ATLANTIC TAKES 11-GAME STREAK INTO 8A STATE SEMIFINAL
Three Palm Beach County football teams spent Black Friday on the gridiron. Atlantic and Oxbridge Academy moved on after winning their third-round state playoff games.
Pahokee fell to unbeaten Madison County in a Class 1A state semifinal, and ended its season at 8-3.
The ThunderWolves will play Hollywood-Chaminade Madonna Dec. 9 in Orlando for the Class 3A state championship. We’ll preview that contest next week.
The Eagles will host sur- prising Miami High on Friday in a Class 8A state semifinal. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
■ Miami High (11-1) at Atlantic (11-1): After losing in consecutive seasons in the Class 8A regional championship game, the Eagles barreled over that hurdle with a 35-22 win over Davie-Western to move on to the state semifinals.
As usual, Atlantic’s defense played a key role in the win. The unit recorded five interceptions, with two returned for touchdowns.
The Eagles will need another strong defensive performance Friday against Miami High, which fought its way out of an always tough Miami region as the seventh seed.
The Stingarees upset No. 2 Miami-Palmetto, No. 6 Miami-Southridge and No. 1 Miami-Columbus on the way to the semifinals, and they come into this contest on an eight-game winning streak.
But Miami High runs into an Eagles team that has won 11 in a row, showed plenty of spark on offense last week, and gets the home-field advantage.
Buckle up.