The Florida Top 25 saw some turbulence following Week 2 results, and is putting together the question of “What is going on in Florida?”
Here is a look at how each of the teams fared after Week 2 in The Florida Top 25 with notes stats and tidbits from each game.
1. Cocoa (2A) (2-0) – The Tigers pounced all over a Mainland (Daytona Beach) team that was coming off a 31-28 loss to University (Orange City) last week with a 51-0 victory at Daytona Stadium. Brady Hart threw for 331 yards on 18-of-30 pass competitions and five touchdowns while Jayvan Boggs accounted for 222 yards receiving on 11 catches and four touchdowns. DJ Bryant accounted for six tackles on defense along with an interception.
2. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) (1A) (0-2) – We get it that losing to St. John Bosco (CA) was one thing, but to lose to Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach) who is just only receiving votes in Class 5A in the FloridaHSFootball.com Sports Media Poll? That is a whole other story. We get that it was a 35-34 overtime loss, but honestly, there is no excuse for one of the nation’s top teams and the schedule does not get any easier going forward.
3. IMG Academy (Bradenton) (IND) (1-1) – The Ascenders got things back on track with a 27-14 victory over Bergen Catholic (NJ) with a dominant Cocoa team coming to town for Week 3. The question remains if that win will help carry them over for a Cocoa squad that looks very powerful right now.
4. Lakeland (5A) (1-0) – The first of two bye weeks for the Dreadnaughts occurred this past week, and honestly that is a good thing with a road trip to Lake Mary in order this week.
5. Miami Norland (4A) (2-0) – The Vikings easily took care of business to move to 2-0 on the season with a 36-10 victory over rival Miami Carol City. They will have this coming week off, and preparations are already underway for Miami Northwestern on September 13.
6. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) (5A) (1-1) – What is the best way to bounce back? Get a big win over a district foe in Week 2 and that is what the Raiders did with a 51-0 shutout over Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes). That win will be a much-appreciated boost with Columbus (Miami) coming to town this week.
7. Miami Central (3A) (1-1) – A change in quarterbacks can do a team good sometimes, and for the Rockets that is exactly what happened as they gashed Miami Edison 54-7. Anthony McQueen threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown in the victory. According to the Miami Herald, the Rockets’ defense also accounted for six sacks and five takeaways in the victory.
8. American Heritage (Plantation) (4A) (1-1) – A week after field goals and not touchdowns put the Patriots on the wrong side of the scoreboard, the Patriots got a huge win over No. 22 Western (Davie) by a final score of 51-12. Texas commit Dia Bell had a huge game with 16-of-23 passing for 332 yards and five touchdowns, with receiving Malachi Toney, having six catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Defense accounted for 54 tackles and three sacks with Kymani Morales and Omarian Abraham leading the way in tackles with seven each.
9. Venice (7A) (2-0) – Surviving Tampa Bay Tech last week was one thing… surviving Miami Northwestern in overtime? Holy cow that is a whole different world there. That is what the Indians did with a 48-42 victory over the Teddy Bridgewater-led team. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Jamrice Wilder rushed for nearly 300 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns for the Indians in the battle.
10. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (2-0) – The Mustangs had a scary moment on Friday night when QB Tramell Jones Jr. went down on Friday night and with Jones posting on X on Tuesday that he will be out for a while depending on how long it takes from him to heal. Before the injury, Jones had 142 yards passing and two touchdowns, and after the Mustangs relied on the ground game that saw five rushing touchdowns from four different athletes. Of those five rushing touchdowns, included one from freshman QB Knox Annis who is likely to take over starting duties until Jones returns. Defensively Kameron Mills racked up eight tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, and three quarterback hurries in the 47-0 victory over Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville).
11. Miami Northwestern (3A) (1-1) – Coming up short in overtime, 48-42 to No. 9 Venice was an impressive effort by the Bulls who are looking to be like the Miami Bulls of the mid-to-late 2000’s when now-head coach Teddy Bridgewater was the start quarterback of the Bulls. Leon Strawder, despite throwing two interceptions in the game, threw for 356 yards on 20-of-30 pass completions and four touchdowns and rushed for one more in the very razor-thin loss. Calvin Russell Jr. hauled in six catches for 151 yards receiving and three touchdowns as well.
12. Armwood (Seffner) (6A) (2-0) – The Hawks swooped down all over the visiting Stingrays from Sumner (Riverview), getting a 44-7 victory to remain undefeated on the season.
13. Edgewater (Orlando) (5A) (0-1) – The Eagles will play host to Wekiva (Apopka) later on Tuesday night after the game was postponed from Week 1. However, the Eagles have already suffered some damage after The First Academy (Orlando) pulled off a 28-24 victory, marking one of the biggest upsets early in the season.
14. Jones (Orlando) (4A) (1-0) – With their game rescheduled with Winter Park from Week 1 for September 24, the Tigers finally got their first game of the season in with a huge 48-3 win over Timber Creek (Orlando), giving the Tigers momentum as they face a tough and gritty Evans (Orlando) team this week.
15. Columbus (Miami) (7A) (1-1) – We saw struggles last week for the Explorers and it caught up with them this week after hosting Our Lady of Good Counsel out of Maryland as they dropped the game 14-10.
16. Lake Mary (7A) (2-0) – A game that the Rams led only 3-0 at halftime eventually resulted in a 24-7 victory over Osceola (Kissimmee) to remain undefeated on the season. Rams have to recover quickly from that battle with Lakeland coming to town this week. Junior QB Noah Grubbs went 18-of-32 passing for 197 yards passing and one touchdown in the victory while MLB Aiden Herzberg led the defense with nine total tackles.
17. Clearwater Central Catholic (1A) (2-0) – The Marauders moved into the Top 25 last week provided wise at they gashed the visiting Blue Streaks from Sebring 43-8 behind Jershuan Newton’s 199 yards passing on 14-of-21 pass completions with one touchdown while adding 77 yards rushing. Adding to the damage, Marauders running back Nasir Hutchinson rushed for 126 yards and 15 carries with three touchdowns in the winning effort. Keo Jenkins led the team with seven tackles and two tackles for loss, while Drake Witt had two tackles and an interception.
18. Berkeley Prep (Tampa) (2A) (1-1) – The defending state champions moved to .500 on the season after picking up a 28-21 victory over Booker (Sarasota). Joseph Troupe had 23 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown for the Buccaneers while QB Cooper Hayes went 8-of-12 passing for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns.
19 St. Augustine (4A) (2-0) – The Yellow Jackets took this game as a tune-up opportunity with Bolles (Jacksonville) up this week, beating city rival Menendez (St. Augustine), 34-14. USF commit QB Locklan Hewlett went 25-of-33 passing for 305 yards passing and a touchdown, while RB Trendell Anderson rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. LB K’yon Wilcox led the team defensively with two sacks while recording two tackles.
20. Plant (Tampa) (6A) (1-1) – The Panthers took a step back this past week with a 28-7 loss to Gaither (Tampa) that surely was not what Hank Brown’s team was expecting to do after coming off a Week 1 with Carrollwood Day (Tampa).
21. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (2-0) – At times it looked like Vero Beach would pull away on the Bobcats, but in the end, Buchholz pulled off a nice 38-23 victory on the road behind Trace Johnson’s 172 yards passing on 14-of-26 pass completions and 2 touchdowns alongside Jasiah Powell who rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
22. Western (Davie) (7A) (1-1) – We might have understanding for a close loss to Hoover (AL) in Week 1, but getting gashed by No. 8 American Heritage (Plantation), 51-12 after a lot of hype in the preseason is giving us and likely many other some doubts if the Wildcats are primed for a deep playoff run in Class 7A this year.
23. Tampa Bay Tech (5A) (1-1) – What a way to bounce back after having a grueling barn burner with Venice in Week 1. The Titans defeated Wharton (Tampa), 74-0 in what is one of the largest margins of victories ever recorded in a game in Hillsborough County. That was behind QB Darryon Jones’ 6-of-9 passing competitions for 164 yards and four touchdowns while six different receivers had touchdown receptions for the Titans. Defensively, the Titans recorded 39 total tackles and 18 tackles for loss in the win.
24. Miami Palmetto (7A) (1-0) – The Panthers were up 10-9 at halftime over Booker T. Washington (Miami) which thunderstorms halted the completion of the game. A makeup date is still to be determined as of this time.
25. Monarch (Coconut Creek) (6A) (1-0) – The Knights, like Miami Palmetto, saw their game suspended against Deerfield Beach in the first quarter, with the Knights up 14-0 as thunderstorms swept the South Florida region last Thursday. There is no word on when the game will be completed.
