get the wrong impression.

[Juan "But I am a Maverick!" McCain]

Speaking for myself, Bob Dare is not my "hero" or "idol". I don't even think of him as a great football coach, rather competent. BUT, I will say that the players respected him greatly and he put a quality product on the field for NCS for many years. I am appauled at how the school handled his release. It is embarrassing for everyone involved.

Steven's point was clear to me and I think the same as he, that the cancelling of the game was smart. It is the scheduling of the game against Fort Walton that should have NEVER been considered let alone contracted! It was not Dare that scheduled that game.

Furthermore, healing can't begin at the school because now we have a coach that is just not good. And I will not stop running my mouth nor should anyone else!

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil (or in this case, incompetence) is that good men do nothing.

- Adapted from Edmund Burke

11:58 You have no clue about what happened with the baseball mess. It was NOT Dare's doing, it was the doing of the Headmaster and finance people at the time! Info that Dare was not privy to....so, nice try. I was a baseball parent at the time and Coach Dare was falsely blamed for that because he was the AD.

As far as the comment about "no one knows who the assistant coaches are at Seminole", you are wrong! My son is coached by Coach Dare and he loves him and is learning so much from him football-wise and otherwise!!!

[bobbyd]

As a coach w/ 13+ yrs. exp. it astounds me how many sideline experts feel the need to critisize coaches. I understand all to well how difficult it is to watch your children be led or coached by someone you feel not up to the task.I am in no way affiliated w/ NCS but have several friends there. I agree that the Bob Dare situation was appauling but to attack your head coach as you are doing is just as appauling. If you are REALLY committed, SHUT UP AND COACH!! If you can't do that,go to the mirror make all the excuses can,justify to the reflection why you can't or won't coach, then shut up and try to find a way to be a positive voice and help fix the situation.

[Juan McCain]

Hey BobbyD, what if some of the comments are from a coach or even coaches? I'm not sure if your 13+ years of coaching little league counts but you mght want to hold your own judgement on the comments of those on the blog. I know for a fact that there is a lot of football coaching knowledge floating around on here and some of it inside info.

It seems obvious that there is still open wounds at NCS since no real action was taken against those that created the injury (mis-actions). An acknowledgment and apology from the administration would have sufficed but rather they chose to hide behind "God's will".

[Soon to be Ex-Northside Family]

It is sickening to hear existing Northside coaches and whomever who are blogging on hear in defense of the despicable actions that were done to Coach Dare and his family. Just shows that they must have had a hand in this evil deed. To criticize Bob Dare the man is downright sickening and so against the ways of Scripture--but guess that doesn't matter at Northside anymore from what we can tell.

Mary Brandes will NEVER admit that she is wrong!! And she is the engineer of all of what has happened! SHame, shame on her and all of those who don't hold her accountable!

Dear Jaun:
I apologize for the typo, my experience is 23+ yeats at the college/ high school level. As for your question about "coaches" , if you are on staff at NCS then you are obviously part of the problem, if not, why were YOU not hired for the HEAD coaching job? My point is, stop the negative and focus your obvious passions toward helping, get on the field and lead by example>

[Friend of Juan]

I really wasn't going to beat this "dead horse...err Mustang" but the last comments by BobbyD and 7:17pm who I think are the same person..I just can't help it. First off I love how you gained 10 years experience then claimed it was a typo...Thats brilliant! It almost as creative as Dobson did when he claimed his mythical "city championship" on his resume. Getting back to coaching...hypothetically we have two proven winning coaches both from Christian school backgrounds with strong Christian values. One has over 14 years experience with close to a 70% winning percentage. The other a near 60% winning percentage with 7 years experience. There are numerous playoff appearances and district titles between them. Instead however the AD picks a guy who has a 12-17-1 record, was FIRED from his last job and NEVER had a winning season. What makes you show sure Juan, Lombardi or Tony Dungy or ANY WINNER would have been hired? Even though this is hypothetical...it's more true than not. Your argument is non-valid...NCS had their chance to hire a winner and save face....from several candidates and BLEW IT!...now the kids are suffering from this political cutthroat fiasco that started from the first day they hired Hernandez. I suppose losing while not teaching fundamentals, techniques, and discipline are ok...if you have the experience you claim...I highly doubt it!

seriously? i thought we covered all this over the summer.

we did... people keep making stupid statements that keep this thing going. NCS keeps making blunders that also add fuel to this fire!

Well, that's what happens when people treat people wrong and do not make any effort at all to correct it. And it is pretty sad that Raul Hernandez is not man enough to admit on this blog (and we all know that he is writing on it!) that he is the one who scheduled that football game, not Coach Dare! Just own up to it! Things would be a lot different if Coach Dare was still there with his young assistants who knew football and were good Christian examples to the players! They would learn how to be men, even if they didn't win too many games. Not what they have now! But that is not a priority at Northside anymore. Sad, very sad!

[??]

October 06 @ 3:09. Who ever you are. You are saidly mistaken if you you think that Bob Dare is not to blame for not being aware of a athletes financial situation and how it is being paid. That's why he was let go the first time, because of his blind ignorance. Bob Dare is probably a great guy but he dropped the ball as a AD.

[Reality check]

Big game this weekend Farragut vs. Northside..two perenial losers fighting it out to see who is the worst in 1A in Pinellas County. If NCS loses...they will be looking at 0-9...or 0-10. Wow! how 1 year changes things!

Too bad NC didn't schedule Canterbury-they did the same thing-scheduled a bigger school and then had to cancel

[M15]

Still hiding behing the "Juan" pseudonym Pastor Cole? About time to give that one up.

You've got to be kidding me, M15!! You obviously don't know Pastor Cole! He would NEVER lower himself to write on this blog!

you would be surprised to who exactly is on this blog. people with good reputations can get away with typing crap on here because its anonymous. and then people say "well this person would NEVER do or say that". well guess what they just did.

7:58-can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not. If not, then you missed a whole line of blogging back in the Spring

[Steven]

Just because someone chooses to remain anonymous does not mean what they say doesn't have credibility. Truth is truth no matter who says it. Trouble with some people on this blog is...like Jack Nicholson said in a Few Good Men... "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

Ahhh yes. The truth. Cool thing about these blogs-you can write whatever you want and tell people it's the Gospel truth, and they are none the wiser! BTW-did you know the moon walk was filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood? I know because a guy I know, talked to someone who was there!

The proof is in the pudding...and NCS's pudding has mold in it!

[Good Quote. Bad Application]

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.

Notice how the qoute says that good men should "do" something. It doesn't say "say" something, or in this case "type" something. Action is required of good men!