Herald Top 20 football poll: Chaminade-Madonna rises to the top spot
Does it get any better than last week?
High school football in South Florida was on its very best display in Miami-Dade and Broward counties when Miami Central and Miami Northwestern squared off at Traz Powell Stadium, and in Broward Plantation American Heritage traveled to play Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons in a battle of top-five teams.
Both came down to the very last tick of the clock as Central placekicker Jayden John and Heritage’s Julian Ramirez both nailed game-winning field goals as time expired to give the Rockets and Patriots three-point victories over the Bulls and Chiefs, the latter knocking Gibbons out of the No. 1 spot in the Herald’s Top 20 poll.
Speaking of the No. 1 spot, we have a new No. 1 team this week in Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna.
Tackling arguably the toughest schedule in the entire country, the Lions once again put the quality of high school football in South Florida on full display when they traveled to Central Florida to take on undefeated and defending 8A state champion Sanford Seminole. Then pulled out a 26-23 win over a team that had won 31 of its previous 32 games during the past four seasons.
Kudos to coach Dameon Jones and his players for a remarkable first half of the season as Chaminade assumes the No. 1 spot and is the clear-cut favorite to capture the 3A state title.
I continued my torrid hot streak last week going 40-5 overall and 14-1 in top 20 games as we head into a week where the slate of marquee games is on the light side. But fear not, plenty of big-time stuff awaits including a huge Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas/Gibbons matchup next week.
THIS WEEK’S TOP 20
1. Chaminade-Madonna; 2. St. Thomas Aquinas; 3. Miami Central; 4. American Heritage; 5. Cardinal Gibbons; 6. Miami Gulliver Prep. 7. Fort Lauderdale Dillard; 8. Miami Killian; 9. Northwestern; 10. Miami Edison; 11. Deerfield Beach; 12. Davie Western; 13. Homestead; 14. Miami Palmetto; 15. Doral Academy; 16. Hialeah Champagnat; 17. Miami Columbus; 18. Coconut Creek; 19. Miami Florida Christian; 20. Miami LaSalle.
KNOCKING ON THE DOOR
South Broward, Stranahan, Fort Lauderdale, Miramar, Dade Christian, Flanagan, Plantation, Belen Jesuit.
THIS WEEK’S TOP GAMES
▪ No. 18 Coconut Creek (4-1) at No. 12 Western (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.: The only contest between Top 20 teams this week features an established Western program hosting an up-and-coming program in Creek. Coach Johnnie Sloan has done a nice job with the Cougar program but, with their biggest signature win being a 27-7 conquest over a Plantation program that might be a little down this year, they are stepping into a new arena on Friday night.
Western suffered a pair of tough losses to two big titans, Aquinas and Chaminade but clubbed a previously undefeated Cypress Bay team last week 36-3 so Adam Ratkevich’s troups appear to have things going again and defend their home field very well. Creek might hang with them for a while but look for the Wildcats to pull away and win comfortably. BD’s Pick: Western 34-19.
▪ No. 4 Plantation American Heritage (2-2) at Jacksonville Trinity Christian (5-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: After struggling at the start of the season including an upset loss to Treasure Coast and then struggling to even play a game (three-week layoff), the Patriots got a huge road win last week edging previously unbeaten Gibbons on a walk-off game-winning field goal.
But there wasn’t much time to celebrate as it now makes the five-hour drive north to take on a Trinity Christian team that is the defending 3A state champion and No. 1-ranked team in 2A this season. Making things even more challenging for the Patriots is that TC will be looking to bounce back after a lopsided 35-0 loss to Bolles last week and playing a good team off a bad loss is never easy.
But I think Pat Surtain’s kids have already taken their lumps early in the season and are now headed in the right direction. This will be a tough one but look for Heritage to scrape out a close win. BD’s Pick: Heritage 27-23.
THE REST OF THE TOP 20
▪ 1. Chaminade-Madonna (4-1) vs. Fort Lauderdale (3-1), Saturday, 11 a.m. at Lockhart Park: Finally, something of a breather for Chaminade which makes its debut in the No. 1 spot. No disrespect to the job Richard Dunbar has done putting the Flying L’s football program on the map but Fort Lauderdale hasn’t seen a team like this in its first four games and will do well to avoid getting running clocked. That is provided the Lions, with other big-time opponents on the horizon, don’t let up and take their foot off the petal which is a possibility. BD’s Pick: Chaminade 37-9.
▪ 2. St. Thomas Aquinas (5-1) at South Plantation (1-5), Friday, 7 p.m.: Roger Harriott will be able to empty his bench quickly in this one. BD’s Pick: Aquinas 48-7.
▪ 3. Central (3-2) vs. Hialeah-Miami Lakes (0-6), Thursday, 3:30 p.m. at Traz Powell: Sadly this game shouldn’t even be played but being a district game, it’s required. Roland Smith will hopefully play his young kids and, helped by a running clock, keep the score from getting too out of hand. BD’s Pick: Central 49-0.
▪ 5. Cardinal Gibbons (4-1) vs. Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest (2-2), Friday, 7 p.m.: Pine Crest was already facing a juggernaut in having to take on this team. Now it must play Cardinal Gibbons coming off a tough loss to Heritage last week. Won’t be pretty. BD’s Pick: Gibbons 44-6.
▪ 6. Gulliver Prep. (5-0): Bye.
▪ 7. Dillard (6-0): Bye.
▪ 8. Killian (6-0) vs. Key West (3-2), Saturday, 7 p.m. at Tropical Park: Cougars coming off nice wins over Palmetto and Booker T. and keep it rolling here. BD’s Pick: Killian 37-13.
▪ 9. Northwestern (4-2) vs. Miami Norland (2-3), Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Traz Powell: Tough spot for Norland as Bulls look to bounce back from last week’s tough loss to Central. BD’s Pick: Northwestern 38-12.
▪ 10. Edison (4-1) at Niceville (6-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: A really tough spot for the Red Raiders as they make the long trek to the Florida panhandle to take on the state’s No. 5-ranked 7A team that very rarely loses on its home field. BD’s Pick: Niceville 30-20.
▪ 11. Deerfield Beach (4-2): Bye.
▪ 13. Homestead (4-1) vs. Hialeah (0-0), Thursday, 5 p.m. at Harris Field: Broncos coming off a nice win over Southridge last week and prepping for showdown with Doral next week. BD’s Pick: Homestead 44-7.
▪ 14. Palmetto (4-1) vs. South Dade (2-2), Thursday, 7 p.m. at Tropical Park: South Dade playing better in recent weeks. Palmetto will need to be ready for a possible challenge in an important district matchup. BD’s Pick: Palmetto 33-20.
▪ 15. Doral Academy (6-0): Bye.
▪ 16. Champagnat (3-2) at Naples Barron Collier (2-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Lions looking to bounce back from lopsided loss to Gulliver and should get back in the win column here. BD’s Pick: Champagnat 35-16.
▪ 17. Columbus (2-3) vs. Southwest (1-3), Friday, 4 p.m.: Explorers finally got back to their winning ways last week by beating up on Pace and it should be more of the same here. BD’s Pick: Columbus 41-7.
▪ 19. Florida Christian (5-0) at Westminster Christian (2-3), Friday, 4 p.m.: WC not as strong as in past years so Patriots should roll in this one. BD’s Pick: Florida Christian 34-15.
▪ 20. LaSalle (6-0) vs. Pembroke Pines Somerset (3-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: Somerset a pretty good team but LaSalle should handle business on its home field. BD’s Pick: LaSalle 31-16.
OTHER GAMES
Thursday: Miami-Dade: Goleman at Sunset, 3:30: Goleman 33-12; Westland Hialeah at Hialeah Gardens, 3:30: WH 30-13; Coral Gables vs. Miami High (Curtis Park), 7: MHS 35-6; North Miami Beach at Miami Springs, 3:30: NMB 42-8. Broward: Coral Springs Charter at Northeast, 7: CSC 27-6; Jupiter Christian at Hollywood Avant Garde (Lockhart Park), 7: AG 24-20; Taravella at West Broward (Pines Charter), 7: WB 30-7; Blanche Ely at Boyd Anderson, 7: BA 23-8.
Friday: Miami-Dade: Krop at Miami Beach, 3: Krop 34-14; American vs. Mourning (Ives Estates), 3:30: American 42-0; Coral Park at Reagan, 3:30: Reagan 20-14; Palm Glades Prep. at Palmer Trinity, 4: PT 30-6; Dade Christian at Tampa Cambridge Christian, 7: DC 35-16; Braddock vs. Ferguson (Tropical), 7:30: Ferguson 26-13; Glades Central vs. Booker T. Washington (Traz), 7:30: BTW 28-23; Mater Academy at Southridge, 7:30: Southridge 34-8; Carol City at Lake Minneola, 7: LM 24-22; Somerset Silver Palms at Belen, 7: Belen 21-19; Surge Academy at Monsignor Pace, 7:30: Pace 35-12. Broward: Boca St. Andrews at North Broward Prep., 6: NBP 33-14; Coral Springs at Calvary Christian, 7: CC 38-9; Everglades Prep. at Westminster Academy, 7: WA 38-9; Ransom Everglades at Pompano Beach, 7: RE 23-21; Boynton Beach vs. Stranahan (Lockhart), 7: Stranahan 34-12; Douglas vs. Monarch (Coconut Creek), 7: Douglas 21-16; Pines Charter at Hollywood Hills, 4: Hills 15-14; Piper at Plantation (PAL), 7: Plantation 37-12; Flanagan at Coral Glades, 7: Flanagan 20-14; South Broward at Everglades, 7: SB 40-8.
Saturday: Miami-Dade: Jackson at St. Brendan, 5: Jackson 27-8. Broward: Cooper City at Archbishop McCarthy, 7: AM 19-17.
Last Week Top 20: 14-1. Last Week overall: 40-5.
Season Top 20: 61-9. Season Overall: 161-36.
Bill Daley can be reached at:billd@curtispub.net.Follow him on Twitter: @Billykid11
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 5:54 PM.
