Will anybody be home Friday night?

Will the last person to leave Bradenton Friday night please turn off the lights?

OK, not everybody is going to the Citrus Bowl for Manatee High School's Class 5A state championship showdown with Tampa Plant.

But it sure seems like it.

Judging by conversations I've had since last Friday night's stirring 28-20 state semifinal victory over No. 1 ranked St. Thomas Aquinas, nobody wants to miss the ending of this Hurricane season.

Whether it's by bus, car pool or plane, plenty of folks are Orlando-bound.

I know I'll be there.

I was lucky enough to be along for Southeast High's 1998 run to the state final where it lost to Miami Northwestern at Florida Field my first year in Bradenton.

Yet that was before I really came to appreciate first hand the rich history -- and the heroics -- of high school football in Manatee County.

Eleven years later, I'm raring to go again.

Let's go, Canes!