The high school playoffs are here — and big first-round matchups loom in South Florida

At long last. After 11 weeks of regular-season play and a whole bunch of numbers-crunching and coaches learning to be mathematicians, the FHSAA let every high school football team in the state know on Sunday if they were in or out when it came to the state playoffs.

Before the state went to its points system a year ago, the first round used to be more or less a yawner as most games were mismatches followed by a much more interesting second round where so many rematches would take place.

And while there are still plenty of anticipated lopsided games this weekend in Dade and Broward County, there will also be some interesting matchups that have upset potential or at the very least could be competitive.

Miramar/Deerfield Beach, Piper/Plantation, Palmetto/Belen, Ft. Lauderdale/Doral, and Palmer Trinity/Westminster Christian are a few that come to mind. And of course, the most interesting matchup of the weekend might be Coral Gables/Columbus, take two.

Just two weeks after the teams met to determine a District 14-8A champion (Columbus winning 36-21), they will meet again Friday at Tropical with the Cavaliers clearly in the role of spoiler/underdog.

And we certainly can’t forget the “BIG TWO.” Carol City will host Norland at Traz while Central will travel to Ft. Lauderdale to take on Dillard and, barring any kind of shocking upset, the stage will be set Central/Carol City II one week from Friday.

As far as how I did in this my first season of prognosticating high school football games? If nobody minds me tooting my horn for a second, pretty darn good. I picked exactly 500 games and finished 407-93 which comes out to a winning percentage of 81.4. I also had a separate category, keeping track of my mark with teams in the Top 20 each week and finished a nifty 141-22. Hope I made my predecessor Andre Fernandez proud which I think I did.

Final top 20

No. 1 Carol City (8-2) vs. Norland (4-6), Friday, 7:30 at Traz Powell: Norland barely squeezed into the top eight over the weekend and the Vikings will certainly show up and not back down to the loaded Chiefs. But even if Carol City perhaps is sneaking a peek ahead to a possible Central rematch next week, there’s just no way Norland has the horses to pull this off. BD’s Pick: Carol City 37-14

No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (9-1) vs. South Miami (8-2), Friday, 7:30: Rick Munne did a nice job getting Cobras to playoffs for the second straight year but they are no match for the Raiders as a 56-0 loss to Aquinas in last year’s first round could easily be repeated. BD’s Pick: Aquinas 49-7

No. 3 Central (8-2) at No. 14 Dillard (8-2), Friday, 7:30: After an 0-2 start, Dillard has put together a nice season but this one will clearly be a major step up in competition for the Panthers. BD’s Pick: Central 38-12

No. 4 Deerfield Beach (9-1) vs. Miramar (6-4), Friday, 7:30: A tricky first round draw for the Bucks who need to take this one seriously as Miramar was No. 1 seed a year ago and wound up getting stunned in the first round. Deerfield coach Jevon Glenn likely will remind his players of that. BD’s Pick: Deerfield Beach 33-14

No. 5 Columbus (10-0) vs. Coral Gables (6-4), Friday, 7:30 at Tropical: Again, another No. 1 seed in the Explorers who need to pay attention and not take their district rivals lightly just because they are a No. 8 seed. BD’s Pick: Columbus 30-13

No. 6 Chaminade-Madonna (8-2): First-round bye

No. 7 Cardinal Gibbons (8-2) vs. Merritt Island (5-5), Friday, 7:30: Chiefs have worked too hard to get where they’re at to slip up in the first round. BD’s Pick: Gibbons 37-17

No. 8 Plantation American Heritage (8-1) at Fort Pierce Westwood (5-5), Friday, 7:30: A rare first round road game for the Patriots who did not win their district for the first time in ages. BD’s Pick: Heritage 44-13.

No. 9 Southridge (8-2) vs. North Miami (6-4), Friday, 7:30: A rematch from a game early in the season that the Ridge only won by nine points but Spartans are a much different team now. BD’s Pick: Southridge 34-9

No. 10 Palmetto (9-1) vs. No. 20 Belen Jesuit (8-2), Thursday, 7 p.m. at Tropical: I got to see Belen for the first time last week and the Wolverines looked awfully impressive dismantling rival Pace so the Panthers would be foolish to think they are going to coast in this one. BD’s Pick: Palmetto 24-17

No. 11 University School (9-1): First-round bye

No. 12 South Dade (8-2) vs. No. 15 Hialeah (9-1), Friday, 7:30 at Milander: Even though the Bucs are more battle-tested coming from tough District 16, new T-Breds head coach Gary Sanchez has done a nice job with this team. Look for Hialeah to compete. BD’s Pick: South Dade 30-21

No. 13 Plantation (9-1) vs. Piper (6-4), Friday, 7:30 at PAL Field: Bengals are no pushover here as Plantation could be challenged but look for Colonels to advance. BD’s Pick: Plantation 27-20

No. 16 Northwestern (5-5) at Daytona Beach Mainland (7-3), Friday, 7:30: The Bulls drew the short straw in the seeding pool and have to make the long trip north. NW offense has struggled this year and will have to show up and battle what could turn out to be a potentially tough road game. BD’s Pick: Northwestern 26-21

No. 17 McArthur (9-1) vs. Palm Beach Lakes, Friday, 7:30: Mustangs suffered first loss last week to Gibbons but should be able to get out of the first round. BD’s Pick: McArthur 23-16

No. 18 Booker T. Washington (5-5): First round bye

No. 19 Western (8-2) at Delray Beach Atlantic (10-0), Friday, 7:30: The Wildcats caught everyone by surprise with a Cinderella run through the playoffs a year ago but Atlantic is a tough first round draw. BD’s Pick: Atlantic 31-20

More playoff games

West Broward (7-3) at Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer (9-1), Friday, 7:30: BD’s Pick: Dwyer 34-10

Fort Lauderdale at Doral Academy, Friday, 7:30: BD’s Pick: Doral 21-20

Coconut Creek (6-4) at Rockledge (9-1), Friday, 7:30: BD’s Pick: Rockledge 33-13

Gulliver Prep. (7-3) at Monsignor Pace (5-5), Friday, 7:30: BD’s Pick: Gulliver 24-20

Coral Springs Charter (7-1) at Belle Glade Glades Central (7-3), Friday, 7:30: BD’s Pick: Glades Central 35-16

Calvary Christian (5-5) at Delray American Heritage (7-3), Friday, 7:30: BD’s Pick: Heritage 31-14

Palmer Trinity (7-2) at Westminster Christian (9-1), Friday, 3 p.m.: BD’s Pick: Westminster 20-17

Champagnat Catholic (5-5) vs. Miami Christian (7-1), Thursday, 7 p.m. at Southridge: BD’s Pick: Miami Christian 27-16

Last week overall: 34-6; Season overall: 407-93; Last week top 20: 11-2; Season top 20: 141-22

Bill Daley can be reached at billd@curtispub.net. Follow him on Twitter: @Billykid11