Miramar's Patriots, the team that danced through the playoffs, waltzing with the clock, breathing new life into its season every week with one improbable, memorable comeback after another finally did something no one at the school believed would happen.

They ran out of time.

''I never thought this would happen to us,'' said Orwin Etkins, choking through tears after Miramar fell to Northwestern 42-23 in the state semifinals at Lockhart Stadium, where more than 14,000 showed up to see the kids from Miracle-mar face the dynasty.

It was all dynasty.

It ended for Miramar (11-3) on a cold, blustery night when every wind seemed to blow against the comeback kids, who opened the game with back-to-back penalties, a sack and a blocked punt for a safety and ended it on a final last-ditch drive that was meaningless.

For the record, Eugene Smith's final pass of his high school career sailed high and incomplete into the end zone, just past Terrance Gourdine, who started the miracle run last month when he grabbed a tipped pass in the end zone to beat Carol City 28-26 with 12 seconds left. Smith beat Cypress Bay the next week with a TD pass with three seconds left, and kept the miracle-run alive last week with a TD with 3:57 left to beat Deerfield Beach 34-30.

But he couldn't pull off another miracle.

''I will never forget this run,'' said Smith, one of the top five QB in the nation. ``I'll be looking at this four or five years from now when I'm in the NFL. Thi s run we had will always have a special value for all of us.

''We just made too many mistakes, and they do a great job at Northwestern. That's a great team,'' he said.

But by the time Miramar staged its last drive Friday, Northwestern had already run away with the game and was off and running toward Orlando -- the first team from Miami to go to three consecutive state title games. The defending national champs (13-1) haven't lost in the playoffs since 2005 and have won 43 of their last 44.

''You can't make mistakes against a team like that,'' Miramar coach Damon Cogdell said. ``We did from the start of the game. And once they got the lead they just run the clock out on us. We just couldn't stop the run.''

Northwestern found a way to stop Smith by smothering him when he was on the field (6 sacks) and doing what few teams have been able to do: Keep him off the field.

Northwestern's ground game ate up the clock -- the one that had been Miramar's ally and friend for weeks. The Patriots ran only 22 plays in the first half, and Smith went to halftime with just 50 yards in the air, trailing 30-7.

This is the same quarterback who completed 44 of 61 passes for 696 yards and eight TDs in the previous two playoff games. Stedman Bailey, who had made 26 catches for 430 yards in three playoff games, caught just five passes for 69 yards Friday.

Smith didn't throw a TD all night, and finished with 200 yards in the air. Miramar scored all three TDs on runs by Orwin Etkins, who ran for a 9-yard TD in the first quarter and ran for a 5-yard TD with 3:35 left in the third and had a 2 yard TD with 3:50 left in the game.

''I'm devastated,'' said Etkins, who left the field in tears. ``We just made too many mistakes, too many mistakes.''

Etkins' two-point run closed it to 36-15, and the 21-point deficit had them believing in another comeback on the Miramar sideline.

But Northwestern hung on to a high-bouncing onside kick and Tyreese Jones broke free for a 48-yard TD run that lifted the Bulls to a 42-15 lead with 4:12 left.

The West just pounded the Pats and the clock all night. Jones (116 yards and 3 TD runs) and DaQuan Hargrett (106 yards and 1 TD run) both had 100-yard nights. Northwestern scored early and often in the first half as sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater completed 7 of 7 for 99 yards and a TD to lift the Bulls. He finished 8 of 10 for 104 yards.

''We made history at Miramar,'' said Cogdell, who led Miramar to its first state semifinal. ``I'm proud to be a part of this, especially because I'm a Miramar grad. It was special. It was a run we will never forget.''

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