Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Every play counts as it’s Muck Bowl time again for rivals Pahokee and Glades Central
It’s one of the most anticipated rivalry games in the country.
With just 13 miles separating Glades Central and Pahokee, who have produced dozens of NFL players and captured a combined 12 state titles, there’s no shortage of fireworks when the two teams hit the field.
Tonight, all eyes in the two communities will be on the Muck Bowl as the fierce rivals square off.
“It’s a feverish pitch,” said Pahokee coach Orson Walkes of the atmosphere. “Folks clamoring on every play. There’s nothing small about any play in the Muck Bowl. Even a kickoff that goes out of the end zone, folks are like, ‘Wow, you see the leg on that kid.’
“Everything gets magnified in the Muck Bowl. Your average high school game isn’t going to have former NFL guys in the stands examining every play that happens, watching guys who could one day be playing in the NFL.”
Glades Central (6-2) will be aiming for revenge tonight after the Blue Devils won last year’s Muck Bowl 27-14 to snap the team’s eight-game losing skid against the Raiders. The home team will have a new but familiar face roaming the sideline this year as Jessie Hester is back in his second stint as Glades Central’s head coach.
While Hester, who previously led the Raiders from 2008-10, is undefeated against the Blue Devils, he knows losing the Muck Bowl isn’t something either community takes lightly.
“My first year coaching, I remember playing Pahokee and we were ahead at halftime,” Hester said. “We’re coming off the field [at halftime] and we have guys screaming and yelling at the kids and saying that we can’t coach and we were winning. But we were supposed to be ahead more than what the score was reflecting at the time.”
While the rivalry is fierce, Hester also knows the camaraderie between the two football powers and how football can bring the two communities together. After accepting the Glades Central job in January, Hester said the atmosphere at Pahokee’s state semifinal game last season was a key factor to go after the Raiders’ job once again.
“I was really swayed [to apply for the Glades Central job] when I went to the Pahokee game and saw the excitement of the crowd,” Hester said in January. “It gave me a flashback to the old Muck Bowl games and to see Glades Central fans supporting Pahokee fans, it gave me a sense of belonging that I really needed to come back and get Central back to where it was.”
Tonight’s showdown has even more importance this season as playoff seeding is on the line for the both teams. In previous years, postseason matchups were set up prior to the game and the Muck Bowl was solely for bragging rights.
Pahokee (6-2) currently enters the final week of the regular season as the No. 1 seed in Region 1-1A, but a loss could drop them to three, meaning they would have to travel for their first round contest as opposed to having the luxury of playing at home.
The Blue Devils, who captured the Class 1A state title last season before having it revoked due to an ineligible player, hosted the first three rounds during its championship run.
A win would also be extremely beneficial for the Raiders in terms of seeding. Glades Central is currently fourth in Region 4-4A, and while the team likely isn’t in jeopardy of falling out of the playoffs, a victory could propel them to the No. 2 or 3 seed.