This is why the Northwestern against American Heritage is the football game of the year
I’ve never been a big fan of possibly overhyping something.
But as the second half of the season unfolded, it became obvious that the two best teams in South Florida not named St. Thomas Aquinas were Northwestern and Plantation American Heritage. So how could you not fall in love with this matchup.
Like two freight trains heading into a tunnel, these two Region 4-5A powers, appropriately seeded 1-2, have been on a collision course and that collision is set for this Friday night at 7:30 in Plantation.
I reached out to both athletic directors on Tuesday, Karen Stearns at Heritage and Andre Williams at Northwestern to get the rundown on how the ticket situation will be handled.
Sadly, a lot of folks who might want to see this mega-matchup might not be able to get in as Heritage’s field only has a capacity of between 2,300 and 2,400. With the state requiring home teams to provide 40 percent of its capacity to the visiting team, roughly 900 tickets were sent to the Bulls on Tuesday while the remainder will be sold at Heritage.
Sure Traz Powell, which holds close to 8,000 would’ve worked out better or even a larger venue capacity somewhere else in Broward. But the Patriots earned that home field advantage (edging out NW in RPI points).
“My guess would be if you don’t have a pre-sale ticket, you might not be able to get in,” Stearns said.
If ever there was a “get-there-early” game, it’s this one as the Bulls and Patriots might put on quite a show.
Looking back briefly at last weekend:
All of the preseason buzz about the so-called “Region of Death” referring to Region 4-4A has played out just like we thought.
The fact that the two teams that secured byes, No. 1 Gulliver and No. 2 University School, both went down last weekend to No. 4 Booker T. and No. 3 Cardinal Gibbons, respectively, says everything you need to know about the depth of talent in this region.
I said in August you could throw those four and Carol City into a blender and anyone could come out of that region and that’s exactly the way it has played out.
As great a matchup as Northwestern and Heritage is, this one isn’t far behind.
On to this week’s action.
THURSDAY GAME
▪ Region 4-8A Final — Western (9-2) vs. Columbus (8-4), 6 p.m., Tropical: A stand-alone Thursday game figures to be a good one. Western turned in a monster effort last week, knocking off top-seeded Palmetto, even after the Wildcats had to deal with nightmare transportation issues between late busses and traffic prompting a late start to the game. Under first year coach David Dunn, the Explorers went through a midseason slump but have risen out of the ashes to play some good ball of late.
But the difference here is that Western has gone through a brutal gauntlet of South Dade and Palmetto the first two playoff rounds while Columbus had a much easier path with drop-kick wins over Gables and Miami High.
Columbus relies heavily on the county’s leading rusher Henry Parrish but if Western’s talented defense can keep him in check, the Wildcats will be in great shape to advance to a first-ever state semifinal. I think they’ll get it done. BD’s Pick: Western 20-14.
FRIDAYS GAMES
(All games 7:30)
▪ Region 3-8A Final — Deerfield Beach (9-3) at Vero Beach (12-0): It was a choppy up-and-down regular season for the Bucks but, led by running back Jaylon Knighton, Deerfield has come on strong late in the season and routed Palm Beach Central on the road last week. I don’t know much about Vero other than that the Indians seem to go undefeated every year thanks to a less-than-challenging regular-season schedule and then fade in the postseason when the competition ratchets up. History should repeat itself here. BD’s Pick: Deerfield Beach 34-21.
▪ Region 4-7A Final — Delray Beach Atlantic (8-3) at St. Thomas Aquinas (11-0): The No. 1 nationally-ranked Raiders (USA Today) have yet to be seriously challenged by anyone all season long and nothing is going to change here. Atlantic has a nice team but a lot of other St. Thomas victims have been nice this season as well only to be turned into STA road kill. Look for more of the same. BD’s Pick: Aquinas 38-13.
▪ Region 4-6A Final — Central (9-3) at Dillard (12-0): A few struggles related to some internal coaching discord at the end of the regular season appear to be behind them as the Rockets traveled to the west coast last week, and as we anticipated showed off their superior depth and talent in routing top-seeded Naples.
Eddie Frasier has done a nice job with his undefeated Dillard team this year but the Panthers haven’t faced anything close in terms of talent as to what they’re going to see Friday night. My guess is Dillard will be competitive for awhile but the Rockets should pull away. BD’s Pick: Central 35-16.
▪ Region 4-5A Final — Northwestern (10-2) at Plantation American Heritage (10-1): My winning percentage on picking games this year is better than 80 percent and will admit right up front that I have absolutely no clue who is going to win this game.
The one thing I am certain of is that a whole bunch of players on this field Friday night will likely be playing on Sundays four or five years from now. Sit back and enjoy this one (if you can get a ticket) because it’s going to be a good one. BD’s “GUESS:” Heritage 27-24.
▪ Region 4-4A Final — Booker T. Washington (10-2) at Cardinal Gibbons (10-2): Another game that I have no clue who will win. Both teams are loaded with talent and playing well.
But I watched the Tornadoes, namely their incredibly gifted quarterback Torrey Morrison, all 5-8, 140 pounds of him, do some magical things in coming from behind to beat Gulliver last week in one of the best games I’ve covered in years. The lean here is with BTW but you could flip a coin if you wanted to. BD’s Pick: Booker T. Washington 24-23.
▪ Region 4-3A Final — Chaminade-Madonna (10-2) at Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian (10-1): Coach Kirk Hoza has built a nice program up at Calvary Christian and the Eagles have had a great season, even earning the No. 1 seed and knocking off Edison last week. But, even though they have the home field this week, it will matter little as the two-time reigning state champion Lions don’t care where they play you. Whether it’s on your field, their field or even in Alaska, Chaminade knows what it’s like to play in these big games and has its eye on Tallahassee and a third straight state title. BD’s Pick: Chaminade 33-14.
▪ Region 4-2A Semifinal — Moore Haven (7-5) vs. Champagnat (8-3), Curtis Park: I know nothing about Moore Haven other than that it’s a small town on the southwest end of Lake Okeechobee and that Champagnat traveled there in this round a year ago and crushed them on their field. I’m not sure if the score will be as lopsided this time around but certainly expect the Lions to take care of their business and move on to the 2A state semifinal. BD’s Pick: Champagnat 34-12.
▪ Last weeks’ record: 10-5; postseason overall: 29-7. Season overall: 420-96.
Bill Daley can be reached at: billd@curtispub.net. Follow him on Twitter: @Billykid11
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