Pompano Beach (1-3, 1-3 in conference) at North Broward Prep (4-0, 4-0)
When: Friday, September 23rd, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Where: Tom Marcy Field; North Broward Preparatory School
Coming off of a monster victory on the road against Key West, North Broward Prep will host Pompano Beach on Friday night for their homecoming game. The Eagles could be in the midst of a special season, finally getting over the hump last week in the Southernmost Point, crushing a Conchs team that had beaten North Broward in each of their previous three showdowns. The Eagles are in first place in the Gold Coast Football Conference entering Friday, while Pompano is in eighth out of ten teams.
This will be the second recent showdown between the two teams, as North Broward beat Pompano Beach, 29-6, on the road in 2014.
LAST TIME OUT: Pompano Beach picked up their first victory of the season last Friday night, beating up on Inlet Grove, 48-0, at home. Pompano had lost its previous first three games of the season to Calvary Christian, Coral Glades, and Key West, respectively. North Broward comes off of its huge victory against Key West that pushed the Eagles to 4-0 for the first time since 2008 when ex-Dolphin Jeff Dellenbach was the head coach, and current Dolphin Brandon Doughty was the quarterback.
Pompano Beach
WHAT TO KNOW: The Golden Tornadoes haven’t gotten off to the start they would’ve hoped for in their first season in the Gold Coast Football Conference. Pompano Beach had gotten outscored 108-37 through its first three games before dismantling lowly Inlet Grove last week. Key West – who North Broward defeated by 35 – took down Pompano by 30. The Golden Tornadoes came closest to a victory – before the Inlet Grove win – against Coral Glades on the road a few weeks back, leading for a majority of the game.
Rick Nagy has been the Pompano Beach head coach since 2013, and has an overall record of 11-14 over that span.
OFFENSE: The Golden Tornadoes have one playmaker to watch offensively, running back John Padgett. Pompano Beach will look to feed Padgett often, who has 1,304 career rushing yards. In their lone win last week, Padgett rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns, and in the game against Coral Glades, Padgett had 142 yards rushing with a score. In the other two losses, Padgett was held to under 10 rushing yards. Pompano doesn’t have much offense other than Padgett, as senior quarterback Logan Good has thrown for just 386 yards this season with five interceptions, and threw the ball just twice against Inlet Grove last week. Pompano’s 85 points forward this season ranks seventh in the conference.
DEFENSE: Similar to their offense, Pompano Beach has struggled defensively, as well. The Golden Tornadoes omitted 108 points through their four games, including last week’s stomping of Inlet Grove. They have been vulnerable to the run, allowing Calvary Christian to rush for 218 yards, Coral Glades to rush for 119, and Key West to rush for a whopping 445 yards against them. That should bode well for Dymitri McKenzie and the North Broward rushing attack, which ranked up five rushing touchdowns last week. Padgett is also a weapon as a defensive back for Pompano Beach; he had two interceptions in Week two.
North Broward Prep
WHAT TO KNOW: North Broward is having a historical season. Not only are they 4-0 for the first time since 4-0, but it’s also the first time in head coach Rex Nottage’s tenure his team has been 4-0 to start the season. Since joining the Gold Coast Conference three seasons ago, the Eagles are now 16-8 after two 6-4 seasons in 2014 and 2015. But there’s no question there is something different about this North Broward team than those two, which both had entering games against Key West 2-0 and lost.
The Eagles have outscored teams 201 to 32 this season, and their state ranking in Florida has jumped into the top-100 at 98. The next best state ranked team in the GCFC is Archbishop McCarthy at 153.
OFFENSE: 201 points through the first four games is pretty spectacular, there’s no other way to put it. The Eagles’ offense is one of just seven teams in the state of Florida to be averaging over 50 points per game. Four-star receiver Kevin Austin ranks second in the conference with 50 total points, and also leads the conference in receiving. Although North Broward’s passing game has been stellar – Logan Shooster entered last Friday with 509 passing yards, also leading the conference – the Eagles’ rushing game was what won the game last week. McKenzie had a total five touchdowns, three of which were rushing, and Kevin Austin also added in two rushing scores. Seniors Anthony Gomez and Dorian Cole have also run the ball efficiently, giving North Broward a three-headed monster at tailback, and an offense that looks nearly unstoppable so far.
DEFENSE: What has separated this North Broward team from the past is the defensive play. Defensive Coordinator Akeem Cedeño’s unit has let up just 32 points over the first four games, the fewest points allowed in that span since all the way back in 2004; Opponents are averaging just eight points per game. The Eagles held Key West’s offense – which put up 127 points through its first three games and was averaging 388 rushing yards per game – to under 100 rushing yards on the night, was swarming the Conchs’ triple-option all night. North Broward’s defensive line is strong, its linebacking core is forceful, and the secondary lockdown, which combines to make the Eagles’ defensive one of the best in program history.
GAME OUTLOOK: Similar to the second half of the North Broward-Key West game, and each of the Eagles’ first three contests, this won’t be much of a contest. Fired up on homecoming – and the far more superior team – North Broward should score early and often against a Pompano team that has really struggled this season. It’s the homecoming game for a reason. Not that North Broward’s other games have been different, but the Eagles should blow away the Golden Tornadoes Friday night before heading into their bye week.
PREDICTION: North Broward Prep 56, Pompano Beach 7.
