CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Da West is back after Miami Northwestern ran the Bulls through Raines to first state title since 2019

MIAMI – In the final game of the 2024 Florida high school football season, the Class 3A state championship game had a ton of hype as Miami Northwestern and Raines (Jacksonville) would be facing off to cap off a very busy, active, and somewhat unpredictable football season.

However, the expectations of a close, competitive football game against two schools that are very similar in culture, community, tradition, and pride did not pan out, as the hometown Bulls defeated the Vikings 41-0 at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium Saturday night in front of a crowd of 12,000, the majority of them supporting the Bulls.

Here are seven takeaways from the game:

TEDDY BRIDGEWATER ENTERS ELITE CLUB

Before we can even get started on how this game went down, Teddy Bridgewater became among an elite group of high school football coaches in the state of Florida to not only win a state championship as a player but to come back and win a state championship at the same school they played high school football at in Florida. Bridgewater joins the ranks that include St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) Head Coach Roger Harriott and former Mainland (Daytona Beach) head coach Travis Roland, among the head coaches that have accomplished the feat. Never mind in all of this, he accomplished this in his first year as head coach at Miami Northwestern.

GAME WAS CHIPPY… MAYBE TOO CHIPPY

Still not getting into some of the details of the game, this game was chippy, and given the high stakes both teams placed on the game, we understood there was going to be some chirping back and forth. However, it may have gone too far by the time the mid-third quarter rolled around when a scrum around midfield paused the game for almost 20 minutes, which saw two Northwestern (12-2) players being ejected while one Raines player got ejected. Further along, another Raines (13-1) player appeared to have been ejected. Overall, after the scrum, more security and police presence were added to the field to keep the players and the fans in check.

STRAWDER WENT OFF AGAIN

Leon Strawder, who is only a junior, had another superb night on the field in the most important game so far in his high school career. Strawder threw for four passing touchdowns along with 361 yards passing on 19-of-27 passing completions. Of Strawder’s passing touchdowns, the longest was 65 yards in the third quarter that was hauled in by Elijah Hardy with just less than three minutes taken off the fourth quarter clock that would make it 21-0. Strawder also accounted for one rushing touchdown on the night, the final score of the game to make it 41-0.

SPEAKING OF HARDY

Elijah Hardy contributed nicely to the game, even if his stats do not show it to be as such. Hardy contributed seven carries for 11 yards and a rushing touchdown that came on the first touchdown of the game on a two-yard carry with 5:23 left in the first quarter to make it 7-0. Hardy later hauled in Strawder’s longest touchdown throw of the night in the third quarter as well, and Hardy contributed 83 yards receiving on just three catches.

RAINES’ TJ COLE AND COMPANY SHUT DOWN

TJ Cole, who had come into the game with over 2,800 yards passing and 43 touchdowns, was effectively shut down the entire game as Cole struggled to get anything going as he went 6-of-19 passing for 45 yards and an interception. Cole had more yards rushing than passing, with 135 total rushing yards on 16 carries. Cole did lead the Vikings down to the red zone twice, but both times, the Vikings came up empty-handed and left points off the board that could have made the game more interesting.

LOPSIDED STATS

While Miami Northwestern had 24 first downs and had 431 yards of offense compared to Raines’ 196 total yards of offense, the time of possession, which would usually favor the winning team did not as Raines controlled the ball for 28:30. In contrast, Northwestern had the ball for a total of 19:30 the entire game. However, it did not matter on the time of possession as the Bulls would strike quickly and often during the game behind the high-octane offense that Bridgewater was having Strawder run.

EIGHTH TITLE FOR THE BULLS

The victory in the state championship game for Miami Northwestern not only marked the first title for the Bulls since 2019, but it also goes down as the eighth state championship in program history. As such, the Bulls who were recently tied with Glades Day and newcomer Cocoa with seven state titles, have now joined the company of North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) as both teams that have won eight state championships in the FHSAA state series.

MIAMI NORTHWESTERN HEAD COACH TEDDY BRIDGEWATER, AFTER THE GAME

BOX SCORE

Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final
Miami Northwestern | 7 | 7 | 21 | 6 | — | 41
Raines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST

MNW – Elijah Hardy 2 rush (Ethan Silva kick), 5:23

SECOND

MNW – Calvin Russell Jr. 6 pass from Leon Strawder (Sliva kick), 0:19

THIRD

MNW – Hardy 65 pass from Strawder (Silva kick), 10:35

MNW – Russell Jr. 6 pass from Strawder (Silva kick), 7:10

MNW – Nicholas Lennear 48 pass from Strawder (Silva kick), 2:20

FOURTH

MNW – Strawder 1 rush (Silva kick missed), 4:10