Northwestern players were reminded all week about how they let the team's Miami-Dade County-record winning streak end.

For one half of football Friday night, the Bulls appeared to be in danger of losing a lot more against Hialeah.

But led by sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who broke a single-game school record with 404 yards passing, Northwestern scored 29 unanswered points to beat the Thoroughbreds 50-22 and secure a playoff berth in District 13-6A.

Northwestern (8-1, 4-1) will advance to the playoffs for the 17th consecutive season, which is the third-longest active streak in the state behind St. Thomas Aquinas and Monsignor Pace, each of which have clinched an 18th consecutive trip this season.

The Bulls, ranked No. 8 in The Miami Herald's South Florida Top 20 poll, will play Columbus in the first round of the playoffs in two weeks. Columbus (7-0) is the only remaining undefeated team in Dade.

''We had a great week of practice,'' Northwestern coach Billy Rolle said. ``I don't know why we came out so flat because I thought the kids put the loss behind them pretty quick. The bottom line was we had to win to make the playoffs.''

With two of the team's running backs, Corvin Lamb and Daquan Hargrett, suffering ankle injuries, Northwestern went to a more pass-oriented approach Friday.

Bridgewater made the change smooth, and gave the Bulls a reason to be optimistic about their future at the quarterback position. Bridgewater completed 24 of 30 passes and threw four touchdown passes. The yardage record broke the previous mark of 342 yards set by University of Miami freshman Jacory Harris, who holds every major Dade career and single-season passing record and led the Bulls to 30 consecutive wins, two state titles and a mythical national title the past two seasons. Harris, who was in attendance, joked with Bridgewater during the game's final moments.

''Slow down, Teddy,'' said Harris, who was on the sideline.

Once Hialeah took a 22-21 lead with 6:02 remaining in the third quarter on a Troy Laster 5-yard touchdown run, Bridgewater refused to hit the brakes.

He threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to his favorite target of the night, Michaelee Harris, to give Northwestern the lead again. Bridgewater ran in the two-point conversion. Harris finished with nine catches for 164 yards.

Bridgewater threw two more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to senior Wayne Times to put the game away. Times caught three touchdown passes and finished with six catches for 108 yards.

Hargrett scored a 9-yard touchdown in the first quarter to put Northwestern ahead 13-7, but left the game after only three carries with a left ankle injury. Lamb did not play after spraining his right ankle against Central last week. Senior Tyresse Jones picked up the slack in the running game with a pair of touchdown runs.

''I wasn't thinking about the yards because we needed the victory to be able to get to the playoffs,'' Bridgewater said. ``It was a tough week, but we worked hard and we executed and that's all that matters.''

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