It's just an idea right now, nothing concrete, but University School football coach Roger Harriott said he has had informal discussions with the Dolphins and the head coaches at Miami Central, Booker T. Washington and St. Thomas Aquinas about scheduling a Battle of the State Champs to kickoff the 2013 season in August.
The event would be unprecedented and potentially a huge draw in South Florida because all four programs won state titles in December and are expected to begin the 2013 season nationally ranked.
The tentative matchups, coaches said, would pit reigning Class 4A state champion Booker T. Washington against 7A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas. The other matchup would be 6A champion Central and defending 3A champion University School. The Suns were moved up to Class 4A recently during realignment -- thus the reason it would not play Booker T.
"I think right now it's a matter of agreeing on a date and working with the Dolphins to get the field at Sun Life Stadium," said Booker T. Washington coach Tim "Ice" Harris. "It's a special opportunity for all of South Florida to see four great teams play and for the nation to see just how talented we are down here. I'm pretty sure all of us would play against each other if we could."
Harriott said his program has also been in discussions with Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) about scheduling a game for 2013. Don Bosco beat Aquinas last season here in South Florida. Central, meanwhile, rallied to beat Booker T. in the second game of the 2012 season.
"At the end of the day it's a great experience to go out of state, but when you have four teams that could be in the Top 10 in the country all so close to each other you've got to try and make it happen," Harriott said. "The community would want to see us play in person instead of play on ESPN anyway. Hopefully we can make it happen. We are all for it on our end. It would be a great experience."
