Unlike Week 1 which some wild things take place amongst the Florida Top 25, things around the Sunshine State were a bit more subtle outside of two teams inside of the Top 25 getting upset by lower ranked or non-ranked teams.
Here is a look at how the Florida Top 25 fared in Week 2.
1. Miami Central (2M) – BYE WEEK
NOTES: The Rockets (1-0) had an early bye week this past week.
2. Chaminade-Madonna (1M) – d. No. 14 Dillard (3M), 49-28
NOTES: The Lions (2-0) rocked the visiting Panthers behind junior quarterback Cedrick Bailey’s 354 yards passing on 21 completions out of 32 attempts. Bailey threw for three touchdowns while rushing for one more. Davion Gause had three rushing touchdowns on the night for Chaminade-Madonna while receiver Edwin Joseph had nine receptions for 177 yards and three scores. Defensively for the Lions nine total sacks were recorded with defensive lineman Wayne Peart leading the way with four sacks.
3. IMG Academy (IND) – d. De Smet Jesuit, Mo., 50-6
NOTES: The Ascenders (1-1) get their first win of the season over the Spartans of De Smet Jesuit, one of the top powerhouse teams in Missouri.
4. St. Thomas Aquinas (3M) – d. Fort Myers (3S), 42-0
NOTES: The Raiders (2-0) made a trip over to the Gulf coast part of the state and gashed the host Green Wave on Sammy Sirianni Sr. night in a remembrance to the longtime Green Wave coach from the 1992 team that ended up falling to the Raiders in the state semifinals.
5. Jesuit (3M) – d. Treasure Coast (4S), 14-13
NOTES: In their game against the visiting Titans, the Tigers (2-0) had to put everything into to spare off having their first loss handed to them since 2020 with things coming down to the wire. Luke Knight went 11-of-15 passing for 121 yards and had one rushing touchdown while Joquez Smith scored the other rushing touchdown for the Tigers. Jesuit currently holds the state’s longest winning streak at 17 games.
6. Miami Northwestern (2M) – d. Miami Jackson (2M), 44-0
NOTES: The Bulls (2-0) turned in an incredible performance in Week 2, gashing the visiting Generals at Traz Powell in Miami that could likely boost them into the Top 5 teams in the Sunshine State going into Week 3. The win also goes down as a district victory for the Bulls.
7. Cardinal Gibbons (2M) – d. Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian (2M), 33-0
NOTES: In a home game against a traditional foe on the schedule, the Chiefs (2-0) rolled the visiting Eagles behind a solid start for junior quarterback Michael Merdinger who started in place of Dylan Rizk, going 21-of-34 for 239 yards passing throwing a touchdown and interception each.
8. Sanford Seminole (4M) – d. No. 24 Kissimmee Osceola (4S), 28-27 (OT)
NOTES: The Fighting Seminoles (1-0) held off a strong comeback on the host Kowboys to get the victory in overtime to stay undefeated on the season. Luke Rucker went 19-of-30 passing for 358 yards and three touchdowns but had two interceptions that almost proved costly to winning the game. Wide receiver Michael Key was the star of the passing game have 10 catches for 236 yards and three touchdowns who was the main target after receiver Goldie Lawrence sat out for a second straight game to start the season.
9. Plantation American Heritage (2M) – d. Lake Gibson, 42-13
NOTES: For the host Patriots (3-0), continued their hot start on the season, gashing the visiting Braves, a state semifinalist from last season behind Blake Murphy’s three passing touchdown performance while Mark Fletcher and Byron Louis each added a touchdown on the ground. Fletcher also added a receiving touchdown while freshman Malachi Toney led the receiving game with 73 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Defensively Andrew Klis led the team with two sacks while having five total tackles and three tackles for loss on the night.
10. Lakeland (4S) – game vs. Largo (3M) canceled
NOTES: Win No. 461 will have to wait for Bill Castle as severe thunderstorms in Polk County forced the cancellation of this game for the Dreadnaughts (1-0) and a handful of other games in the region on Friday night.
11. Venice (4S) – d. Naples (3S), 12-11
NOTES: In one of the oddest scores of the young season so far, the host Indians (1-1) managed to turnback the visiting Golden Eagles with a one-point victory that was seen as potential warning sign that Venice might not be able to match up to the team that won the Class 8A state championship in last year.
12. Tampa Bay Tech (3M) – d. Steinbrenner (4M), 44-0
NOTES: Xavione’ Washington didn’t need to do much on Friday night in his first start of the season as the Titans (2-0) just poured it on against the visiting Warriors. Washington threw for one touchdown on a 50% completion rate but let Rod Gainey Jr. do more of the work for the offense as Gainey was able to find the endzone three times. Backup quarterback Jaden Rosebury also threw for one touchdown in the rout.
13. Jacksonville Trinity Christian (1M) – d. Raines (2M), 48-21
NOTES: Sophomore quarterback Colin Hurley went 10-of-14 passing and two scores in the Conquerors (2-0) home open on Friday night to stay undefeated in the young season. Treyaun Webb and Darnell Rogers both managed over 100 yards on the ground with Webb finding the end zone twice and Rogers scoring once as well from paydirt. Cam Anderson led the defense with one-and-half sacks along with 15 total tackles and three tackles for loss.
14. Dillard (3M) – LOST TO No. 2 Chaminade-Madonna, 49-28
NOTES: The Panthers (1-1), which were giving the Lions a game in the first half of the contest, ended up losing momentum in the second half of the game, seeing them fall to the No. 2 team in the state in what was one of the top matchups of Week 2 among teams in the Florida Top 25.
15. Jones (3M) – LOST TO Duncanville, Texas,
NOTES: The Tigers (1-1) made the road trip out to Texas to take on Texas powerhouse Duncanville and was down by four at halftime 17-13. However, the Tigers managed to give up 20 to the host Panthers which they would never fully recover from enroute to their first loss of the young season.
16. Edgewater (3M) – d. Don Bosco Prep, N.J., 34-10
NOTES: The Eagles blasted national power Don Bosco Prep at home under a huge night for Cedric Baxter who had 26 carries for 272 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. The defense record 80 tackles combined, three sacks and interception enroute to the huge victory for Cameron Duke’s team.
17. Cocoa (2S) – BYE WEEK
NOTES: The Tigers (0-1) had the week off in preparation for a huge matchup against St. Thomas Aquinas this coming week.
18. Western (4M) – BYE WEEK
NOTES: The Wildcats (1-0) had an early by week this past week.
19. Apopka (4M) – LOST TO West Orange (4M), 13-6
NOTES: In a game plagued by weather at times, the Blue Darters (1-1) had a hard time finding any consistency and it cost them as they dropped a critical game that was seen as important to both teams for playoff positioning later in the season.
20. Columbus (4M) – d. Miami Killian (2M), 44-13
NOTES: The Explorers build up a 31-0 lead in the first quarter enroute to dominating the visiting Cougars at Tropical Park in a Thursday night tilt to stay undefeated on the season.
21. Pine Forest (3S) – d. Navarre (4S), 39-9
NOTES: The Eagles (2-0) went on the road to Navarre and gashed the host Raiders on their quest at a run for a possible state championship in 2022.
22. Buchholz (4S) – d. Sarasota Riverview (4S), 45-6
NOTES: The host Bobcats (2-0) stay undefeated on the season with a gashing of the visiting Rams as they get ready to take on a very much improved Eastside team in Week 3.
23. Lakewood (2M) – LOST TO No. 25 Palm Beach Central (4M), 27-7
NOTES: The Spartans (1-1) suffered a meltdown at home as they saw star quarterback Anthony Colandrea get picked off three times by the visiting Broncos defense that will almost certainly knock the Spartans out of the Florida Top 25 for the time being.
24. Kissimmee Osceola (4S) – LOST TO No. 8 Sanford Seminole (4M), 28-27
NOTES: The host Kowboys put up their biggest fight of the young season, taking things down to the wire in overtime against Sanford Seminole, coming up just one point short of pulling off what could have been one of the biggest upsets this early in the season.
25. Palm Beach Central (4M) – d. No. 23 Lakewood (2M), 27-7
NOTES: The Broncos (2-0), marched in on the Spartans of Lakewood and shut down Anthony Colandrea, intercepting him three times and making life miserable for the host team all night, dominating in all phases of the game to pull off one of the biggest wins early in the season.
