Miami Norland rolls past Columbus, strengthens playoff chances
Greater Miami Athletic Conference championship week often creates rarely-seen crosstown matchups between Miami-Dade County’s top football teams.
Such games can be opportunities to strengthen a team’s playoff chances.
Miami Norland took full advantage of said opportunity on Thursday night.
Led by junior quarterback Kai Moore, who threw three touchdown passes, the Vikings dominated Miami Columbus on their way to a 30-14 victory at the Explorers’ home field as part of the GMAC football series.
Norland (4-5), which entered the week as the No. 8 and final seed in Region 4-4A, is out of contention for its district championship. The victory over Columbus figures to boost the Vikings’ cushion over the rest of the pursuing teams in the region and solidify a berth in next month’s playoffs.
The Vikings have one more game to play against district foe Plantation, which presents another chance to improve their seeding.
Columbus (3-6) continued to struggle, but is virtually assured a playoff berth due to its strength of schedule as the Explorers entered the week as the No. 4 seed in Region 4-7A. The Explorers close the regular season next week against True North, a top four team in Region 4-1A, so even a defeat isn’t expected to drop Columbus out of the playoff picture.
Moore threw for over 200 yards and completed a pair of first-half touchdown passes and two-point conversions as Norland broke a 6-6 tie after one quarter and led 22-6 at halftime.
An 8-yard touchdown strike from Moore to Armani Strong pushed the Vikings’ lead to 30-6 early in the third quarter and sealed the outcome.
Senior Maurice Clark ran for over 100 yards and also scored a first quarter touchdown on a 1-yard dive.
The GMAC series continues with more games on Friday and the championship game on Saturday at Traz Powell Stadium at 7 pitting Miami Central against Miami Southridge.
