Season opens with prime matchups
St. Thomas, Gibbons face tough debuts
Another season of high school football in talent-rich South Florida is upon us, and right off the bat, elite matchups are put on display.
On Saturday night, St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons, ranked No. 1 and 2 in the Sun Sentinel’s preseason Broward County top 10, will host DeMatha (Maryland) and Miami Central, respectively. MaxPreps ranks Aquinas eighth nationally with DeMatha 46th. The GibbonsCentral pairing pins top 20 teams in the nation, with MaxPreps ranking Central 13th and Gibbons 19th.
St. Thomas coach Roger Harriott said he has senior Curt Casteel, a Harvard commit, “penciled in” as Saturday’s starter. He wants fellow seniors Mariano Valenti, a Northern Illinois commit, and Kyle Engel to be prepared to step in if called upon and added competition will continue throughout the season.
It’s the second consecutive season the Raiders start off by hosting a national showdown, last year topping California’s St. John Bosco. ESPN2 will air the action from Brian Piccolo Stadium.
The Chiefs host the Rockets, which will be one of the Class 6A front-runners out of Miami, along with District 16-6A rivals Carol City and Northwestern. With standout defensive end
Khris Bogle out with a knee sprain, Gibbons looks to keep Central’s potent offense in check after the Rockets topped reigning Class 8A state runner-up Atlantic 39-7 in a kickoff classic.
Earlier Saturday evening, likely the top two contests in Palm Beach County the opening week take place with Palm Beach Central playing at Atlantic and Dwyer hosting Park Vista, both at 5 p.m.
Both games were pushed to Saturday after the Broncos and Panthers were the two teams playing when gunshots stopped their preseason game last Friday in the fourth quarter. The rest of the action in Palm Beach kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday, up an hour as a security measure following the incident at Central.
On Friday night, a big Broward-vs.-Broward battle of state title contenders will take place as Chaminade-Madonna hosts Deerfield Beach. It will be Chaminade’s first night game at home as the Lions have their newly installed lighting system ready to go.
Chaminade impressed in a kickoff classic at Miami Columbus, another 8A contender, edging the Explorers 10-7 in one half of a jamboree that also included Hallandale. Deerfield, eager to make a deep run this postseason after last year ended in a regional quarterfinal upset against Western, beat Stranahan and former assistant Travis Harden 40-0 in its preseason exhibition.
Like Gibbons, District 16-5A rival American Heritage gets to test itself against one of Miami’s 6A powers, getting Carol City at home. The Chiefs topped the Associated Press’ opening state poll in its classification, as did the Patriots, winners of four of the last five Class 5A championships. They come off a 48-24 kickoff classic win over University School.
Speaking of U-School, the Sharks open the regular season by getting Glades Central at home in a key early tilt for points in Region 4-4A. Last year, University faced the Raiders in the regular season and again in the playoffs, winning both matchups.
Miramar, coming off a breakthrough district titlewinning season, opens up at home against defending 6A champ Northwestern.
If you like the ground game, you’ll want to check out Plantation at West Broward, which plays home games at Flanagan, on Friday night. The Colonels’ Wing-T offense against the single-wing attack of the Bobcats should make for a physical affair.
The local action starts tonight as Taravella hosts South Plantation ahead of the rest at Coral Springs High.