This year, like any other year, it looms for Glades Central: The Muck Bowl, the annual high-stakes showdown against rival Pahokee.

But there's another way the Raiders will challenge their nearby nemesis: On the college recruiting front. As in, which school will send more players to the next level?

The answer, so far: It's too close to call.

Pahokee's prospects look impressive -- it already has one marquee verbal commitment (University of Florida-bound wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson), along with five other Blue Devils ranked in recruiting analyst Larry Blustein's Palm Beach County top 25. Also, coach Blaze Thompson sees a few others landing at four-year colleges on football scholarships.

Glades Central appears just as good, if not better.

First, there is the Raiders' own top-shelf early commitment: Six-foot, four-inch, 290-pound offensive lineman Henry Orelus, who picked LSU on Signing Day 2008, ''so I can get all the headache out [of] the way,'' Orelus said.

Despite not taking any official visits to Baton Rouge, La. -- that's coming this fall, Orelus said, on Oct. 5 when LSU plays Georgia -- Orelus picked the Tigers over offers from University of Miami, Florida State and West Virginia because he likes the defending national champion's ``winning atmosphere.''

There, the ''very athletic'' (as described by Glades Central coach Jessie Hester) lineman expects to play center for coach Les Miles, although Hester believes Orelus is capable of playing anywhere on the offensive line, or even switching to the defensive side.

Orelus isn't the only potentially college-bound Raider.

Blustein ranks seven Glades Central players in his Palm Beach County top 25, including Orelus' fellow lineman Rupert Bryan (21st in Blustein's rankings), who won the offensive lineman MVP award at an April Nike camp in Miami and is drawing interest from a few schools -- an offer from Florida International, heavy looks from Central Florida, and even Louisville is ''starting to get into the mix,'' Bryan said.

That camp showed the undersized (6-2, 255 pounds) Bryan's determination - ''I was the smallest offensive lineman out there,'' he said. But Hester believes Bryan's future might be on defense.

''At the next level, he's no doubt going to be a great help to somebody's defensive front,'' Hester said of Ryan, whose athleticism allows him to run a 40-yard dash in less than five seconds.

Speaking of undersized, there's running back Antonio McCloude (25th), a 5-6, 160-pound scatback who Hester calls ''cat-quick'' -- he runs a 4.54 40-yard dash, but Hester says McCloude is quicker than he is fast -- and who has a solid offer from Ball State to go along with interest from schools such as UM, UF, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Another skill player getting consideration is Rantavious Wooten (seventh), a speedy, 5-10, 160-pound wide receiver who Hester said ''does it all''. It showed in his numbers last year, when he recorded 25 catches for 457 yards, along with 446 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns.

''He blocks for you,'' said Hester of Wooten. Hester listed Georgia, Syracuse, Rutgers, North Carolina State and most of the Florida schools as having interest in Wooten. ``He can take the little slant route. There's not a route he [doesn't] like.''

The Raiders also feature two linebackers who appear to be college safeties: Robert Ferguson (15th) and Samuel Brown (18th). Neither has received a glut of offers, but both are getting plenty of looks from colleges after productive 2007 seasons (Ferguson had 100 tackles -- 17 for loss -- and eight sacks; Brown had 62 tackles, including six for a loss).

That seems to be a theme, Hester said: Players who haven't quite won over college scouts just yet, but look to get offers as the season progresses.

Others among them include strong-armed 6-1 quarterback Kentavious McCoy (22nd), who missed a good part of the spring, which Hester said kept his signal caller from receiving a lot of interest despite last year's 19-touchdown, nine-interception campaign.

Hester says that attention will come, ``once he gets back in the flow of things.''

Then there's Ar'tavious Dowdell, an undersized (6-0, 200 pounds) but productive (102 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 12 sacks last year) defensive end/linebacker hybrid who might have to fall back to full-time linebacker to gain serious interest. Others include receiver James West, safety Byron Blake, offensive lineman Jim Knowles, linebacker/defensive lineman Emmanuel Rackard and receiver John Earley -- all of whom Hester sees as potential Division-I or Division-II prospects, some even high Division I-A, depending on what happens in the fall.

One thing's for sure, to McCloude: ''It's just hidden talent everywhere on our team,'' he said. ``No one knows nothing about our team. They just know about the key players. There's more hidden talent that no one knows of. It's just waiting to be shown.''

If it does, the college battle with Pahokee looks to go right down to Signing Day 2009.

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