Winker’s South Florida High School Football Update Nov 18 2020

It’s a big week of high school football in South Florida, as teams that chose to participate in the FHSAA state championship are in the middle of regional playoffs, and other teams that “opted out” are finishing up their truncated seasons before the start of the “Tri-State Championship” after a Thanksgiving weekend bye.

This week’s action includes several big-time games, including a number of monster rematches from last year’s playoffs, and TRU Prep Academy taking on the USA Today #1 team in the nation IMG Academy Ascenders on ESPNU Friday night at 7pm

FHSAA Playoff Action

5A Northwestern Bulls (3-1) at American Heritage Patriots (6-2) Fri Nov 20 7:30pm

This is the game of the week and a rematch of last year’s regional final, when the Bulls beat the Patriots in Plantation 23-20.

This game looks closer on paper than it will likely be Friday night.

The Patriots blew out Melbourne Palm Bay (1-8) last week, while the Bulls barely escaped a trip to Key West last week with a 28-20 win after the Conchs failed to convert a 4th and goal with less than a minute remaining.

But the Patriots losses to Jacksonville Trinity Christian and St. Thomas Aquinas are probably a good indication on how they will fare against a battle tested Northwestern team, ranked 8th in the country by USA Today.

Key West may have been eliminated from the playoffs by the Bulls, but they will continue to get some games in and will be visiting Belen, who was also eliminated last week, Thursday night at 7pm.

4A Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs (4-1) vs Gulliver Prep Raiders (5-0) Fri Nov 20 7:30pm at FIU Riccardo Silva Stadium

We haven’t had a high school game in a college stadium in a while, and this should be a great matchup at Riccardo Silva Stadium at FIU. This is a big game as the winner would appear to have a pretty clear path the state championship game.

7A St. Thomas Aquinas (3-1) at Lehigh (5-4) Fri Nov 20 7pm

The Raiders travel to Lehigh after a bye week, and this should be a warm up in their quest for another state title.

3A Calvary Christian Eagles (6-0) at Chaminade-Madonna Lions (5-1) Fri Nov 20 7pm

This is another potential revenge game as Chaminade-Madonna knocked Calvary out of the playoffs last year. Coach Hoza’s Calvary Christian are for real, but they have a tough task to stop Chaminade-Madonna’s quest for a FOURTH straight state title.

8A Palmetto Panthers (2-1) at Lake Nona (4-3) Fri Nov 20 7:30pm

With Columbus opting out and not defending its state championship, there is a clear path for Palmetto to get to its first state finals. The Panthers, whose sole loss was to Northwestern, beat Dr. Phillips last week 10-0 and needs to play well at Lake Nona to continue in its quest.

6A Lely Trojans (3-5) at Central Rockets (3-1) Sat Nov 21 6pm

This is an example of some of the competitive balance problems we will continue to see in this year’s playoffs, as the Rockets will roll on in their quest to repeat at 6A state champs.

3A St. John Paul II Academy Eagles (6-2) at Edison Red Raiders (3-1) Fri Nov 20 3pm Traz Powell

This is a big game for coach Luther Campbell's Edison Red Raiders and Traz is always a tough place to play for visitors. Edison looked real good against Benjamin last week, but expect this week to be a tougher challenge.

2A Champagnat Catholic Lions (7-2) at Moore Haven Terriers (2-2) Fri Nov 20 7:30pm

Oh man, these Moore Haven Terriers have to be sick of being eliminated in the playoffs by Hector Clavijo’s Champagnat Lions. It happened last year for the third year in a row at Curtis Field. This year the game is back in Moore Haven, but look for the same result as the Lions look to repeat as state champs

Opt out Action

For those teams that “opted out” of the state playoffs, the tri-county championships start after a bye-week over Thanksgiving weekend.

There will be three divisions, 8A, 7A and 6A-1A, with 16 teams in each division split into two brackets with rankings determined by a panel of sportswriters.

Coral Gables Cavaliers (2-1) at Columbus Explorers (4-0) Fri Nov 20 7pm

I love 8A action, and 8A action between private and public schools is so great. And the rivalry between Columbus and Coral Gables makes it all even better. Coach Dunn’s Explorers are hitting on all cylinders and shut out North Miami Beach 35-0 last week. Roger Pollard’s Cavaliers will be trying to shake off their first loss of the season to South Dade 14-3. The rivalry has been a little lopsided of late in Columbus' favor, but this will be a great game.

In other opt out action last week, Deerfield Beach finally started its season with a 34-0 shutout of Blanche Ely.