North Broward Prep (1-0, 1-0 in conference) at Coral Springs Charter (0-0)
When: Friday, 7:00 P.M. ET
Where: Coral Glades High School
North Broward Prep will play its second game of the season on Friday night as they travel to Coral Springs to take on new district foe Coral Springs Charter. Friday marks the first showdown between the two schools as members of the Gold Coast Football Conference. Coral Springs Charter is entering its first season in the conference, while North Broward is in its third. The game will kickoff at Coral Glades High School, Coral Springs Charter’s home field.
LAST TIME OUT: North Broward Prep opened its season last Friday night with a 56-18 crushing of Pembroke Pines Charter at home. On the other hand, Coral Springs Charter’s opening game against International School of Broward was cancelled due to lightning in the area. Officials later ruled that the game – not a district matchup – would not count. International School of Broward led 8-7 after the first quarter at the time the game was called.
North Broward Prep
WHAT TO KNOW: There weren’t many things the Eagles did wrong in their season opener. North Broward dominated on both sides of the ball from the start en route to a 38-point killing of Pembroke Pines Charter. Junior Quarterback Logan Shooster is set to make his second career start on Friday night, after he shined in his debut last week. North Broward will again be without junior linebacker Kirby Burns, who is missing a few weeks with a hand injury. A senior-laden squad, the Eagles have long looked as this year’s team as the one that will get over the hump: North Broward hasn’t got past the semifinals in the first two season it’s been in the GCFC.
OFFENSE: Their forte. North Broward’s offense is high scoring, talented, and deadly. A unit highlighted by four-star receiver Kevin Austin, the Eagles put up 56 points in their opener last week and accumulated 553 total yards. With a young quarterback, North Broward likes to establish its running game early and often. Star senior running back Dymitri McKenzie – who holds division one offers – rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns against Pines Charter, while senior Dorian Cole complimented with three carries for 42 yards. But if the passing game played like it did last week, the Eagles will be hard to stop. Shooster was 8 of 13 for 229 yards and a touchdown passing. Shooster has a variety of weapons at his display, with tight end Kenny Henningsen, wide receivers Anthony Gomez and Bradley Cooper, and running back Dorian Cole going along with McKenzie and Austin to leave defenses puzzled.
DEFENSE: The Eagles’ defense can be one of two ways any night: Dominating or Dominated. Last season, North Broward flashed games where opposing offenses couldn’t get anything going, but there were also games – like last week – where North Broward’s talented defensive attack was shutting down everything. The Eagles have a strong secondary and linebacker core, but have been vulnerable to strong rushing attacks. If the Eagles are able to lock up against the run on Friday and force Coral Springs Charter, it should beneficial, and help North Broward cause turnovers and get stops.
Coral Springs Charter
WHAT TO KNOW: Coral Springs Charter is a team in the midst of change. After a championship in the Southeastern Football Conference in 2015, the Panthers have a lot of new faces in 2016 after a switch to the Gold Coast Football Conference. After head coach Adam Miller departed for a job with FIU, Coral Springs Charter named Matt Garris, who was previously defensive coordinator, head coach. The Panthers lost 22 seniors from their 2015 squad, most notably senior receiver Calvin Jackson Jr. – who is now playing at Toledo – and running back Kalen Carson. Garris is set to make his first official head coaching debut Friday, after last week’s cancellation. He played football for FIU from 2006-2009 and was a graduate assistant at FIU before taking over the Coral Springs Charter program.
OFFENSE: Coral Springs Charter – although losing 22 seniors – still returns six starters for 2015’s undefeated season. However, on offense there are new faces. The Panthers will start Junior Jordan Sepulveda at quarterback and senior Michael Carrion at running back, both of whom new faces in the starting lineup. Seniors Jazeel McNee, Tristan St. Fleur, and Dominic Grassi will need to step up for Coral Springs Charter at receiver with the loss of Calvin Jackson Jr. The Panthers seek to get their running game going to open up for the areal attack, as Carrion had four carries for 18 yards and a touchdown in the brief clash with International School of Broward.
DEFENSE: Similar to their offense, there are new faces on the defensive end. Seniors Nick Dulcey, Nick D’Esposito, Eddie Fuentes, Grassi, Carrion, Mark Krumenacker, as well as junior Anquan Garland, and sophomore Jimmy Nixon will need to pick up the slack defensively if the Panthers are going to be able to stop the powerful North Broward Prep offense.
GAME OUTLOOK: The keys to the game are simple for North Broward Prep: protect the ball, play offense how you usually do, and lock down on the run defensively. The Eagles’ electric offense will be extremely difficult for Coral Springs Charter to stop, but Coral Springs Charter could be able to stay in this game if the Panthers are able to cause turnovers, and run the ball effectively against North Broward’s skeptical run defense. The Eagles will also need to take care of special teams, where Pembroke Pines Charter had a score off them last week. Overall, a North Broward Prep victory relies on playing offense the way they are capable, playing good defense, and not making mistakes. Coral Springs Charter must force North Broward to revert from its game-plan, and fall behind early. Long offensive drives for the Panthers can keep North Broward’s offense off the field and tire out a defense that has a lot of players playing both sides of the field.
PREDICTION: North Broward Prep 48, Coral Springs Charter 20.
