High school football just began for most of South Florida, but playoffs are already here
Miami Central began its season less than two weeks ago with its annual clash against Northwestern.
It was a game befitting the rivalry, even after both teams went more than 10 months without playing a real game because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Central had two chances in the red zone in the final five minutes and the Bulls made a pair of stops to secure a seven-point win in a clash between reigning state champions in Miami.
The Rockets followed up their high-profile opener with a regular-season finale Friday and it only lasted two quarters because of lightning n the area. Now, just two weeks after their 2020 season began, the postseason is here.
On Friday, Central will kick off the postseason against Immokalee, exactly two weeks after its season started.
“This is the fastest time I’ve ever been in a playoff game,” Rockets coach Roland Smith said. “Six quarters into the season and now we’ve got to play a playoff game.”
In the next three weeks, teams across Florida will begin their postseasons in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s state series.
In South Florida, five teams from Miami-Dade and Broward counties will begin their playoff runs with play-in games Friday. Next week, 11 more teams from the two counties will begin their postseasons and two more will start the following week after a bye.
The matchups are all randomized within regions, making for unusual first-round games — like defending Class 6A champion Central facing a winless team Friday at Traz Powell Stadium or Palmetto battling Orlando Dr. Phillips on Nov. 13 in a meeting between perennial powerhouses.
Only five public schools from across the two counties — all from Miami-Dade County — are participating in the FHSAA postseason and they’re in a particularly unusual position of having to ramp up from the preseason to must-win postseason action in just two or three weeks. The Rockets’ season could, theoretically, last just three weeks if the Indians upset them this week in Miami.
“You could be done. That’s the reality of it,” Smith said. “This could be our last game of the season if we don’t play our A-game, but our guys knew that going in. I talked to my coaches and coaches, and this is what we decided to do, so we’re going to roll with the punches and chips where they may fall.”
The Rockets are the lone public school team starting the playoffs this week. The rest of the Friday slate features three private schools from Miami-Dade and one from Broward County:
▪ Immokalee vs. Central at Traz Powell Stadium
▪ Everglades Prep Academy at St. John Paul II Academy
▪ Westminster Christian at Benjamin
▪ Champagnat Catholic at Glades Day
▪ Westminster Academy at Fort Myers Evangelical Christian
The private schools have been at it much longer and have had some semblance of a normal season, albeit with a slightly delayed start, and fewer preseason practices and offseason workouts.
Champagnat, the reigning Class 2A champion, started its season way back in September and most of the last few months have been something close to normal. Champagnat played seven regular-season games, including one against reigning Class 3A champion Chaminade-Madonna, and one of the few unusual aspects is the playoff format.
Even though it might be the best team in 2A once again, Champagnat has to begin the postseason with a play-in game on the road. The random draw didn’t play out in Champagnat’s favor.
“It sucks because I usually play for a bye week or something,” Champagnat coach Hector Clavijo said. “Instead, we’re not getting it, so that’s the only thing that kind of sucks for us right now.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 10:19 AM.
