High School Sports Blog

Stranahan hires alum Willie Hill as new football coach

Courtesy of Miami Herald writer Concepcion Ledezma

Stranahan has announced the hiring of former Dragon Willie Hill as its
new head coach on Thursday.
   A former standout as a defensive back and track star at Stranahan, the
31-year-old Hill hopes revive a struggling program which is coming off an
3-7 season.
   "This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, and I had others," said
Hill, who will be moving from Clewiston and will be on the Stranahan
faculty as a graphic photo shop teacher and head the STEM program (dual
enrollment).
   "My wife (Erin) and brother are Dragons, I come from a long line of
Stranahan graduates. I don't see our program as struggling, as much as just
having some down years. While I plan to keep most of the assistants, I am
targeting some assistants positions to fill in with guys with college
experience"
   He plans to add his brother Renaldo, also a former Dragon standout,
among his coaching staff.
   After graduating from Stranahan, where he played alongside Asante
Samuels, Hill went on to letter at Central Michigan University as a
standout receiver and track athlete while earning a degree in graphic
design.

UPDATED: Baseball, softball games rescheduled for Thursday

Here you go, hot off the presses right here from the Miami Herald.

After a fun day of rain and rescheduling and running around sloshing around Miami, here's the list of games that were postponed and were rescheduled for Thursday.

Here's Thursday's new schedule

BASEBALL regional quarterfinals

Region 4-8A: Coral Gables at American, 11 a.m.

Region 4-8A at Alex Fernandez: Hialeah at Goleman, 2

Region 4-8A: South Dade at Sunset, 11 a.m.

Region 3-8A: Cypress Bay at Douglas, 1

Region 3-8A: Coral Glades at Flanagan, 1

Region 4-7A: Monarch at St. Thomas Aquinas, 7

Region 4-7A: Nova at Northeast, 7

Region 4-6A: Belen at Archbishop McCarthy, 7

Region 4-6A at Westland Gardens Park: Pembroke Pines Charter at Mater Academy, 11 a.m.

Region 4-5A: Riviera Beach Suncoast at American Heritage, 7

Region 4-5A: Pompano Beach at Jensen Beach, 7

Region 4-4A at St. Thomas University: Gulliver vs. La Salle, 11 a.m.

Region 4-4A: TERRA at St. Brendan, 11 a.m.

Region 4-4A: North Broward Prep at Monsignor Pace, 7

Region 4-3A: Delray American Heritage at Coral Springs Christian, 7

Region 4-3A at Florida Memorial: Mater Lakes vs. Westminster Christian, 4

Region 4-3A: Dade Christian at Florida Christian, 7

Region 4-3A: Highlands Christian at Boca Raton Pope John Paul II, 7

Region 4-2A at Miami Christian: Redland Christian vs. Brito, 10 a.m.

Region 4-2A: Westwood Christian at Colonial Christian, 4

Region 4-2A: Champagnat Catholic at Zion Lutheran, 3:30

Region 4-2A at Curtis Park: Sheridan Hills Christian vs. Mater East, 7

SOFTBALL

Regional semifinals

Region 4-8A: American at Goleman, 11 a.m.

Region 4-6A at Bucky Dent Park: Pembroke Pines Charter at Mater Academy, 6

Region 4-2A: Zion Lutheran at Sheridan Hills Christian, 2

Only games that have been played so far Wednesday are:

Baseball

Region 4-8A: Killian 1, Southwest 0

Region 4-4A: Coral Springs Charter 14, Archbishop Carroll 4

Softball

Region 4-8A Coral Reef-Palmetto suspended 2-1 in 1st. was going to play Wednesday night at Palmetto Bay Park.

Region 4-4A: Coral Springs Charter 13, Monsignor Pace 0

Region 4-2A: Princeton Christian 18, Westwood Christian 3

Weather postpones some softball regional semifinals

            Inclement weather led to the postponement of several regional softball semifinal games Tuesday.

            Region 4-8A: The Palmetto-Coral Reef game was moved to Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Coral Reef. The American-Goleman was also rescheduled for Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Goleman.

            Region 4-6A: The Pembroke Pines Charter- Mater Academy game was moved to Wednesday at Bucky Dent Park at 7 p.m.

            Region 4-4A: The Coral Springs Charter- Monsignor Pace game was moved to noon Wednesday at Pace.

            Region 4-2A: The Westwood Christian-Princeton Christian game was moved to Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Princeton Christian. The Zion Lutheran-Sheridan Hills Christian game was moved to Thursday at Sheridan Hills tentatively at 4 p.m.

American Heritage RB Sony Michel chooses Georgia

            Sony Michel said he wanted "something different."

            Michel, Plantation American Heritage's phenom running back, decided Friday the best place to find it was at the University of Georgia.

            Michel, ranked the No. 2 running back in the nation by ESPN, committed to the Bulldogs during a televised announcement on ESPNU broadcast from a studio in Davie.

            Michel had recently said he was considering the University of Miami, as well as Florida, FSU and Notre Dame.

“Georgia was a wonderful place from first day I stepped on campus there I loved it,” Michel said. “Georgia felt like something different and I wanted to experience something different.”

            Michel (6-0, 205 pounds) ran for 1,825 and 18 touchdowns in the eighth grade and last season bounced back strong from a torn ACL that forced him to miss his sophomore year with 1,264 yards and 18 touchdowns.

            Michel helped the Patriots win a district title and advance to the regional playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Michel picked up a red Georgia cap then put it down during the broadcast, but only to replace it with a black Georgia cap, which he then put on. Michel said the Twitter account with his name that recently posted that he was planning “a shocker” on Friday was not actually his.

 “These last few years have been awesome getting the opportunity to do what every kid loves to do,” Michel said. “Georgia was the school I felt most comfortable at and really liked and they’re style of offense was all me.”

            Michel said he was also excited to compete for a place in an already talented backfield with tailbacks Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall, who are each coming off strong freshman seasons.

“Those two running backs gave me the itch to go to Georgia in the first place,” Michel said. “I feel like I can go in and compete. I want to earn my spot because I don’t want anything given to me. I just go out there and compete if I can go out there I feel like my whole mindset is to dominate.”

New Central football coach Roland Smith excited about opportunity to return to sidelines

Roland Smith called me back this morning to talk about his new job coaching the defending state champion Miami Central football team.

The Rockets officially hired Smith Wednesday to replace Telly Lockette, who was hired to be the running backs coach at the University of South Florida in March.

Smith returns to coaching high school football in Miami-Dade County after six seasons away. Smith had been teaching at North Miami Middle School.

"I’m very excited for this opportunity and grateful to Miami Central for offering it to me," said Smith in a phone interview Thursday morning. "I’ve got a lot of energy and I’m excited to get back and help these guys try to win another state title and excel on the national level."

Smith guided his alma mater Northwestern to a state championship and a perfect 15-0 season in 2006. Smith was then removed along with the majority of his coaching staff at the time by former Dade schools superintendent Rudy Crew in the wake of the scandal involving former Bulls running back Antwain Easterling.

Smith and his coaches were cleared of all wrongdoing in the matter in the ensuing months.

During his six seasons as Northwestern’s coach, Smith led the Bulls to a 69-13 record (best of any team during that span), a state title, a state runner-up finish in 2001, and state semifinal appearances in 2002 and 2005.

Smith had been rumored to be in the running for a few premier coaching vacancies in recent years, including Northwestern and Booker T. Washington, before they hired their current coaches.

"I didn’t want to rush into just any situation," Smith said. "When Central contacted me I was at the Youth Fair with my son, and I was excited they had me in mind. I told them I needed a little time to think about it. The great thing is I get to coach again with a lot of guys that coached with me in the past and have done an excellent job here [at Central]. I’m so proud and happy to get a chance to coach with them again."

Smith takes over a Central program that ranks among the nation’s best, having won two Class 6A state championships in the past three seasons under Lockette, who guided the Rockets to a 60-10 record in five seasons.

Smith said he was set to meet with his new team Thursday afternoon.

Central has advanced to three consecutive state finals and have not lost to a Dade opponent since 2008.

In hopes of making it three championships in four years, the Rockets will take on a challenging schedule this coming season that includes a trip to New Jersey to take on national powerhouse Don Bosco Prep and games against defending Class 4A state champion Booker T. Washington, Class 3A champion Davie University School, Plantation American Heritage, Norland, Northwestern, Carol City, Homestead and Coral Reef.

Blanche Ely basketball coach Melvin Randall named Coach of the Year

Blanche Ely boys’ basketball coach Melvin Randall was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Association’s Florida Coach of the Year Tuesday.

Randall led the Tigers to their second consecutive state championship, third during his tenure and fourth in the program’s history this past season. Ely went 27-1 earned a national ranking and recently participated in ESPN’s National High School Invitational.

Randall is the second Broward coach to earn the award joining former Ely coach Wade Edmond (1996).

Miami Northwestern-St. Thomas Aquinas to play in football in 2013

            For years, fans have asked, “Who would win if Northwestern and St. Thomas Aquinas played each other?”

            They’ll get an answer this fall.

           Northwestern and St. Thomas Aquinas agreed this week to play their mutual season-opener at Sun Life Stadium on the weekend of August 29-31. The date will be finalized once the schedules for the University of Miami and the Miami Dolphins are released.

            "It's pretty much all set, we're just working out a few of the details now," Northwestern athletic director Andre Williams told The Miami Herald Thursday morning.

    The two programs have combined for 11 state championships and three national titles. St. Thomas Aquinas won its seventh state crown this past season winning the Class 7A championship and won national titles in 2008 and 2010.

Northwestern went 9-3 last season reaching the Class 6A regional semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Central.

            Northwestern has won four (1995, 1998, 2006, 2007) including a national championship in 2007.

Archbishop McCarthy beats Gulliver during Marlins Park Winter Warm-Up

Three-time defending state champion Archbishop McCarthy beat Gulliver Prep 3-1 on Saturday as part of the third annual Field of Dreams game at Marlins Park. It was held during the MetroPCS Miami Marlins Winter Warm Up.

Junior left-hander Brian Gonzalez, who also produced a two-run double in the first inning, earned the victory. The Raiders manufactured a run in the sixth on junior shortstop Joe Dunand's RBI line drive to right-center field following a leadoff single, balk and groundout. The Mavericks countered with an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning on junior outfielder Brandon Vicens' sacrifice fly.

CHRISTINA DE NICOLA

Late Saturday boys' basketball district results

Late Saturday – District 16-6A final – Norland 57, Northwestern 52 – NOR: McKnight 9, Roberts 2, Henry 4, McCrea 17, Deceus 8, Mike 1, Williams 7, Johnson 9. Half: NOR 25-23. Three-pointers: McKnight, Johnson. Rebounds: McCrea 9. Assists: Johnson 6. Blocks: Williams 4.

Late Saturday – District 15-4A final - Ransom Everglades 56, Doral Academy 19

– RE (24-2): Mourning 7, Singer 14, Campano 2, Rivlin 1, Stern 4, Ertel 3, Roach 10, Marx 11, Bonner 1, Rose 3. DOR: Fernandez 2, Ruiz 7, Fernandez 5, Pierre 2, Steel 1, Marcondes 2. Three-pointers: Marx 3, Rose. Rebounds: Mourning 15. Assists: Ertel 6. Blocks: Mourning 6. Steals: Singer, Ertel 4.

Late Saturday – District 16-4A final - Gulliver Prep 71, Key West 53 -

GUL: Beattie 8, Ralat 20, Carreras 15, Lafuente 17, Thomas 9, Paniz 2. Half: G 38-29. Rebounds: Ralat 9. Steals: Ralat 4. Assists: Ralat, Lafuente, Thomas 3. Blocks: Ralat 2. G 21-6.

Late Saturday – District 14-2A final – Champagnat Catholic 66, Hebrew Academy 37

Late Friday – District 14-8A final – Miami High 62, Miami Springs 51

National Signing Day: St. Thomas Aquinas DL Joey Bosa

Here's a National Signing Day interview with St. Thomas Aquinas DL Joey Bosa.

Video courtesy of Herald writer Christina De Nicola