No one in South Florida ducking anyone this season. It will pay off with more state titles
We’re back!
After taking 2020 off due to COVID-19 resulting in a completely disjointed season, the weekly Herald picks column has returned, and I’m ready to see if I can keep up the roughly 85 percent winning percentage from the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
If there is an overriding theme to the 2021 season, and we already got a sneak preview of it last weekend, it’s that high school football fans in South Florida are going to be treated to some monster matchups. Whether it’s national games or local, the marquee matchups have been — and will be — extremely attractive.
Miami Central already traveled to Bellflower, California, to play St. John Bosco, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas hosted Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy on Saturday on ESPN, Hollywood-Chaminade played Davie Western on Friday and now travels to Plantation American Heritage, while Miami Columbus goes to St. Johns to play Bartram Trail. Later on, Aquinas plays Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, there is the annual Miami Central-Miami Northwestern battle, and on and on.
You get the picture. The theme here is that nobody is ducking anybody.
Coaches realize that the only way you are going to raise your level of play and be there when the state finals are played is by playing a big-time schedule. And people wonder why, when the state finals are held each year that South Florida teams practically take over the landscape?
Even in a COVID-marred season last year, when a lot of the South Florida titans opted out of the state series, Aquinas, Central, American Heritage, Cardinal Gibbons and Hialeah Champagnat Catholic still won titles. And Chaminade missed a fourth csonecutive state title by an eyelash.
While it’s not official, even more exciting is the prospect that there is a good possibility that DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale will be the site of this December’s Classes 4A-8A championships, marking the first time since 2006 for South Florida to host the big event.
But the one thing we have figured out is that whether it’s Miami, Pensacola or anywhere in between, no matter where the state hosts the finals, folks can always expect one thing: a dominating South Florida presence. And thanks to our big-time titans not ducking anyone and playing each other, 2021 will be no exception.
Let’s take a look at our opening top 20 poll and this week’s top games.
THIS WEEK’S TOP 20
1. St. Thomas Aquinas; 2. Central; 3. Chaminade-Madonna; 4. Cardinal Gibbons; 5. American Heritage; 6. Gulliver Prep. 7. Columbus; 8. Deerfield Beach; 9. Northwestern; 10. Dillard; 11. Western; 12. Palmetto; 13. Killian; 14. Edison; 15. Champagnat Catholic; 16. Booker T. Washington; 17. Homestead; 18. Monsignor Pace; 19. Plantation; 20. North Miami Beach.
KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: Calvary Christian Academy, South Dade, Stoneman Douglas, Coconut Creek, Miramar, Doral Academy, Dade Christian
THIS WEEK’S TOP GAMES
No. 3 Chaminade-Madonna (1-0) at No. 5 Plantation American Heritage (0-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Talk about tough schedules!!! If there is a tougher one in the nation than Chaminade’s, please bring it to me. Coach Dameon Jones and his Lions opened the season last week with a great road win over Western and now turn right around and travel to a hornets’ nest in taking on Heritage, with games against Columbus, Georgia’s Buford, Champagnat, Sanford Seminole and Gulliver to follow.
Sometimes timing can be everything and this is awful timing for Chaminade, as Heritage saw any hopes of a national championship go up in smoke last weekend with a stunning loss to Treasure Coast in Naples. Thus, coach Patrick Surtain figures to have his troops fired up and ready to bounce back in what should be a terrific game.
BD’s Pick: Heritage 27-23.
No. 8 Deerfield Beach (1-0) at No. 10 Dillard (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: The Bucks got off to a great start last week with a quality win over Edison, while Dillard, a revived program that has been building back up slowly during the last few years under coach Tyler Tate, routed Boyd Anderson. Should be a big crowd at Dillard for this marquee Broward County matchup
BD’s Pick: Deerfield Beach 21-20.
No. 12 Palmetto (1-0) at No. 6 Gulliver Prep (1-0), Thursday, 4 p.m.: Two undefeated regular seasons have been followed by postseason disappointment for Gulliver, but, with a blowout win over Killian in preseason and nice win on the road over Bradenton Manatee last week, the window is now wide open for the Raiders to jump through.
This Thursday afternoon contest at home against a rebuilding-but-still-very-good Palmetto team, that got a nice season-opening win over Homestead last week, will go a long way in telling us just how serious a 4A state title contender the Raiders will be. I’ll go with coach Earl Sims and his kids to come away with a big early-season statement win.
BD’s Pick: Gulliver 20-16.
No. 7 Columbus (1-0) at St. Johns Bartram Trail (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: With Bartram Trail one of the preseason favorites to come out of Class 8A in the north, this could conceivably be a preview of the 8A championship.
After winning that elusive first state title in 2019, the Explorers could have easily repeated last year, but ultimately opted out of the state series due to COVID. But coach Dave Dunn and his team got a nice season-opening up in Georgia against Benedictine last week and will once again be in the mix for a possible state title. A road win here would be a big early season statement-maker to the rest of 8A.
BD’s Pick: Columbus 30-21.
No. 16 Booker T. Washington (1-0) vs. No. 9 Northwestern (1-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Traz Powell Stadium: The Bulls got a nice opening-week win over defending Class 2A state champ Champagnat last week, while BTW knocked off Norland. There was a little bit of a talent dropoff last season at Booker T. but coach Gerald Cox is working to get the ship righted. This will not be the week to do it, as the Bulls, now up in Class 6A, have their sights set on getting back to a place they feel they should always be: the state title game.
BD’s Pick: Northwestern 33-20.
No. 2 Miami Central (0-1) vs. Las Vegas Bishop Gorman (1-0), Saturday, 8 p.m. at Paradise Coast Sports Complex: The Rockets traveled to California and saw their preseason hopes of a national championship dashed quickly with a lopsided loss to national No. 3 St. John Bosco and it won’t get any easier this week as they to Naples to take on national No. 9 Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas.
But Roland Smith’s Rockets never lose two in a row, and I don’t think it will happen here. I’ll take Central to win in what would definitely be considered a mild upset.
BD’s Pick: Central 24-21.
THE REST OF THE TOP 20
No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0) at Tampa Jesuit (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Ranked No. 6 nationally by MaxPreps, the Raiders were probably disappointed they didn’t move up slightly in the polls following last weekend’s big win over No. 8 St. Frances. But that doesn’t mean they still don’t clearly have their eyes on a possible national championship and a challenging road game against a very good Tampa Jesuit team will only add to the resumé. Aquinas was supposed to play Plantation on Friday but the Colonels pulled out of the contest mid-week with COVID issues. Cudos to both STA and Jesuit for quickly putting this quality contest together. Ranked Max Preps No. 55 nationally, No. 21 in the state regardless of classification and No. 3 in Class 6A, Jesuit will be no cakewalk for the Raiders and with virtually zero preparation for their opponent with the last-minute change, they will need to lean on their vast experience of playing big games on the road to pull them through. BD’s Pick: Aquinas 31-21
No. 4 Cardinal Gibbons (0-0) vs. Cardinal Newman (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: The Chiefs got the plug pulled on the season opener against Venice last week and will look to get things rolling in hopes of a third state title in four years with a win over outmatched Newman. BD’s Pick: Gibbons 41-16.
No. 11 Western (0-1), wins by forfeit over Hallandale: The Wildcats dropped a tough season opener to Chaminade last week and won’t play this week after Hallandale, dealing with COVID issues, was forced to forfeit for a second week in a row.
No. 13 Killian (1-0) vs. Norland (0-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Tropical Park: The Cougars got a nice season-opening road win over Miramar and will look to keep the momentum going. BD’s Pick: Killian 30-17.
No. 14 Edison (0-1) vs. Blanche Ely (0-1), Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Traz Powell: The Red Raiders will look to bounce back from season-opening loss to Deerfield and should roll in this one. BD’s Pick: Edison 41-14.
No. 15 Champagnat Catholic (0-1) at Delray Beach American Heritage (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: Coach Hector Clavijo and his Lions never back down from a challenging schedule and will bounce back after last week’s opening loss to Northwestern with a quality road win. BD’s Pick: Champagnat 33-24.
No. 17 Homestead (0-1) vs. South Dade (0-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Harris Field: Harris Field Park will be packed for the annual battle for neighborhood bragging rights and we could see a shift in power this week as coach Philip Simpson has done remarkable things in reviving the Bronco program. But there will be no backdown from the Buccaneers, who won’t give up those bragging rights very easily. BD’s Pick: Homestead 19-17.
No. 18 Monsignor Pace (0-0) vs. Dade Christian (1-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Coach Mario Perez has spent the last two years bringing in plenty of talent at Pace, but can it now translate into wins on the field? Coach George Stubbs has done a nice job of reviving the program at Dade Christian, but look for Spartans to make an early-season statement. BD’s Pick: Pace 34-18.
No. 20 North Miami Beach (1-0) at Sanford Seminole (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Like many coaches, Jeff Bertani recognizes the need for teams to schedule tough and it doesn’t get any tougher than the Chargers traveling to Central Florida to take on the defending 8A state champs. NMB will take its lumps, but be a better team down the road for it. BD’s Pick: Seminole 34-15.
OTHER GAMES
THURSDAY: Miami-Dade: Goleman at Doral Academy, 7: Doral 30-24; North Miami vs. Miami High, (Curtis), 7: MHS 27-21; Coral Reef at Ferguson, 3:30: Ferguson 28-12; Jackson at Hialeah-Miami Lakes, 7: Jackson 34-6; Westland Hialeah vs. Hialeah (Milander), 7: Hialeah 38-8; South Miami at Southwest, 3: Southwest 16-14; American at Braddock, 3:30: American 27-9; Broward: Douglas at Coconut Creek, 7: Creek 23-21; Calvary Christian at Taravella, 7: CC 30-9; Pines Charter at Nova, 7: PC 37-6
FRIDAY: Miami-Dade: Coral Shores at Florida Christian, 7:30: FC 28-13; Carol City at Orange Park Oakleaf, 7: Oakleaf 23-20; Coral Park at Hialeah Gardens, 3:30: Gardens 20-14; Miami Springs at Miami Beach, 3:30: Springs 21-13; Mourning at Reagan, 3:30: Reagan 30-6; Wellington at Southridge, 7: Wellington 27-21Broward: McArthur at Boyd Anderson, 7: McArthur 25-9; Northeast at Cooper City, 7: CC 34-12; Krop at Coral Glades, 7: Krop 24-20; Monarch at Fort Lauderdale, 7: Monarch 40-7; Coral Springs Charter at Hollywood Hills, 3:30: CSC 23-6; Marathon at Pompano Beach, 7: Pompano 14-13; Flanagan at South Broward, 7: SB 26-16
2019 SEASON OVERALL: 439-99.
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 3:07 PM.
