American Heritage hosts Liberty (Nev.)
No. 8 Patriots will face Triple-I offense
PLANTATION — American Heritage can put itself in the national championship discussion with another victory Friday night.
The Patriots, ranked eighth in the country in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, already went up to Virginia to take down the state’s top-ranked team, Bishop Sullivan Catholic, and won a kickoff classic against perennial Miami power Booker T. Washington (yes, a preseason result can impact national title aspirations). Now, they can catapult themselves even more with a win against another nationally recognized foe when Liberty (Nev.) visits.
Their focus is not nearly that far-sighted, though.
“It puts us right in the conversation,” American Heritage coach Patrick Surtain said. “But that stuff is a long ways away. We only can control what we can control. That’s go out Friday night, win another football game and become 2-0.”
With his defense facing an offense it hasn’t seen before, the team understands it cannot afford to look ahead. Liberty, ranked 24th nationally in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings, runs the Triple-I where three backs
will line up directly behind the quarterback, allowing for various options, counters and misdirections.
Stressing the importance of discipline, assignment football and lane containment, Surtain pulled a page out of the Bill Belichick book.
“The message for this week was ‘Do your job.’ Let the defense take care of itself and everything else will be good,” he said. “One mistake when they’re running that triple-I and the running back breaks — watching film on that last week, that’s exactly what happened.”
Two key defensive players won’t suit up for the Patriots. Five-star cornerback Patrick Surtain II remains out after tweaking his knee in the kickoff classic against Miami Booker T. Washington. Linebacker Calvin Hart is banged-up after the Bishop Sullivan game. Running back Jordan Johnson also will not play.
“It’s next man up,” Surtain the coach said. “We have guys at those positions who can step up and get the job done. We’re not expecting any different than if those guys were in there.”
It helps when you have another five-star corner in Tyson Campbell. Opposite of him, junior Clarence Burley has slid into Surtain’s spot formidably.
The defense will lean up front on the continued strong play of tackle Nesta Silvera and end Andrew Chatfield. Silvera had 12 tackles and three for loss in the opener against Bishop Sullivan while Chatfield registered 11 with two sacks.
“Whether it’s an 0-10 team or undefeated team, our goal is always to just beat them and play our best game,” Silvera said.
Miramar opens with Chaminade
After a Week 1 bye, coach A.J. Scott will make his fulltime head coaching debut for Miramar as the Patriots host their first regular-season game against Class 3A’s top-ranked ChaminadeMadonna.
Miramar has used the extra time to game plan for the Lions and recover after a few players were injured in the kickoff classic victory against Palm Beach Lakes. Chaminade, meanwhile, was pounded in a tough 48-24 loss to Miami Central last Thursday.
“I know coach [Dameon] Jones and his guys are going to be real hungry. We’re hungry [too], so let the hungriest team win,” Scott said
Receiver Terrence Horne is out for Miramar. Dominick Watt, who transferred this summer from McArthur, knows he will have to step up in Horne’s absence, but it’s nothing he’s not used to.
“I’ve been stepping up since McArthur, so it’s just me doing what I do,” Watt said.
Scott also hopes his stable of three running backs can provide some balance for Watt and quarterback Steve Williams in the passing game. Defensively, Scott is trying to see if middle linebacker Jha’Qwon Farlin can go tonight. If not, Tavares Ladler and Xavier Zavala will be instrumental in containing Chaminade running back Shaun Shivers, an Auburn commit.
Familiar faces
Cardinal Gibbons players have seen American Heritage-Delray’s quarterback before. He used to play on their team.
Junior John Dunmore, a Florida commit as a receiver, has taken over under center for the Stallions with Ryan Rizk still out since sustaining an injury in the preseason jamboree. He was with Gibbons as a sophomore after spending freshman year at Fort Lauderdale.
The two come into the cross-county matchup following contrasting opening outings in Miami-Dade County.
The Chiefs won in impressive fashion Saturday night against defending Class 8A state champ Southridge while Heritage dropped one in overtime against Belen.
Deerfield heads to New Jersey
Heritage isn’t the only Broward team playing a national game this week. Deerfield Beach, after knocking off reigning 6A champion Carol City, heads to New Jersey to face St. Joseph Regional, ranked 21st nationally by MaxPreps as it plays its opener.
The stout Bucks defense looks to keep quarterback Nick Patti and tight end Matt Alaimo, both committed to Pittsburgh, under control.
Palm Beach showdown
Dwyer tries to keep the momentum of an overtime win over Park Vista going, hosting a strong Atlantic team that looks to avoid an 0-2 start after dropping a 14-13 opener to Palm Beach Central due to a missed extra point. The Eagles, a Class 8A regional finalist a year ago, are off to a slow start after also falling 20-16 kickoff classic against Blanche Ely.