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.

Joyner, Riggs selected to Under Armour game

First, offensive lineman Brandon Linder and kicker Michael Palardy found out they were headed to San Antonio.

On Thursday morning, defensive back Cody Riggs and wide receiver/kick returner Lamarcus Joyner accepted an invitation to Tampa.

Riggs and Joyner became the latest players from the St. Thomas Aquinas football team to be invited to a national high school football All-Star game when the duo was selected to the 2010 Under Armour All-America game.

The game will take place Jan. 2 at 11 a.m. at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg and will be televised by ESPN.

They join Linder and Palardy, who earlier this month were invited to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio Jan. 9.

Riggs has six pass break-ups, an interception and three blocked kicks this season. And Joyner has 746 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns, including three on kickoff returns, this season for the defending national champion Raiders.

Aquinas closes its regular season this weekend against Cypress Bay at home Friday at 8 p.m., before hosting Coral Springs at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20 in the Region 4-5A quarterfinals.

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)

 

Carol City, Miami lead the way in the NFL

DeMatha Catholic High School (Hyattsville, Maryland) with seven players, tops the list of high schools with the most 2009 NFL players, USA Football announced. But Carol City, with 5, the City of Miami (31) and the state of Florida (176) also boast a number of quality athletes on National Football League rosters.
 
"I'm very proud to have been a part of their program," says Philadelphia Eagles running back BRIAN WESTBROOK.  "My high school coach (BILL MC GREGOR, the 2004 NFL High School Coach of the Year) continues to be an inspiration and source of support for me."
 
The totals are based on the 1,695-man 2009 NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters (September 10, 13-14).
 
NFL players from Kickoff rosters hail from 1,376 high schools in 48 states and the District of Columbia, five countries and one U.S. territory (American Samoa).
 
Players from the schools that have produced the most NFL players expressed fond memories of their high school days, and appreciation for the way their school's football programs are run:
 
• WASHINGTON REDSKINS WR SANTANA MOSS (Carol City, Miami, FL):  "I think a lot of the credit has to go to the coach, Walt Frazier, who retired two years ago. We had a lot of great athletes, but he was able to instill discipline in us, which allowed us to play at any level.  We took that discipline to college and, for those of us fortunate enough, to the NFL.  He kept us humble, me in particular.  I was a starter for three years, but didn't catch many balls until my senior year.  He kept us humble and patient and then when the time came, he helped us take advantage of the opportunity. He made sure we were in school.  Actually, he made us come to school early to watch film so we were there even before the school day started.  It is a place that is blessed with athletic talent, kids who are willing to sacrifice, a community that supports the program and good people at the top."
 
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS RB MAURICE JONES-DREW (De La Salle, Concord, CA):  "Playing at De La Salle is an experience I will never forget.  It was a family atmosphere where you were committed to winning and doing the right thing.  You trusted the person next to you that he would get the job done and that same guy expected the same out of you.  Sure, the winning was great but it was the bond among the guys in the locker room that remains with me to this day.  We all bought into the idea of working together toward a common goal.  We worked hard year-round to make sure we kept up the standard that is expected at that school.  To go undefeated during your high school career is something you never forget."
 
• ARIZONA CARDINALS WR STEVE BREASTON (Woodland Hills, Pittsburgh, PA):  "High school is when you're around a group of guys you grew up with.  You've been playing with most of them since you were young.  When I was in high school, I knew I was a talented athlete, but I didn't really think about the next level as far as football.  A lot of people kept me grounded.  Academics carried me a long way.  It got me into a lot of situations and gave me a lot of opportunity.  It helps you be successful in life."

HIGH SCHOOLS WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS

DeMatha Catholic, Hyattsville, Maryland – 7: Quinn Ojinnaka, ATL; John Owens, SEA; Derek Wake, MIA; Brian Westbrook, PHI; Byron Westbrook, WAS; Josh Wilson, SEA; Edwin Williams, WAS.

Carol City, Miami – 5: Ricky Jean-Francois, SF; Rashad Jeanty, CIN; Santana Moss, WAS; Sinorice Moss, NYG; Kenny Phillips, NYG.

De La Salle, Concord, California – 5: Matt Gutierrez, KC; Maurice Jones-Drew, JAX; Derek Landri, JAX; Demetrius Williams, BLT; D.J. Williams, DEN.

Eleanor Roosevelt, Greenbelt, Maryland – 5: Derrick Burgess, NE; Will Davis, ARZ; Jared Gaither, BLT; Derrick Harvey, JAX; Derrick Williams, DET.

Glenville, Cleveland, Ohio – 5: Ted Ginn, Jr., MIA; Antwaun Molden, HST; Troy Smith, BLT; Donte Whitner, BUF; Pierre Woods, NE.

Woodland Hills, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania – 5: Steve Breaston, ARZ; Ryan Mundy, PIT; Lousaka Polite, MIA; Shawntae Spencer, SF; Jason Taylor, MIA.
 
Ten high schools have four players each in the NFL this year.  Forty-four schools boast three NFLers, while 174 have two players apiece:
Deep Creek, Chesapeake, VA – 4
Narbonne, Harbor City, CA – 4
Dillard, Ft. Lauderdale, FL – 4
Provine, Jackson, MI – 4
Long Beach Polytechnic, Long Beach, CA – 4
St. Ignatius, Cleveland, OH – 4
Los Alamitos, Los Alamitos, CA – 4
Tustin, Tustin, CA – 4
Miami Senior – 4
Wayzata, Wayzata, MN – 4

Number of high schools with 3 NFL players:  44
Number of high schools with 2 NFL players:  174
Number of high schools with 1 NFL player: 1,143
 
STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS
1. California – 205
2. Texas – 179
3. Florida – 176
4. Ohio – 90
5. Georgia – 80
Louisiana – 80
7. Alabama – 53
8. South Carolina – 51
Virginia – 51
10. Pennsylvania – 50
11. Michigan – 49
12. North Carolina – 46
13. Maryland – 43
New Jersey – 43

HOMETOWNS WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS
1. Miami – 31
2. Houston – 23
3. Detroit – 15
4. Dallas – 12
5. Los Angeles – 11
New Orleans – 11
Cincinnati – 11
Cleveland – 11
Jacksonville – 11
10. Chicago – 10
11. Atlanta – 9
Columbus – 9
Washington, D.C. – 9
14. Charlotte – 8
 
NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA:  Louisiana, with one NFL player for every 55,862 residents, led the list of NFL players per capita based on Kickoff Weekend rosters.  Mississippi (1 in 67,730) and South Carolina (1 in 78,667) rounded out the top three.  The national average is one NFL player per 166,031 U.S. residents.
 
STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA
Texas (20,851,820) – 179 – 1 NFL player per 116,491 people
Florida (15,982,378) – 176 – 1 NFL player per 90,809 people
Louisiana (4,468,976) – 80 – 1 NFL player per 55,862 people
Georgia (8,186,453) – 80 – 1 NFL player per 102,331 people
Alabama (4,447,100) – 53 – 1 NFL player per 83,908 people
South Carolina (4,012,012) – 51 – 1 NFL player per 78,667 people
Maryland (5,296,486) – 43 – 1 NFL player per 123,174 people
Mississippi (2,844,658) – 42 – 1 NFL player per 67,730 people
Hawaii (1,211,537) – 13 – 1 NFL player per 93,195 people
District of Columbia (572,059) – 7 – 1 NFL player per 81,723 people

COUNTRIES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA
United States (281,421,906) – 1,695 – 1 NFL player per 166,031 people
* Based on most recent U.S. Census Data (2000).
 
AMERICAN SAMOA: The United States territory of American Samoa has six NFL players, including two with the Cincinnati Bengals - DE Jonathan Fanene and DT Domata Peko.  The others are Dallas DT Junior Siavii, Chicago DT Matt Toeaina, Miami DT Paul Soliai and San Francisco DT Isaac Sopoaga.
 
INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE: 
Canada – 10: Oshiomogho Atogwe, SL; Daniel Federkeil, IND; Israel Idonije, CHI; Nick Kaczur, NE; L.P.Ladouceur, DAL; Vaughn Martin, SD; Brett Romberg, ATL; Jon Ryan, SEA; Shaun Suisham, WAS; Jamaal Westerman, NYJ.

Australia – 3: Ben Graham, NYJ; Mat McBriar, DAL; Saverio Rocca, PHI.

Germany – 1: Sebastian Vollmer, NE.

Great Britain – 1: Rhys Lloyd, CAR.

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.

FIU lands top quarterback prospect

When Florida International University visited Alabama over the weekend and played the Crimson Tide tough for over three quarters, many players had the opportunity to see what the future of this impressive program looked like. On Monday, the Golden Panthers took another step in becoming a force on the collegiate football landscape with yet another commitment.

With a number of high-profile athletes already on the roster, FIU added another top-flight commitment when Neptune Beach Fletcher quarterback Jake Medlock chose Mario Cristobal's growing squad over Arkansas, Florida Atlantic, Mississippi State, Miami, Iowa State and LSU, who all had interest in the process.

"I wanted to stay in Florida and I love the coaching staff at FIU," Medlock told Hays Carlyon of Jacksonville.com. "I loved it when I went down there in the summer. Offensively, they throw the ball a lot. They also run the spread and the zone-read option."

Medlock, who has started more than 20 games for the Senators, is currently nursing a shoulder injury suffered in a season-opening win over Nease. He sat out last week's loss to Jacksonville Sandalwood.

As a junior, Medlock led his school to its first undefeated regular season in 70 years. As a sophomore, he passed for over 1,000 yards for a team that finished 8-3.

"Jake emerged as one of the top five quarterbacks in the state," said Corey Long of Friday Night Football magazine Florida. "His arm strength, size (6-3, 220) and leadership ability made him one of the top prospects."

FIU has been busy over the past week, getting commitments from Ocala Trinity Catholic running back Kedrick Rhodes and LaSalle defensive back Sam Miller, Jr.

Catch up on all our stories, rankings, commitments and all other archived information by clicking on Miami Herald Recruiting Information:

HERALD RECRUITING INFORMATION

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.

Beef O'Brady's State Poll – Week 1

FORT MYERS - The following is the Beef 'O' Brady's Top 25 high school football poll. First place votes are in parentheses, followed by classification, record and points.

1. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) (10) 5A 1-0 250
2. Miami Northwestern 6A 1-0 238
3. Miami Central 6A 1-0 231
4. Pahokee 2B 1-0 212
5. Glades Central (Belle Glade) 2A 1-0 206
6. Bolles (Jacksonville) 2B 1-0 202
7. Armwood (Seffner) 4A 1-0 194
8. Lakeland 5A 1-0 182
9. Manatee (Bradenton) 5A 1-0 153
10. Niceville 4A 1-0 145
11. Charlotte (Punta Gorda) 4A 1-0 136
12. Booker T. Washington (Miami) 3A 1-0 124
13. Osceola (Kissimmee) 5A 1-0 113
14. Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) 4A 0-1 105
15. Tampa Bay Tech 5A 1-0 93
16. St. Augustine 3A 1-0 87
17. Dr. Phillips (Orlando) 6A 1-0 86
18. Plant (Tampa) 5A 0-1 71
19. Mainland (Daytona Beach) 6A 0-1 65
20. Naples 3A 1-0 62
21. North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) 1A 0-0 49
22. Apopka 6A 1-0 45
23. Tampa Catholic 2B 1-0 42
24. Hillsborough (Tampa) 4A 0-1 20
T25. Columbus (Miami) 6A 1-0 19
T25. Lakewood (St. Petersburg) 3A 1-0 19

Others receiving votes
Jackson (Jacksonville) 3A 1-0 17
Jefferson (Tampa) 3A 1-0 16
Largo 4A 1-0 16
Monsignor Pace (Miami) 2B 0-1 11
Miramar 6A 1-0 10
Atlantic (Delray Beach) 6A 0-1 8
Lincoln (Tallahassee) 4A 0-1 8
Pace 4A 1-0 5
Cocoa 2A 0-0 3
Miami Jackson 3A 1-0 3
Oviedo 5A 0-1 3
Gainesville 4A 1-0 1
Jupiter Christian 1B 1-0

Catch up on all our stories, rankings, commitments and all other archived information by clicking on Miami Herald Recruiting Information:

HERALD RECRUITING INFORMATION