Last week’s high school football Miami-Dade, Broward matchups will be tough to beat
Talk about a wild weekend shakeup! Let’s review.
▪ Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas’ originally scheduled game against Plantation gets postponed midweek and quickly reschedules a much tougher contest traveling to Tampa to play Jesuit — and pays the price when Jesuit hits a TD pass with 10 seconds left to stun the No. 1 Raiders 24-21.
▪ Hollywood Chaminade-Madonnna and Plantation American Heritage turn in easily the game of the week as the contest is an instant classic, Heritage’s Julian Ramirez hitting a walk-off field goal with no time left to give his team a dramatic 26-24 win.
▪ Miami Northwestern and Miami Booker T. Washington go at it at Traz Powell like there’s a national championship on the line. Northwestern scores with 2:45 left to take the lead only to have Booker T. drive right back to score and go up with less than 30 seconds left. The only thing the Tornadoes did wrong was leave the Bulls 30 seconds. So Taron Dickens somehow drives them downfield and fires a 20-yard touchdown pass with one second left. Bulls 24, Tornadoes 22. Seriously?
▪ Head coach Tyler Tate and his Fort Lauderdale Dillard Panthers show everyone that they may be the new big shot among Broward public schools as the Panthers blow out to a 21-0 lead over Deerfield Beach at halftime. And then, in a bizarre turn of events, never come out for the second half as the Bucks, with a report that a player has COVID symptoms, board the buses and head home.
▪ Finally there are the Miami Central Rockets. On the heels of a lopsided loss to No. 3 St. John Bosco out in California to open the season, Central travels to Naples on Saturday to take on No. 9 Las Vegas Bishop Gorman. Having not started a season 0-2 since anyone can remember, all they needed was a 35-yard field goal from Jayden John on the final play of the game. But John, a very good, reliable kicker unfortunately slips on the kick and the ball winds up bouncing off the crossbar. Gorman 21, Central 20.
When it comes to high drama on the field for high school football in South Florida, that’s about as good as you will ever see.
When everything shakes out, what it all means is nobody really moves that far up or down in our top 20 poll, but it does mean we have a new No. 1. For the first time ever (as far as we can tell), the Chiefs of Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, with two state titles in the last three seasons and who crushed Cardinal Newman in their opener, now assume the top spot. But Heritage and St. Thomas, ranked right behind Gibbons, will get their shot at the top spot as they both play Gibbons in October.
THIS WEEK’S TOP 20
1. Cardinal Gibbons; 2. Plantation American Heritage; 3. St. Thomas Aquinas; 4. Chaminade-Madonna; 5. Miami Central; 6. Gulliver Prep. 7. Dillard; 8. Northwestern; 9. Columbus; 10. Deerfield Beach; 11. Western; 12. Palmetto; 13. Killian; 14. Edison; 15. Champagnat; 16. Homestead; 17. Booker T. Washington; 18. Plantation; 19. Dade Christian; 20. Douglas.
Knocking on the door: South Broward, Doral, Monsignor Pace, North Miami Beach, Calvary Christian, Stranahan, Miami High, Fort Lauderdale.
THIS WEEK’S TOP GAMES
▪ No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas (1-1) at No. 2 Plantation American Heritage (1-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: One would’ve never thought meeting this early in the season that each of these national powerhouses would already have a loss. But that is indeed the case as St. Thomas, after such a great opening win over No. 8 nationally ranked Baltimore St. Frances to open the season was stunned in Tampa last week on a last-second TD pass and will be looking to bounce back. The Patriots got a huge last second win over Chaminade but catching St. Thomas coming off an upset loss is a bad time to play the Raiders who I think will bounce back with a close, hard-fought win. BD’s Pick: Aquinas 31-26.
▪ No. 4 Chaminade-Madonna (1-1) at No. 9 Columbus (1-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: Of all the tough beats last weekend, Chaminade might have had the toughest, frittering away a 14 point third quarter lead to lose to Heritage at the buzzer. The Explorers are also looking to bounce back after traveling to Jacksonville and falling to highly ranked Bartram Trail. I’ll go with the Lions in a close one. BD’s Pick: Chaminade 24-20.
▪ No. 12 Palmetto (1-0) vs. No. 13 Killian (2-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m., Tropical Park: The annual battle for the Big Cat Trophy will feature the two best public school teams from the south end of MIami-Dade county. Killian has made big strides since Derrick Gibson took over a few years ago while Palmetto is looking to reload after graduating most of its team that made it to the state semis a year ago. A big opportunity for the Cougars here to win that trophy back and take another step up the ladder. BD’s Pick: Killian 16-14.
▪ No. 5 Central (0-2) vs Booker T. Washington (1-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Traz Powell: Both teams suffered brutal last-second losses last week and the Tornadoes and head coach Gerald Cox clearly made a “we’re back” statement by playing toe-to-toe with Northwestern all night. But as difficult as it was trying to envision the Rockets starting off the season with two losses, it’s nearly impossible to see them at 0-3. Central will find a way to get that first win. BD’s Pick: Central 31-20.
THE REST OF THE TOP 20
▪ 1. Cardinal Gibbons (1-0) vs. Stranahan (2-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Matt DuBoc has built something really special up in Northeast Fort Lauderdale as the Chiefs assume the top spot for the first time since this poll has been done. Don’t look for any letup from his troups. Even though Stranahan is a program on the upswing, the Dragons will be outmatched on this night. BD’s Pick: Gibbons 37-13.
▪ 6. Gulliver Prep. (1-0) vs. TRU Prep Academy (0-1), Friday, 4 p.m.: Weather pulled the plug on Gulliver’s big neighborhood showdown with Palmetto last week but Raiders will keep things rolling this week. BD’s Pick: Gulliver 42-16
▪ 7. Dillard (2-0) vs. Miramar (0-2), Friday, 7 p.m.: Even though it was only one half of football, Dillard made a big statement last week with a 21-0 shutout of Deerfield and will keep the momentum going this week. BD’s Pick: Dillard 34-14.
▪ 8. Northwestern (2-0) at Bradenton IMG Academy (2-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Bulls off to a nice start but traveling to take on the No. 2 team in the nation that has outscored its first two opponents 116-7 does not bode well. BD’s Pick: IMG 38-16
▪ 10. Deerfield Beach (1-1) at Blanche Ely (0-2), Saturday, 7 p.m.: As long as the Bucks have their COVID issues behind them, this annual rivalry game will be played and that’s too bad for a once-proud Ely program that has fallen on hard times. BD’s Pick: Deerfield 40-14.
▪ 11. Western (0-1) vs. Fort Lauderdale (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: This was originally a bye week for Western, but the Wildcats, after last week’s postponed game against Hallandale, managed to reschedule the Flying L’s. Coming off a tough opening-week loss to Chaminade, Western will be looking to bounce back and will pick up their first win here. BD’s Pick: Western 30-13.
▪ 14. Edison (1-1) vs. Mourning (0-1), Thursday, 3:30 p.m.: Red Raiders will play this one at their school and it won’t take long as a running clock awaits. BD’s Pick: Edison 51-6.
▪ 15. Champagnat (1-1) at Monsignor Pace (0-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: The Lions got a quality road win against Heritage in Delray Beach last week and will do the same this week. BD’s Pick: Champagnat 30-17.
▪ 16. Homestead (1-1) at Jackson (1-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Curtis Park: Homestead got a real statement win with a rout of crosstown rival South Dade last week and won’t let up here. BD’s Pick: Homestead 40-12.
▪ 18. Plantation (1-0): Bye week.
▪ 19. Dade Christian (2-0) at Delray American Heritage (1-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: The George Stubbs rebuild at DC took a huge step last week by beating Pace on the road as Crusaders crash the Top 20 but will have even tougher road game this week. BD’s Pick: Heritage 24-21.
▪ 20. Douglas (2-0) vs. West Broward (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Eagles off to a nice start and earn a well-deserved top 20 ranking as Quentin Short has done a terrific job rescuing a program that has had to overcome awful tragedy. BD’s Pick: Douglas 30-14.
OTHER GAMES
Thursday: Marathon at Florida Christian, 1: FC 27-19; Westland Hialeah at Miami Springs, 3:30: WH 34-8; Reagan vs. Coral Reef (Harris), 7: CR 16-13; South Miami vs. Coral Gables (Tropical), 7: CG 21-16; Carol City vs. Norland (Traz), 7:30: Norland 25-20;Broward: Coconut Creek at Coral Springs, 7: Creek 33-14; Fort Pierce John Carroll at Calvary Christian, 7: CC 35-20; Pine Crest at Somerset Canyons, 7: PC 34-12.
Friday: Miami-Dade: Hialeah Gardens at Miami Beach, 3: Beach 19-14; Archbishop Carroll at Palmer Trinity, 3:30: PT 30-8; Mater Academy at Varela, 3:30: MA 26-20; Ransom Everglades at Westminster Christian, 4: RE 19-17; North Miami vs. Krop (Ives), 3:30: Krop 27-20; Hialeah-Miami Lakes vs.Hialeah (Milander), 7:30: Hialeah 28-8; Immokalee at LaSalle, 7: LaSalle 20-16; Palm Glades Prep. at Coral Shores, 7: CS 26-6; True North Academy at Everglades Prep., 3:30: EP 34-6; American vs. South Dade (Harris), 7:30: SD 21-19; Miami High at Doral Academy, 7:30: Doral 28-16; St. Brendan at Belen Jesuit, 7:30: Belen 20-17Broward: Avant Garde at Boca Raton Christian, 4: BRC 30-8; Everglades at Cooper City, 7: CC 27-7; Archbishop McCarthy vs. Coral Springs Charter (Coral Glades), 7: CSC 34-12; Cypress Bay at McArthur, 7: CB 26-9; Hallandale vs. Monarch (Coconut Creek), 7: Monarch 23-6; Hollywood Hills at North Broward Prep., 7: NBP 35-6; Northeast at South Plantation, 7: SP 27-14; Nova vs. Taravella (Coral Springs), 7: Taravella 20-7; Pembroke Pines Somerset at Westminster Academy, 7: Somerset 21-20; South Broward at Piper, 7: SB 34-7.
Saturday: Miami-Dade: Braddock vs. Southwest (Tropical), 7: SW 26-8.
Last week top 20: 8-5. Last week overall: 22-12.
Bill Daley can be reached at:billd@curtispub.net.
Follow him on Twitter: @Billykid11
This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 6:21 PM.
