With eye on fourpeat, Central plays its ‘national championship game’ in state title
Rueben Bain knows history is on the line for Miami Central on Friday. The list of players to win four Florida High School Athletic Association championships is not long, and he’s one win from joining it.
A fourth state title in a row is only part of Central’s larger goal this weekend, though. At No. 3 in MaxPreps’ national rankings, the Rockets have a bigger championship they’re eyeing.
“We take this game as our national championship game,” said star quarterback Keyone Jenkins, who has orally committed to the Auburn Tigers. “All we need is one poll, like our coaches said, to make us No. 1 and we’re national champs.”
Central (13-0) can’t control the polls, though, and it means the Rockets can stick to the old of cliche of focusing on one game at a time.
Quite frankly, it’s easier now than it has been all year, when more than a dozen potential landmines laid in front of the Rockets following their season-opening upset of then-No. 4 Bradenton IMG Academy in August. The win firmly placed Central in the national title picture — if it could avoid slipping up in the Class 2M bloodbath — and now the Rockets are one victory from completing another perfect season.
They might, however, have saved their toughest challenge for last. No. 10 Plantation American Heritage is out for revenge after losing to Central in the Region 4-Class 5M semifinals last year and now it’s the last obstacle standing between the Rockets and a potential national championship when it faces them Friday at 7 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale.
The game will be one of two historic games this week when for the first time teams from Miami-Dade and Broward counties square off for state football championships with Homestead facing Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday night in the Class 3M final.
“They’re going to be trying to get some type of get back from last year,” said Bain, who committed to the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday after winning the Nat Moore Trophy as the top player in South Florida.
American Heritage (13-1) will look a bit different, with star quarterback Blake Murphy set to start after missing the game last year due to injury.
Central will mostly look the same.
Jenkins, for the third straight year, is the triggerman of the offense and one of the best quarterbacks in Miami-Dade County. Bain, after setting a school record with 29 1/2 sacks last year, has 28 sacks this season and is on pace to break his own mark this week. The offense is still loaded up with weapons and the defense, in typical Rockets fashion, has multiple defensive backs already committed to play Division I.
Central is a team mostly devoid of flaws and so the Rockets don’t worry too much about the external hype around a top-10 matchup between two schools separated by less than 30 miles.
“It’s business as usual for us. You could tell us, Arizona Cardinals. OK,” Rockets coach Jube Joseph said. “For us, it’s business as usual. You’ve got to think about it: You’re going on your fourth one in a row. It’s a habit. It’s mandatory.”
In the preseason, Joseph coined a new mantra for Central in his first year as coach: “No free rings.” The Rockets plastered the slogans and T-shirts and their coaches used it as a motivational message to combat complacency.
It’s supposed to be a reminder of how extraordinary these feats are that Central is making routine. Playing for the Rockets for most of the last decade has virtually guaranteed players to win rings, but it’s only because Central pushes them so hard.
“This is expected, as far as the standard of what you sign up for to play at Miami Central,” Joseph said. “You know what’s the goal.”
Jenkins could admit it, though: The Rockets did feel pressure at various points this year. They started with expectations to win a fourth straight state championship and ninth overall, and quickly those goals upgraded to national title. A slip-up anywhere would’ve doomed the latter and a slip-up now would crush the former.
They expect DRV PNK Stadium to be packed and they expect to get maybe their toughest game yet. Mostly, they expect to deliver.
“I have the opportunity to finish out my high school career with a sold-out game,” Bain said. “To have that opportunity at hand is a great feeling.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 10:17 AM.
