Northwestern knew it would be tough to move the football against the best rushing defense in Miami-Dade County in a Region 4-6A quarterfinal Friday night.

The task got harder when it learned rushing leader Daquan Hargrett would be idled by an ankle injury.

But Northwestern's defense assumed the role of run-stoppers, and persevered behind a prolific passing attack.

In what was widely regarded as the top first-round playoff game in the state, Northwestern eliminated previously undefeated Columbus 21-6 in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 at FIU Stadium.

Northwestern (10-1) ousted Columbus (9-1), which entered ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 6A, from the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Northwestern, the two-time defending state champion, advances to play rival Central at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Traz Powell Stadium or Dolphin Stadium.

''The kids persevered even with one of our best players out,'' Northwestern coach Billy Rolle said. ``We felt like we needed to spread them out with our quarterback. We did a great job of reading the defense and finding our receivers.''

The quarterback was sophomore Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 13 of 23 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Michaelee Harris caught the first two scores on passes of 7 and 38 yards to give Northwestern, ranked No. 5 in the state, a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. Harris finished with three catches for 70 yards. Without Hargrett, Bridgewater and seniors Tyresse Jones, Wayne Times and Israel Linder totaled 82 rushing yards for Northwestern.

Northwestern held Columbus junior running back Jakhari Gore to a season-low 48 yards on 13 carries and kept him out of the end zone.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, a helmet-to-helmet collision with a Northwestern defender put Gore on the sideline for the rest of the game. Gore was later seen walking on the sideline, and Columbus coach Chris Merritt said he might have had a mild concussion.

''We couldn't let any team or player get in our way of winning another state championship,'' junior defensive lineman Todd Chandler said. ``We keyed on [Gore] with our size and we knew we had to keep hitting him and try to take him out of the game.''

Northwestern also put constant pressure on quarterback Garrett Colao and held him to 7-of-17 passing for 98 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Trailing 13-6 to start the second half, Colao was sacked and fumbled. Northwestern linebacker Kenneth Dillard recovered at Columbus' 41-yard line.

''This week, we went over fundamentals a lot,'' Chandler said. ``We knew we had to keep the pressure and tackle well.''

Five plays later, Bridgewater connected with Lorenzo Shinholster for a 14-yard touchdown. Times appeared to be stopped near the goal line on the ensuing two-point conversion, but a face-mask penalty gave Northwestern another chance. It converted when Jones powered his way into the end zone.

Another penalty prevented Columbus from tying the score before halftime.

Senior wide receiver Gary Bush fielded a punt near his own end zone, ran toward the sideline and cut back toward the middle of the field, outrunning all of Northwestern's coverage team to the end zone for a touchdown. But the play was nullified when the referees called an illegal block.

''The whole game it seemed like we were one play or one block away,'' Merritt said. ``We wanted to get the lead early because we knew how different [Northwestern] can be when they're playing with the lead. We just couldn't get it done.''

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