Andre C. Fernandez: Norland’s defense capable of shutting down South Dade’s prolific offense

Led by Emmett Rice’s five sacks, Norland devastated American 31-0 last week in one of the most dominant defensive performances I’ve seen in quite some time.

The Vikings face a tougher test against South Dade, which sports one of the best offensive lines and running games in the state.

The Bucs gave a brief glimpse of that potential last week driving 75 yards on six plays for a touchdown against Coral Gables. The weather prevented me and everyone else at Gables from getting a good look at the rest of the Bucs’ squad that day.

Home field advantage will be in South Dade’s favor as Harris Field should help slow down that quick and aggressive Norland attack.

But on any surface, it’s hard for me to pick against what I saw from Norland last week.

The Vikings held American to 11 total yards and in minus-yardage until very late in that game. South Dade’s offense is far better than American’s right now, but it remains to be seen if it can move the football effectively against one of the county’s, state’s and maybe even the country’s top defenses.

Southridge hired veteran coach Billy Rolle in the hopes of taking the next step toward state championship contention.

The Spartans have looked solid through two weeks — especially on defense — where it has allowed only seven points. And that came in the fourth quarter with the outcome decided against Krop.

Victories over the Lightning and Edison aren’t bad, but wins against a team like Columbus are what Southridge needs to prove it’s worthy of state title consideration.

The Explorers have also looked dominant on the defensive side of the ball and survived tough games against two of the better teams in town in wins against Jackson and Northwestern.

Columbus hasn’t completely clicked on offense yet, although it has had moments.

This week will be another challenge against a team the Explorers might see in the postseason.

I have to go with Columbus based on what I’ve seen so far. But the Spartans are definitely capable of a surprise result.

Jackson hasn’t had this good of an opportunity to beat Booker T. Washington in recent memory.

The Tornadoes have swept this series since reopening as a high school in 1999 and many of those meetings have been pretty lopsided.

I doubt this one will be.

Jackson has too much talent this season and one of the better quarterbacks in the county in Desmond Phillips leading the way.

Booker T. Washington bounced back from that embarrassing loss to St. Thomas with a 41-0 win over Monsignor Pace. While the Generals present a drastically tougher obstacle than Pace, one development was telling. Booker T. started freshman quarterback Daniel Richardson and he didn’t disappoint, passing for 318 yards and four touchdowns. If it wasn’t a fluke, look for Booker T. to develop some momentum this week and score its first big win of 2015.

Boyd Anderson already has two more wins than it did all of last season.

But you can’t gauge the Cobras’ improvement just from its record. Boyd Anderson has looked dominant, especially on defense the past two weeks and might have what it takes to win the District 15-6A title.

But this week’s game will be one of its toughest challenges all season.

Creek brings its high-powered offense and talented cast of All-Americans back home following a frustrating loss to Flanagan that no doubt left the Cougars hungry for more. They’ll get back on track this week.