On postseason bubble for a month, Lions just kept winning -- Observer Preps

The new playoff points-system the FHSAA installed this season has led to no small amount of uncertainty about how it things would play out in its debut season. That is especially so for a team such as Foundation Academy, which competes in Class 2A, where the district structure was completely eliminated in favor of all playoff spots being awarded at-large by the new system.

There's one thing that there was no uncertainty about, though —after an Oct. 6 loss to Seven Rivers Christian, which dropped the Lions to 2-3 at the time, coach Brad Lord's team would face must-win games for the rest of the season.

Foundation Academy responded by rattling off five consecutive wins to end the regular season. And, while their fate on the playoff bubble in Class 2A will not be announced until Sunday morning, the veteran coach can't help but be pleased with how his team responded to some adversity.

"It became a playoff game every week," Lord said. "When we lost that game to Seven Rivers, we said we had to run the table — and we did."

Most recently, the Lions (7-3) defeated Seffner Christian 40-21 last night in their regular-season finale.

Before that, though, Foundation knocked off an opponent from Class 5A for the first time — rallying to defeat Poinciana 22-21 October 27. The other three wins came against North Florida Education Institute (29-8; Oct. 13), Carrollwood Day (28-22; Oct. 16) and Bishop McLaughlin (35-7; Oct. 20).

The announcement of the FHSAA Football Playoff brackets is scheduled for Nov. 5 at 11 a.m., via a web show.