Champagnat and Chaminade-Madonna are vying for state titles. These are the predictions

And there you have it folks.

High school football in Miami-Dade and Broward counties stepped up last weekend and showed everybody around the state, and the nation, why more college scouts spend time mining the talent in South Florida than anywhere else.

Twice in the previous three years, Dade and Broward had sent a total of six teams to the state finals in Orlando with the most that can go being seven (8A-2A).

History was made last Friday night as seven of the eight teams vying for a spot in the state finals (Deerfield Beach and Columbus played each other) all made it through, setting a record that, unless the state goes to more classifications, will likely never be broken.

In descending 8A-2A order, Columbus, St. Thomas Aquinas, Central, Northwestern, Booker T. Washington, Chaminade-Madonna and Champagnat Catholic all punched tickets to their respective state championship games.

Under the state’s new format this year, the 4A through 8A representatives will have a week off before heading to Daytona Beach next week.

Champagnat and Chaminade-Madonna won’t get the time off and will have to trek all the way upstate to Tallahassee to play at Gene Cox Stadium this Thursday and Friday night, respectively.

In an effort to accommodate the rural schools in the 1A classification, the FHSAA split the finals up on different weekends and threw 2A and 3A in there as well.

The two wins that clearly stood out last Friday were Booker T. Washington and Central. Both headed over to the west coast and had to grind out down-to-the-wire nailbiting wins over two really good teams, St. Pete Lakewood and Palmetto, respectively.

After the first round, neither team ever played on its home field again. Yet, there were the Rockets and Tornadoes just tearing through the competition on the road. Not only does that require physical toughness but mental as well.

Perhaps BTW associate head coach Ben Hanks said it best after his team’s win over Lakewood last Friday night when he said: “From the environment that our kids come from, they always seem to handle adversity. We understand that the pendulum will swing. We understand that and we did a good job of preparing for this moment.’’

It’s also fascinating how these two programs have literally mirrored each other over this past decade. Each won four consecutive state titles from 2012-15 before going into a down cycle the past three years and have risen back up together this season, each heading back to the state final for the first time since they last won it.

The record for total number of Dade/Broward teams winning a state title is five, set in 2013 when South Dade, St. Thomas, Central, BTW and Champagnat all brought home trophies. That record could easily be matched and improved.

We’ll get to the 4A-8A games next week. For the time being, a quick look at this week’s two games.

2A State Championship

▪ Thursday, 7 p.m., Gene Cox Stadium, Tallahassee — Lakeland Victory Christian (11-1) vs. Champagnat Catholic (9-3): With no real home field to speak of, Champagnat has traveled through the years so a trip upstate is no big deal to the Lions, who like Chaminade, are making their fourth consecutive title game appearance. These two teams met in the state final six years ago (Champy won 14-7). Victory Christian hardly throws the ball as running back Cornelius Shaw (2,007 yards, 20 TDs) represents 80 percent of the offense. Which means one thing. Stop Shaw and you win. The Lions will do that and bring home the program’s third state title. BD’s Pick: Champagnat 31-20.

3A State Championship

▪ Friday, 7 p.m., Gene Cox Stadium, Tallahassee — Tallahassee Florida High (12-1) vs. Chaminade-Madonna (12-2): Chaminade looks to join St. Thomas Aquinas (2014-16) as the only teams to win three consecutive state titles in Broward County history. The Lions will be challenged as not only will Florida High enjoy its home crowd in the stands but the Chaminade defense will have to contend with quarterback Willie Taggert Jr. He has passed for more than 2,000 yards this season and rushed for 839 yards. The Lions have a weapon of their own in running back Thaddius Franklin (1,953 yards, 23 TDs) and thus I see no reason why Chaminade should do anything less than bring back that third straight title and go into the Broward history books. BD’s Pick: Chaminade 33-21

▪ Last week’s record: 6-1; postseason overall: 41-10; season overall: 432-99

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

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