Northwestern pulls away late to blank Palmetto after defensive struggle
Miami Northwestern’s greatest football seasons have often featured great defenses.
They’ve tended to be the backbone of their nine state championship teams, which included a memorable national title run in 2007.
The Bulls’ defense this season appears to be rounding into championship form as it showed once again on Friday night at Traz Powell Stadium.
With Northwestern’s offense locked down itself by a strong Palmetto defense, the Bulls needed its own defense to hold the fort until they broke through for 28 second-half points on their way to a 28-0 shutout of the Panthers in one of this week’s Greater Miami Athletic Conference Football Series matchups.
Sophomore quarterback Neiman Lawence threw three touchdown passes and Tarvail Mathis broke loose for a 30-yard touchdown run to account for all the scoring, which began with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
“These guys continue to fight through adversity and that’s something we keep telling these kids,” Northwestern coach Jaquatin Victrum said. “(Palmetto) is a solid team and they were cashing in on our mistakes a little bit, but kudos to our guys for continuing to fight and find a way.”
The Bulls (7-1) won their seventh consecutive game since an opening week loss to California’s Orange Lutheran, and recorded their second consecutive shutout. For the season, Northwestern has allowed only 71 points, averaging 8.9 points allowed per game.
It’s a trend the Bulls hope continues so they can replicate what was a staggeringly good playoff performance by that unit last season on their way to a state title. Northwestern’s starters on defense did not allow a single point in five playoff games a year ago and permitted only 12 points overall in a second-round game when Naples Lely scored that against their reserves.
“They continue to rise to the occasion and our coaches keep challenging those guys to keep answering that bell and get that zero,” Victrum said. “We just want to keep building that momentum on that side of the ball.”
Palmetto (6-2), a team with its own state championship aspirations in Class 7A, took solace in its defense’s own performance. The Panthers held a high-powered Northwestern attack scoreless until Marcus Dumont hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence after his defender fell down in the end zone.
Linebacker Bomani Francis and safety Armond Weston each had sacks in the first half and senior Kevin White Jr. had an interception late in the second quarter that Palmetto nearly turned into points. But Northwestern’s defense forced a loss on downs just before halftime.
Christian Essix had two sacks and Jaylen Thanis had one to lead the Bulls’ defense.
The Panthers are the top seed in Region 4-7A and have two games left with Miami High and Fort Myers Bishop Verot. Victories in both should allow the Panthers to solidify that No. 1 seed as they hope to make their furthest playoff push since advancing to the state semifinals in 2020.
Two drives after Northwestern broke the scoreless stalemate, Mathis found an opening and surged to the end zone with just over 10 minutes left in the fourth to help the Bulls begin to pull away.
Lawrence then found Calvin Russell Jr. for a 13-yard touchdown, and later connected with Nicholas Lennear for a 35-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring.
The Bulls close the regular season against St. Brendan next Friday. After that, Northwestern figures to be on a collision course to play a rematch with Miami Central as the longtime neighborhood rivals are the top two seeds in Region 4-3A. The winner of said rematch, should it happen, figures to be the favorite to win the Class 3A state championship.
“We knew this was going to be a realistic test for us and they gave us all they’ve got,” Victrum said. “The team that can make the adjustments will become victorious and our coaches did a great job of that tonight for sure.”
