GULF COAST AT BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
BTW is averaging 31.7 points per game. The quarterback is Terrance Moise who has had a good season throwing for 1399 yards while completing close to 65% of his passes. His favorite target is super junior Quinton Dunbar who has elite size. He has caught 23 passes for 434 yards and five touchdowns. Moise spreads the ball around to a number of other options including Emmanuel Noel, Andre Edwards, and Eduardo Clements. Clements is a complete running back who has the size to run inside and the speed to get the edge. He has over 600 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. The offensive line has been better pass blocking and that will need to change eventually for BTW to win back to back state championships.
The defense is giving up 16 points per game. There is a lot of talent on this side of the ball starting with defensive backs Natturner Harris and David Van Dyke. Both can be moved around the secondary. Jose Jose has shown some skills at DT playing both ways a lot of the time. He is massive and has good mobility for a young player with his size. Defensive end Lyndon Trail is a potential prototype at the position. Very tall(6'6), athletic, and fast he is a terror on one side. The defense will need to get stingier against the run.
Interesting notes: lost an out of state game to Northside high in the opener. Beat 6A Miami Central 44-39, but lost to 6A Miami Northwestern 31-29.
Gulf Coast is a spread based offense behind senior QB Jeff Schmidt. Schmidt has thrown for over 2000 yards with 16 touchdowns. He also runs the ball to keep defenses honest gaining over 300 yards. His favorite target is sophomore Zac Rittberg who caught 42 balls for 729 yards. Rittberg is tall and lean and has some deep speed. Korenzo Smith and Bo Logan are also used in the passing game. Sebastian Zuluaga is the feature back and he ran for 577 yards with five scores. The offensive line is much better in pass protection, but Schmidt helps with his pocket presence and nice feet when buying time.
The Shark defense started out fine, but has struggled since mid season, giving up more than 21 points in six straight games. The defense will need to tighten up significantly against the talent of BTW. Linebacker's Matt Milk and Brian Biada are tough players who love to play the run. There is a nice defensive line in front of them with Randy Clark(7 sacks), Dana Paul Luebbe, and James Leppi.
Interesting notes: Gulf Coast lost to Naples(3A playoff team) 23-20. The offense exploded for 70 points vs. Palmetto Ridge. These two teams met last year in round one with BTW winning 49-0.
HALLANDALE AT BARRON COLLIER
Running back Quin Thornton is Collier's offense with his game-breaking ability. Thornton missed the first few games with an injury, but when he played, he was arguably the top player in SW Florida. Thornton has rushed for 1460 yards on just 159 carries with an eye popping 22 touchdowns. He added 14 catches with another 4 touchdowns. Alan Montgomery is a change of pace power back as Collier likes to run the ball out of its shotgun based attack. Nate Garland is the quarterback and he threw for 853 yards with seven touchdowns, but six interceptions. The offense line is on the small side, but has quickness and they play tough. Junior kicker Martin Kloss is a weapon.
Defensively Collier attempts to play tough, hard nosed defense with an emphasis on stopping the run. At times they flash the type of defense that Coach Ivey wants. Linebackers Zack Flick and Jury Paulson will need to be on top of their game as they are the key to the defense. Big DT David Decker can be a force inside, but his main job is to free up the LB's to make plays. Evan Goldszak is the top DE with 5.5 sacks. Curt Norris led the team with 3 interceptions.
Interesting notes: Collier lost to 3A playoff teams Naples and Lely. Collier played Hallandale in the first round of last year's playoffs and lost 41-34.
Hallandale is going to run the football. Leading the charge is RB Korvic Neat who has 1154 yards on 92 carries(12.5 per carry) and 13 touchdowns. Rayquan Jones added 269 yards on the ground. Victor Marc is the quarterback and he had an alright year considering how talented he is. He is super athlete, but only threw for 838 yards and 8 touchdowns. He can be a bit of a wild card in the playoffs. The leading receiver is Darby Lundy with 8 catches and 3 touchdowns. Hallandale has a solid offensive front that at times can take over a game.
The Hallandale defense has given up 11.7 points per game which is real strong playing south Florida football teams. Ricardo Dixon is a lock down corner. They have only yielded 692 passing yards for the season. The run defense is good as well with only 805 yards on 217 carries against them. Look for the defense to carry this team if they are to make a run.
Interesting notes: Lost 3 games by 2, 4, and 8 points. The most points they surrendered was 24.
OKEECHOBEE AT DWYER
Dwyer has tremendous depth on the offensive side of the ball. They have played two quarterbacks this year: Jacoby Brissett(42-64, 832, 11/1) and Bradley Wallace(40-63, 765, 9/2). The combined numbers are fantastic with close to 1600 yards and 20 touchdowns. Junior Matt Elam is an elite player who will be one of the top players in the country next year. Elam has run for 369 yards and has 567 yards receiving. Donald Russell has been the main running back with 67 carries for 529 yards. A host of targets include Nick O'Leary(376 yards), Robert Clark(329 yards), and junior Gerald Christian(166 yards). Christian and Clark will also be top prospect's next year, while O'Leary is just a sophomore. The offensive line has been great in the both the run and passing game.
Most of the offensive players mentioned double as defensive stand outs. Irvin Titre is a massive defensive tackle. In six of the nine games to date, Dwyer has surrendered less than seven points. This defense can be dominant and is more than capable of carrying Dwyer to victory should the offense fail to produce one game.
Interesting notes: Only loss is a 6-0 to Glades Central in a slug fest that went to overtime. Beat playoff bound Royal Palm Beach 13-7.
Running back Lonnie Pryor has been spectacular in 2008. He has rushed for 2014 yards and 18 touchdowns. Big, physical, and fast he has all the attributes of a star. Soft hands out of the backfield add to his arsenal(121 yards). It is not all Pryor, as QB Garrett Madrigal has thrown for 15 touchdowns and over 1000 yards. His favorite targets are Walt Fortner(295 yards), Nate Pollard(237), and Mike Minando(196).
There is one issue with Okeechobee- the team is not deep. They have one of the smallest rosters in the 4A classification in the state. This forces many players to play both ways and that tends to show up late on the defensive side of the ball. A player like Pryor is never leaving the field. Consequently, they are vulnerable late in ball games. The overall performance has been average for a playoff team, so Okeechobee will try to outscore the opposition to win games.
Interesting notes: Lost to Jupiter Christian 40-18 who is the defending state champions in 1A and the favorite to repeat.
BOCA RATON AT FORT PIERCE WESTWOOD
Fort Pierce Westwood is averaging a solid 30 points per game. Quarterback Isaac Virgin has thrown for 1290 yards and 14 touchdowns. Leon Shorter has been the recipient of the majority of those throws with 30 catches for 745 yards. Labyron Jackson adds some depth. Jerrell Washington eclipsed the 1000 yard mark with 1092 rushing yards. He is half of a tremendous tandem. Sophomore Cameron Toombs had 532 yards and is one to keep an eye on. QB Virgin is also a threat to run with 352 more yards. This is a relatively balanced offense that has a solid OL.
The defense surrendered 13.2 points per game and is led by big defensive tackle Luther Robinson. Not a real deep roster in terms of numbers, many players play both ways. Martin County, a winless team, was able to throw for 302 yards, but some of those issue appear to have been corrected down the stretch. The opening round match up with Boca Raton means the pass defense will get an early test. The defense has been consistently good against the run.
Interesting notes: Only loss is 13-0 to Treasure Coast.
Boca Raton likes to throw the ball with junior QB Eddie Sullivan. Sullivan has thrown for 23 touchdowns and 1669 yards. Five players have caught more than 10 balls this year: Terrell Williams(27-421, 9 TD), Brandon Bishop(30-344, 3), Jeremy Retzsch(22-289, 4), Lucont St. Fort(15-216, 2), and Anthony Darrisow(18-207, 4). Like at WR, there are host of RB's who have gotten a turn running the ball. Five players(including Sullivan) have between 100 and 200 yards on the season. The offensive line needs to give Sullivan a little more time as they tend to be a bit inconsistent.
The defense has been outstanding until they ran into Dwyer last week who hung 35 on them. Most of the yardage was through the air and some adjustments are needed as Dwyer would be a potential second round opponent. The offense was not at full strength, so perhaps a more productive offense would help this defense. Before Dwyer, 14 was the most points surrendered and they had pitched 3 shutouts. Brandon Bishop is the headliner on this side of the ball.
Interesting notes: Close loss to Atlantic 9-7 in opener. The offense scored 57, 50, and 48 during a mid season 4 game stretch.