Herald Top 20 football poll: First-round playoff matchups not expected to yield upsets

After 11 weeks of regular-season play, a bunch of numbers-crunching and coaches learning to be mathematicians with an RPI points system, the regular season is behind us and Sunday the FHSAA let every high school football team in the state know if they were in or out of the state playoffs.

Always an exciting time as several teams from Miami-Dade and Broward have dreams of a deep run and hopes of even perhaps making it to Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee (2A and 3A state finals Dec. 9-10) or DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale for the 4A-8A finals Dec. 16-18.

Three teams, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (7A), Miami Central (5A) and Hialeah Champagnat (2A) will be looking to win a third consecutive state title while American Heritage (5A) will be shooting for back-to-back championships with Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons (4A) seeking its third title in the past four years.

After winning three state titles in a row before losing in the championship game in the final seconds a year ago, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna will be looking for redemption and the Lions, ranked No. 1 in the Miami Herald’s final top 20 poll, are a heavy favorite to get back to the 3A title game and win it this year.

Chaminade, along with Champagnat will also be looking to make history as both seek to become the third and fourth teams in state history to make six consecutive trips to the state title game, matching Belle Glade Glades Day (1982-88) and Pahokee (2003-08).

As far as competitive first-round matchups, there usually isn’t a whole lot there in the first week as the “contenders” tend to eliminate the “pretenders.” But next week will promise much more in the way of attractive matchups.

FINAL HERALD TOP 20 POLL

1. Chaminade-Madonna; 2. St. Thomas Aquinas; 3. Central; 4. Cardinal Gibbons; 5. Miami Killian; 6. Fort Lauderdale Dillard; 7. Miami Gulliver Prep.; 8. Homestead; 9. Plantation American Heritage; 10. Davie Western; 11. Deerfield Beach; 12. Miami Northwestern; 13. Miami Columbus; 14. Champagnat; 15. Miami Palmetto; 16. Miami LaSalle; 17. Hollywood South Broward; 18. Coconut Creek; 19. Plantation; 20. Miramar.

Knocking on the door: Miami Edison, Florida Christian, Doral Academy, Coral Glades, Hollywood Avant Garde, Miami Booker T. Washington, Fort Lauderdale Stranahan.

THIS WEEK’S TOP GAMES

▪ Doral Academy (8-1) at No. 20 Miramar (6-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: An interesting matchup between teams meeting for the first time. Eddie Delgado has done a bang-up job reviving the Doral program this year while Miramar has been a traditional playoff team that overcame an 0-2 start to win six in a row before dropping a close one to Western last week.

The one blotch on Doral’s 8-1 record is a big one. The Firebirds, in a showdown with Homestead for the district title, got steamrolled 47-6, which makes me wonder if they are one of those pretenders, or contenders. I think they’re a contender but at the same time, the Patriots showed last week (in nearly beating Western) that they still have leftover remnants of that famous “Darkside Defense” which I think will carry them through to a close, low scoring win. BD’s Pick: Miramar 16-10.

▪ No. 17 South Broward (8-1) at No. 8 Homestead (8-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m at Harris Field: The only matchup between top 20 teams this week will feature two teams that have enjoyed renaissance years. Charles McCrea (South Broward) and Philip Simpson (Homestead) have both turned in terrific work reviving their programs, and this one could be a good one at Harris Field.

South Broward runs a frantic no-huddle style offense which will challenge the Homestead defense but the Broncos just have too many athletes here and I anticipate a big Broncos win on their home field to advance to the next round. BD’s Pick: Homestead 31-20.

THE REST OF THE TOP 20

▪ 1. Chaminade-Madonna (7-1): Bye.

▪ 2. St. Thomas Aquinas (9-1) vs. Delray Beach Atlantic (5-5), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Raiders having nothing short of a state-record 13th state title on their minds and will easily take care of business here. BD’s Pick: Aquinas 45-7.

▪ 3. Miami Central (7-2) vs. North Miami Beach (4-4), Thursday, 3:30 p.m. at Traz Powell: A Thursday matinee special for the Rockets who, like St. Thomas, having nothing short of state championship aspirations on their mind. BD’s Pick: Central 41-12.

▪ 4. Cardinal Gibbons (7-2): Bye.

▪ 5. Killian (10-0) vs. Fort Myers Cypress Lake (5-4), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Tropical Park: I don’t know much about this team from Fort Myers, but I know plenty about the undefeated and top-seeded Cougars who should name their score in this one. BD’s Pick: Killian 42-9.

▪ 6. Dillard (9-1) vs. Fort Lauderdale (6-2), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Lockhart Park: Richard Dunbar does a great job with the Flying L’s, but Dillard has designs of a rematch with St. Thomas and should be able to handle business here. BD’s Pick: Dillard 33-14.

▪ 7. Gulliver Prep. (7-1): Bye.

▪ 9. American Heritage (5-3) vs. Boynton Beach (7-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Boynton might have a better record but don’t be fooled. These teams are on different levels, and Heritage will prove it. BD’s Pick: American Heritage 40-8.

▪ 10. Western (8-2) vs. Parkland Stoneman Douglas (6-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Douglas has had a nice season and is coming off a big win over Coral Glades last week, but Eagles should not offer much resistance here. BD’s Pick: Western 37-7.

▪ 11. Deerfield Beach (8-2) vs. Boca Raton (8-2), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: A rematch from a district showdown a few weeks ago in which Deerfield won in a 40-0 rout. I’m not sure they can pound them the same way again but Bucks should be able to move on. BD’s Pick: Deerfield Beach 34-14.

▪ 12. Northwestern (7-3) vs. Fort Myers (5-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Traz Powell: The Bulls aren’t quite what they have been in past years and face a difficult path to the state final but their season won’t end this week. BD’s Pick: Northwestern 37-13.

▪ 13. Columbus (6-3) vs. Miami Dr. Krop (5-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Ives Estates: A tremendous job this season by Tom Caporale as Krop is back in the playoffs for the first time in a decade, but his Lightning kids are way overmatched in this one. Explorers should roll and get their matchup with Western next week. BD’s Pick: Columbus 38-6.

▪ 14. Champagnat (7-2): Bye.

▪ 15. Palmetto (7-2) vs. Coral Glades (6-2), Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Tropical Park: Coral Glades’ first postseason appearance might be a short one as Palmetto is coming off nice win over Edison last week and has hopes of making another deep playoff run like last year. BD’s Pick: Palmetto 35-9.

▪ 16. LaSalle (10-0) vs. Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest (6-2), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: These teams squared off a few weeks ago and LaSalle barely won a 14-13 squeaker. But I expect the Royal Lions, fresh off the programs’ first unbeaten regular season, will win in much easier fashion this time. BD’s Pick: LaSalle 30-14.

▪ 18. Coconut Creek (8-2) vs. South Fort Myers (8-2), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: This one could be a good one as Willis “Peanut” May, who helped guide the Douglas program through the shooting tragedy of four years ago, returns to South Florida with a Wolfpack team that should challenge. Home field might be the difference here. BD’s Pick: Creek 27-21.

▪ 19. Plantation (7-2) at Fort Myers Dunbar (10-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: The Colonels snuck in and grabbed the last playoff spot as the No. 8 seed, but this is a tough spot for Steve Davis and his players as top-seeded Dunbar is undefeated and rarely loses on its home field. BD’s Pick: Dunbar 31-16.

OTHER PLAYOFF GAMES

Friday: Miami-Dade: Region 4-4A: Ft. Lauderdale Calvary Christian vs. Booker T. Washington, 4 p.m., at Traz Powell: BTW 27-20; Region 4-3A: Somerset South Homestead vs. Edison, 7:30 p.m., at Curtis Park: Edison 37-6; Region 4-2A: Fort Pierce John Carroll at Miami True North Academy, 3:30 p.m.: True North 24-22 Broward: Region 4-5A: Fort Lauderdale Stranahan at Estero, 7:30: Stranahan 28-20; Region 4-2A: Westminster Academy at Belle Glade Glades Day, 7:30 p.m.: Glades Day 30-21.

Last Week top 20: 7-2. Last Week overall: 28-8.

Season top 20: 122-17. Season overall: 339-71.

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

This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 8:35 PM.