Broward powerhouses ready to ‘weather storm’ in new road to state created by FHSAA
Realignment is a common theme these days and not just in college football.
But imagine if in college a separate national championship were created only for the teams in the SEC and Big Ten and then another watered-down championship for everyone else.
That’s what Western coach Adam Ratkevich compared it to when the Florida High School Athletic Association divided the state’s classifications into four metropolitan and four suburban classes and one rural class.
The state will now have nine state titles up for grabs.
But only four of those will be available for the two counties that have dominated the sport in Florida for the past decade like never before.
The decision moved every team from Miami-Dade and Broward into the four metro divisions, thus reducing the number of state championships South Florida can win.
“You have in some of your divisions created regional championships and not state championships,” Ratkevich said. “You cannot eliminate the best teams from South Florida, win a state championship and call yourself a state champion. That’s like eliminating the SEC from college football and saying, ‘Oh, we don’t have to play Alabama or Georgia, we’re national champions.’ ”
In nine of the past 10 seasons, teams from Dade and Broward won four or more of the possible seven state championships they competed in.
In 2019, they combined to win all seven for the first time.
After the first week of this season, Miami Central, St. Thomas Aquinas, American Heritage and Chaminade-Madonna were all ranked in the top 15 nationally by MaxPreps.
And yet with the new alignment only three of those four are able to win state titles this season because Central and Heritage are in the same class.
Miami Northwestern, a seven-time state champion, is ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation.
And in Week 1, the Bulls already defeated Venice, the defending Class 8A champion that was one of the teams moved to one of the suburban divisions. Venice was defeated 41-3 in the preseason by national power IMG Academy, which subsequently lost to Central 20-14 in Week 1.
“I think it’s no big deal to us as far as competition because we’re used to playing each other, but it hurts because I think we all looked forward to seeing each other competing for state championships at the state [finals],” Northwestern coach Max Edwards said. “Now that road has to go through each other. That took a bit out of it but we are still smiling because we get to face each other at the highest level of competition.”
It promises to be exactly that where the Bulls will roam this season.
Northwestern is one of the teams in the new, ridiculously-loaded Class 2M, and faces the gauntlet that was created in Region 4-2M. The field comprises Carol City, Central, Monsignor Pace and Norland in District 13-2M. Booker T. Washington, Edison and Northwestern share District 14-2M with Jackson and a much-improved Miami La Salle squad.
Northwestern, Central, Booker T. Washington and Carol City have combined for 26 FHSAA state championships, and are four of the nine public-school teams to win at least five.
Whoever survives this region will likely face American Heritage or Cardinal Gibbons, conceivably even in the Class 2M title game, which will be held at DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Booker T. Washington is a program back on the rise after coach Tim “Ice” Harris returned. Gulliver is another as it spearheads District 16-2M. And Westland Hialeah, which for years struggled to even win a game but is now competitive, could win District 15-2M, but would have to navigate the same difficult path.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to try to beat anybody they put in front of us,” Central coach Jube Joseph said. “We could be playing the Dolphins, I’ll tell them we have to get ready to beat the Dolphins. We can only control what we can control. For me, it’s whatever they put in front of me, I’m going to do what I need to do to be a champion.”
Much-improved teams such as Homestead and Dillard hope to make a jump to state title contender status this season. But their road in Class 3M would likely have to go through Aquinas, which is chasing a state-record 14th state championship.
Chaminade-Madonna was moved to Class 1M, and its path to winning a fifth state title in six years looks almost certain barring a major upset. But the Lions are in the hunt for a national title, so they need every quality victory on a loaded regular-season schedule since their playoff foes likely will pale in comparison.
Ratkevich’s squad at Western wasn’t affected as much by the move.
The Wildcats, who have one of their most talented rosters, are in Class 4M. Their primary obstacles on the road to state figure to be Miami Columbus and Miami Palmetto, just as they were last season in Class 8A.
“It’s disappointing that the powers that be did this and this is the way it happened, but as coaches in Dade County we have to make sure we have a voice from now on to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” Palmetto coach Mike Manasco said. “You take our area, which can easily win six or seven state championships, and you condense us down to four. It’s disappointing.”
Ratkevich brought up the impact demographically of moving the eight most densely populated counties in the state into the metro classes and the other 59 counties into the suburban classes. The most diverse counties in the state now have fewer chances to win titles.
“I don’t understand that mentality,” Ratkevich said. “I schedule teams like Aquinas because I want to beat the best. It didn’t affect us directly, but I just felt like it was wrong. I don’t think we were properly informed or represented in the matter.”
Cardinal Gibbons coach Matt DuBuc, whose squad has won three state titles in the past four seasons, didn’t like the changes either. But he remembers a time when the more rural schools dominated the landscape. From 1978-1985, no team from Dade or Broward won a state title and no Dade team did so from 1978 to 1990.
“I definitely don’t think it was planned properly in my opinion. I think it was done to appease part of the state that maybe felt like it wasn’t fair for them,” DuBuc said. “I played when Live Oak Suwanee was winning state championships. The list goes on and on with teams from the north that were always competitive.
“I think it’s just a phase that Broward, Dade and Palm Beach are going through, but you’ve got to weather these storms as they go through. Again, I think it was a knee-jerk reaction.”
