The old adage that says, ''you have to know where you've been in order to know where you're going,'' seems to be applicable to Deerfield Beach's ascent back to the forefront of the 6A football playoff picture.

Especially after the Bucks avenged a regular-season loss last week -- scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half to defeat Boyd Anderson -- Deerfield (10-2) will continue to use previous shortcomings as motivation as it faces Miramar on Friday in the Region 3-6A final and tries to clinch its third state semifinal appearance in four years.

Deerfield Beach coach Art Taylor, who told his team to remain poised and show sportsmanship after the controversial ending to the first meeting with Boyd Anderson, talked about that game's lingering effects.

''Kids never forget anything,'' Taylor said. ``Especially when its something that made them feel bad, they will remember that for a long time. Our main job as coaches was to get them to harness those feelings and turn it into focus and energy for the game.''

''I could tell from the guys demeanor during [last Friday's] game that we weren't going to lose, even after we fell behind 22-20 at halftime, I knew we were in that game,'' Taylor said.

INJURY BUG

Deerfield Beach's up-and-down performances this season can most be attributed to the injuries to their frontline players along with their vital reserves.

Taylor's team had a stretch of three games -- including the regular-season game against Boyd Anderson -- in which it had to play third stringers and junior varsity players.

''I don't think any team that I've ever been a part of has ever been crippled by injuries that hard,'' Taylor said. ''We had about 10 guys all go out right around the same time. We had two linemen go down with season-ending injuries, and our starting corner was out for about a month with a foot injury.'' The most notable injury might have been Cassius McDowell's ankle injury in the Taravella game. McDowell, who had been the Bucks' leading rusher, did not return to the lineup until four weeks later.

Deerfield was able to maintain a 3-1 record during McDowell's absence, primarily because of the performances of senior quarterback Dennard Robinson and senior defensive back Donte Dotson. Robinson, who was rated as the 13th best recruit in Broward by The Miami Herald, racked up 708 yards of total offense and three touchdowns during the four games. Dotson had to play both offense and defense, filling in for McDowell, as the starting running back and cornerback.

''All of us had to do more to help the team, we had to come together,'' the 6-1, 190-pound Robinson said. ``We couldn't worry about who we didn't have and had to play with who we did have, now we've got people back so the whole team is stronger now.''

MORE MEMORIES

Friday's game against Miramar will be Deerfield's first meeting with the Patriots but it will use other losses as motivation.

The Bucks suffered a crushing 65-10 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas, the No. 1 team in the nation, and are still using the lessons learned from that game.

''The players saw what happens when they don't listen to the coaches, when they don't completely focus on the task at hand, and when they don't eliminate the little mental mistakes'' Taylor said.

If the Bucks put those lessons to use, they could advance to next Friday's state semifinal, setting up a potential rematch with defending 6A champion Miami Northwestern.

How much does Deerfield Beach think about a rematch with the Bulls?

'Every Thursday we wear shirts that say, `1-yard -- 99-yards, remember,' '' Robinson said, referring to last year's state semifinal in which the Bucks failed to score from the 1-yard line, which set up Northwestern's 99-yard game-winning drive.

''We aren't, by any means, looking past Miramar,'' Taylor said. ``But we would love to get back to the state semis and have the chance to play Northwestern again and avenge that loss.''

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