High School Sports Blog

Central beats Northwestern 29-16, and ends Bulls' 4-year run as Dade's top 6A team

On a night of upsets around Dade County, Central avenged all the heartbreak of years past against Northwestern with a 29-16 victory at FIU Stadium.

We'll have all the coverage on www.miamiherald.com/hssports later tonight.

Other Dade final scores: South Dade 25, Southridge 23; Belen 19, Booker T. 17; Krop 10, Carol City 6.

Recap: Central took its first lead on a Jeffrey Godfrey 19 yard touchdown run. Brandon Gainer scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 29-16. They missed the 2-pointer

Here's a first half recap:

The Bulls struck first on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Lorenzo Shinhoster and went up 8-0 on a Bridgewater 2-point conversion

Northwestern added to the lead on another touchdown pass this time to Eli Rogers to go up 16-0

Central answered with some hard running by running back Brandon Gainer, who scored from 14 yards out to cut it to 16-8

Senior Jeffrey Godfrey threw a 25 yard touchdown pass to Joshua Reese, and then threw a 2-pointer to Charles Gaines to tie the score at 16.

Updated scores: Krop 10, Carol City 6; Booker T. 10, Belen 9

Rabasa invited to U.S. Army All-American camp

   Columbus junior defensive end Anthony Rabasa has been invited to attend the U.S.
Army National Combine in San Antonio in January 2010. Rabasa, a three-year starter for
Columbus, is the first of a few Dade juniors that could be invited to the event, which is
held annually in association with the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

   It is the first chance for the nation's top underclassmen to demonstrate their physical
talent in front of college football's top scouting organizations, as well as the U.S. Army
All-American Bowl Selection Committee, which features national recruiting analyst Tom
Lemming and Rivals.com.

Gameday blog: Central-Northwestern

This is Manny Navarro. I'll be blogging live during tonight's game between nationally ranked Miami Central and Miami Northwestern, which will be available to watch on ESPN2. Feel free to be a part of our online discussion during the game. High School Editor Andre Fernandez will update us throughout the game from the sideline.

(iPhone users are asked to be patient. It takes several minutes for CoverItLive to launch)

 

Prep football on the radio this week, plus Twitter updates

Two Broward County games will be broadcast on the radio live Thursday night.

WWFE 670 AM will be bringing you the Deerfield Beach-Cypress Bay game at 7 p.m.

1470 AM will be broadcasting the Hallandale-South Plantation game at 7 p.m.

Once again, we invite you to follow us for updates from games on www.twitter.com/HeraldSportsHS this weekend as well, starting tonight with Columbus-South Dade.

Late Thursday football summaries

Here are some games that we could not get in the paper, they will appear in Saturday's edition along with Friday's games. But here they are so you don't have to wait.

Homestead 33, Braddock 7: Even though there were signs of rust in
Homestead's play during their season opener, yet they still sent out a message to the rest
of District 16-6A Harris Field.

   Quarterback Keahn Wallace showed why he should be considered among the
elite signal callers in Miami-Dade going 17-for-24 and threw for 256
yards and three touchdowns; he also ran for one.

   "Our hard work paid off and it showed off in our play,'' Wallace said. "My offensive
line gave me all the opportunities I could have and the credit goes to them.''

   Despite Wallace's brilliant play, there were signs of rust as the
Broncos (1-0) were flagged 12 times for 82 yards.

   "We have a lot of work to do, and we have to have more discipline,'' Homestead coach
Bobby McCray said. "We're a much better team than we were last year and that is
why we have to develop our kids throughout the season.''
....JUAN ARANGO

Boca Raton Christian 56, David Posnack Hebrew Day School 0: Evan Gaines
ran for 60 yards on 25 carries and returned a kickoff 25 yards for the host Rams (0-2) at
PAL Field in Plantation. Troy Postal caught two passes, and Sam Sekoff intercepted a pass.

   For the winning Blazers (2-0), 6-3, 250 senior tight end/defensive lineman Charlie
Cowley scored twice … one on a fumble return, which he caused, and the other on a catch.

   Stephen Smith scored on a kickoff return and on an interception return, and
kicker/defensive back David Weil went 8 of 8 on extra points and blocked a punt, which
Constantine Gavrilos scored.
…JIM VARSALLONE

Hillel 43, Westwood Christian 6

Central overtakes Northwestern in one national football poll

MaxPreps shook things up in its recent Xcellent Top 25 national rankings.

Following its impressive 34-3 victory against Daytona Beach Mainland, Central ascended to the No. 7 spot in the latest poll, surpassing Northwestern, which remained at 15th following a 27-6 win against Carol City.

Northwestern remains No. 4 in ESPN's RISE Top 50 and No. 5 by USA Today. The Rockets aren't ranked by USA Today, but ESPN has them ranked 17th.

That should only spice up the pregame talk among fans leading up to the showdown Oct. 8th at FIU.

And speaking of showdowns, St. Thomas Aquinas remains unanimous No. 1 and on a collision course with No. 2 Byrnes (S.C.) Oct. 2nd.

New National Prep Football Poll has another Dade team

Fresh off its successful trip to Daytona Beach, the Central Rockets jumped into the national Top 20 rankings.

St. Thomas is still No. 1, followed by Byrnes (S.C.) at No. 2 and Miami Northwestern at No. 3.

The Rockets moved in at No. 16...and should continue to climb setting up the showdown with the Bulls on October 8th.

Here's the poll

#1. Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Aquinas (1-0-0), seeks third straight 5A crown

#2. Duncan, S.C., Byrnes (2-0-0), whipped defending 3A champ Myrtle Beach, 65-14

#3. Miami, Northwestern (1-0-0), beat state-ranked Carol City, 27-6 

#4. Valdosta, Ga., Lowndes (2-0-0), hammered state-ranked Peachtree Ridge, 51-17

#5. Cincinnati, Elder (2-0-0), beat rival Colerain, 20-7, on ESPN

#6. Cedar Hill, Texas (2-0-0), features Texas-bound LB Aaron Benson

#7. Chesapeake, Va., Smith (1-0-0), led by Alabama-committed QB Phillip Sims 

#8. Bellevue, Wash. (1-0-0), plays defending Texas 5A champ Katy Saturday 

#9. Sammamish, Wash., Skyline (1-0-0), shut out Ore. power Jesuit, 17-0

#10. Anaheim, Calif., Servite (1-0-0), blasted defending CIF-SS Pac-5 champ Poly, 30-7

#11. Cleveland, St. Ignatius (2-0-0), erased 20-point deficit to beat Northmont, 27-20

#12. Ramsey, N.J., Don Bosco (0-0-0), hosts No. 17 De La Salle Saturday

#13. Westlake Village, Calif., Oaks Christian (1-0-0), led by blue chip RB Malcolm Jones

#14. Lakeland, Fla. (0-0-0), seeks fourth 5A title in six years  

#15. Peoria, Ariz., Centennial (2-0-0), 112 points in two games 

#16. Miami, Central (1-0-0), thumped state-ranked Mainland, 34-3

#17. Concord, Calif., De La Salle (1-0-0), escaped Serra’s upset bid, 14-7 

#18. Loganville, Ga., Grayson (2-0-0), 11 straight games of less than 14 points allowed 

#19. Dallas, Skyline (1-0-0), bombed Kimball in opener, 51-2

#20. Tulsa, Okla., Union (1-0-0), beat state-ranked Broken Arrow, 17-6

#21. Cincinnati, St. Xavier (2-0-0), topped Indiana No. 1 Cathedral, 19-10

#22. Hyattsville, Md., DeMatha (1-0-0), six-time defending WCAC titlist

#23. River Ridge, La., John Curtis (1-0-0), 19 consecutive in-state wins

#24. Charlotte, N.C., Independence (3-0-0), nipped regionally ranked South Pointe, 35-32

#25. Garland, Texas (1-0-0), led by Iowa St.-bound QB Jared Barnett

The South Florida Prep Football Top 20 (Week 2)

Here's a first look at the new Miami Herald South Florida Top 20 football rankings. Check out my predictions and preview for Week 2 in Tuesday's edition of the Herald and online.

1. St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0), idle
2. Northwestern (1-0), d. Carol City 27-6
3. Central (1-0), d. Daytona Beach Mainland 34-3
4. Columbus (1-0), d. Palmetto 36-0
5. Booker T. Washington (1-0), d. Killian 40-16
6. Miramar (1-0), d. Pace 13-7 (OT)
7. Plantation (1-0), d. Northeast 26-15
8. North Miami Beach (1-0) d. Norland, 22-6

9. Monsignor Pace (0-1), lost to Miramar 13-7 (OT)
10. Cardinal Gibbons (1-0), d. Taravella 32-14
11. Cypress Bay (1-0), d. Boyd Anderson 20-15
12. Deerfield Beach (1-0), d. Coconut Creek 42-30
13. Boyd Anderson (0-1), lost to Cypress Bay 20-15
14. Dillard (0-0), Idle
15. Hialeah (1-0), d. American 22-7
16. Carol City (0-1), lost to Northwestern 27-6
17. Miami Springs (1-0), d. Westland Hialeah 41-0
18. Southridge (0-0), idle
19. University (1-0), d. Nova 20-8
20. Hollywood Hills (1-0) d. Belen, 14-8

DROPPED OUT: 18. Belen, lost to Hollywood Hills 14-8

Next 3 in Dade: Coral Gables (1-0), South Dade (1-0), Gulliver (1-0).
Next 3 in Broward: Blanche Ely (1-0), American Heritage (1-0), North Broward Prep
(1-0).

Follow High School Football on The Herald's Twitter!

If you can't make it to a stadium this weekend or if you are and want to keep up with what other teams are doing around the county, follow the Herald's updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HeraldSportsHS.

Herald Writer J.T. Wilcox is already bringing you updates from Miami Central's road trip to play Mainland in Daytona Beach this weekend. And just like last week, we will have updates from some of the top games tonight, Friday and Saturday.

You can also tune into a couple of stations this weekend for live broadcasts of the top games in Dade and Broward.

The Vista Healthcare Broward County High School Game of the Week will broadcast weekly on AM 1470 WWNN. Their first game Friday will be Cypress Bay hosting Boyd Anderson at 7 pm. The game can also be heard live at www.BrowardGameoftheweek.com.

The South Florida High School Football Game of the Week will bring you a live broadcast of the Northwestern-Carol City clash at 7:30 pm at Traz on WWFE 670 AM. The broadcast begins at 7 pm.

The Beef 'O' Brady's Scoreboard Show, which is entering its 20th year, can be heard from 10 pm to Midnight on 1660 AM.

Host Steve Berrey will once again travel the state of Florida each week, spotlighting a game and then taking calls and scores from around the state from 10 PM to midnight at a local Beef ‘O’ Brady’s.

 

Herald High School Sports coverage on Twitter beginning Aug. 27

We're tweeting!!

The Miami Herald will bring you live tweets from some of the top football games this season, beginning with tonight's preseason action. We will also bring you updates from the Aquinas-Upper Arlington game this Saturday in Ohio.

To follow, go to www.twitter.com/HeraldSportsHS 

The link can also be found on www.miamiherald.com/hssports

Here's the schedule for this weekend in Dade and Broward Counties:

THURSDAY 

Sunset at Coral Park, 3:45
Somerset at West Broward, 4
Tavernier Coral Shores at Archbishop Curley, 4
Boyd Anderson at Fort Pierce Treasure Coast, 7
Nova at Coral Glades, 7
McArthur at Fort Lauderdale, 7
Krop at Hallandale, 7
North Miami at Fort Lauderdale Dillard, 7
Miami Springs vs. Palmetto (Milander), 7
Braddock at Sunrise Piper, 7
Columbus vs. Booker T. (Curtis), 7
Norland vs. Northwestern (Traz), 7
Cypress Bay at Monsignor Pace, 7

FRIDAY, AUG. 28

Pompano Beach Blanche Ely vs. Central (Traz), 7
North Miami Beach at Deerfield Beach, 7
Ferguson at Naples Gulf Coast, 7:30
Monarch at Western, 6:30
Everglades at Douglas, 7
Palm Beach Lakes vs. Plantation (PAL), 7
South Broward at Coral Springs, 7
Riviera Beach Inlet Grove at Calvary Christian, 4
Stranahan at Miramar, 7
Zion Lutheran at Highlands Christian, 7
Pompano Beach at Marathon, 7:30
Taravella at Royal Palm Beach, 7
Cooper City at Gainesville, 7:30
Coral Springs Charter at Boca Raton Pope John Paul, 7
Belen at Delray Beach American Heritage, 7
Reagan at Southwest, 4
Edison at Coral Gables, 4
Mater vs. Miami Beach (Memorial), 7
American at Flanagan, 7
Coral Reef at Key West, 7:30
La Salle at Ransom, 7:30
Miramar Parkway at Gulliver, 4
Jackson vs. Hialeah-Miami Lakes (Milander), 7:30
Westminster Academy at Dade Christian, 7:30
Hollywood Christian at Florida Christian, 7:30
Archbishop McCarthy at Doral, 7

SATURDAY

St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Upper Arlington (Columbus, OH), noon
Preseason: Hollywood Hills vs. Northeast (Lockhart), 7
Preseason: Belle Glade Glades Central vs. Carol City (Traz), 7