Florida High School Football’s first Class 6A state poll includes four teams on Navarre High School’s schedule, two in its district.

The Pace Patriots, who finished 10-3 in 2011, received 29 points to rank 10^th in the preseason ballot. Pace, a District 1-6A powerhouse, hosts Navarre Sept. 14.

No. 11 Niceville won just six games in 2011 but pollsters awarded the Eagles 23 points, 11^th best in the state. Niceville visits Navarre Sept. 21 in a District 2-6A clash.

Pensacola (six votes) and Crestview (one vote) also received consideration. The defending District 1-6A champion Tigers host Navarre on Sept. 7 and the Raiders host their district rival Bulldogs Oct. 19.

Miami Central and Seffner Armwood, both of which were forced to forfeit all of their 2011 wins for violating Florida High School Athletics Associations rules, received 106 and 98 points, respectively. Central received seven of the nine first-place votes and Armwood received the leftovers.

The FHSAA ruled that both teams – which met in the Class 6A title game – used ineligible players in 2011 and that 2010 state runner-up Armwood used ineligible players in 2010. Central forfeited 14 wins and Armwood lost 15 victories from 2011 and 14 from 2010.

Below is the first Florida High School Football Class 6A poll:

 Rank  Team                                 2011 Record        Points     Previous

1          Miami Central (7)                     0-14*               106      ---

2          Seffner Armwood (2)             0-15*                98        ---

3          Gainesville                             11-2**                 65        ---

T4        Daytona Beach Mainland       12-2                   54        ---

T4        Lake City Columbia                   8-4                   54        ---

T6        Miami Northwestern                 8-2**                36        ---

T6        St. Johns Bartram Trail          13-1**                36        ---

8          Naples                                    10-3                  34        ---

9          Winter Haven                         11-1                   30        ---

10        Pace                                       10-3                  29        ---

11        Niceville                                    6-5                  23        ---

T12      Lakeland Lake Gibson             9-3                  20        ---

T12      Tampa Sickles                         8-2**               20        ---

* Forfeited entire 2011 season
** Includes victories from forfeits

Other Teams Receiving Votes:

Tampa Hillsborough (19), Largo (16), St. Augustine (15), Miami Belen Jesuit (11), South Fort Myers (8), Brooksville Hernando (6), Pensacola (6), Naples Barron Collier (5), Land O'Lakes Sunlake (3), Orange Park Ridgeview (3), Cape Coral Island Coast (2), Fort Myers (2), Crestview (1).

Billy Hamilton wasn’t alive in 1983 when English New Wave/pop music band Kajagoogoo released its most successful single, “Too Shy,” but it’s appropriate for tonight’s baseball doubleheader at Community Maritime Park. Hamilton, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ fleet-footed shortstop, is two stolen bases shy of Vince Coleman’s Minor League Baseball record of 145 set, coincidentally, in 1983.

Hamilton could set the mark tonight when, weather permitting, the Blue Wahoos host two seven-inning games against the Montgomery Biscuits. The first contest is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.

The twin-bill is necessary because Monday’s game was rained out.

Jeff Demps reportedly will play football for the New England Patriots.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported earlier today that one of Demps’ agents, Nohemy Baltodano, confirmed that the former University of Florida football and track star will sign a contract with the Patriots.

Terms of the deal were not available.

Demps earned a silver medal at the recently completed London Olympics as a member of Team USA's 4 x 100-meter relay team that finished second to Jamaica. He said in January that he would give up football to focus on track, but after the Olympics his agent announced he wanted to play in the NFL.

Demps rushed for 2,470 yards and scored 23 touchdowns in his career with the Gators.

Rapoport’s reported that the Buccaneers and Jets also were interested in signing Demps.

From Sooner Report at www.soonersports.com

As former Niceville High School running back Roy Finch has worked from the slot position during the University of Oklahoma football team’s preseason camp, he's had to literally think outside the box.

"There's more opportunities at the slot where you get the ball in your hands and there's one guy around you," Finch said. "Everybody else is spread out maybe 10 or 15 yards away from you. At running back, it's more everything is in a closed box. You have to work your way through. It's been fun. I've been working hard and trying to make plays."

Finch recorded 44 receptions for 345 yards out of the backfield in his first two years at OU, but is ready to make those plays in a different area.

"You can watch a lot of film, but until you actually get out there and do it yourself, it's a different speed and you have to work," Finch said. "You have to really think out there on the field in the slot. I've been trying to just do the best that I can out there and just play ball."

OU co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell is excited about the qualities that Finch brings to the wide receiving corps.

"He's worked in there and he's done a good job," Norvell said. "He's still learning a lot. It's a lot different playing out on the perimeter than it is playing out of the backfield. But he has athletic ability, quickness and explosiveness. Those are all important things that we want to play at the receiver position.”