Central rallies three times to maintain upper hand in rivalry with Northwestern
Miami-Dade County’s premier high school football rivalry was at its peak again on Friday night.
Miami Central and Miami Northwestern locked in a tight struggle.
The stands at Traz Powell Stadium were packed to capacity, roughly 8,000 strong.
These elements aren’t anything different if you’ve watched this series for years.
But the stakes are a bit higher this season between these two now that the teams are back to virtually equal footing when it comes to competing for state championships.
In this round Friday night, however, the experience in the clutch tipped the scales in Central’s favor as the Rockets rode a couple of late stops by their defense to a 24-21 comeback win over Northwestern.
“In this one you always throw the records out the window so it was great to see the kids respond,” Central coach Jube Joseph said. “It teaches the kids to keep the main thing the main thing. Don’t worry about the atmosphere or all the aesthetics and focus on football. We weren’t our best in every quarter but we pulled it out.”
The Rockets (5-1) beat the Bulls (3-3) for the sixth consecutive time and have not lost a matchup in the Commissioner’s Cup series since Oct. 23, 2020.
Northwestern has dropped four of those games by seven points or less including last season when it finished 4-6 and missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
The Bulls have much bigger aspirations this season in their first season with alum and former NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater at the helm.
And on Friday night, Northwestern nearly secured a statement win against their neighborhood rivals.
But the Bulls were unable to hold onto leads on three different occasions including a 21-17 edge they carried into the fourth quarter following a 6-yard touchdown run by Elijah Hardy.
Northwestern had a chance to take a two-score lead after Tarvail Mathis Jr. recovered a fumble in Central territory with 46.8 seconds left in the third. But the Bulls ensuing drive stalled after multiple penalties and ended with a loss on downs.
Rockets quarterback Anthony McQueen, who threw for a 7-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter, which put Central ahead 17-14, put his team ahead for good with 8:42 left in the fourth on a 2-yard touchdown keeper.
This is where the Rockets’ defense stepped up and made sure Northwestern didn’t pull a comeback of its own. Dialing up the blitz, OJ Guyton surged into the Bulls’ backfield and sacked quarterback Leon Strawder, forcing a punt.
After Northwestern regained possession with a little over three minutes left, Strawder fired a pass deep down the sideline which was intercepted by Dewey Davis.
And on their final possession with time running out, the Bulls’ attempt at a multiple-lateral miracle at the buzzer ended when Strawder was buried in the backfield by a Central defender.
“These guys have a different bond this year. A lot of them have played together for years and you’re starting to see their hard work come to fruition,” Joseph said.
University of Miami commit Ezekiel Marcelin led the charge with a sack and an acrobatic interception early in the game, and was named the team’s defensive MVP. Montgomery was named the offensive MVP.
Strawder threw a pair of touchdown passes, but also threw two interceptions.
“It was just about staying together as brothers,” Marcelin said. “This is the type of game we needed. The younger guys got to see what we have to do against these guys.
It’s just got to see them in the regular season so we can prepare for them in the playoffs. It’s a great rivalry. This is the most packed game I’ve ever played against Miami Northwestern. A lot of our guys played with a lot of their guys since we were little kids so there’s a lot of love.”
