You can't help but feel for head coach Jack Daniels and his
Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) football team, which lost 26-22 to
Glenville (Cleveland) Monday afternoon in a nationally televised matchup of nationally ranked teams at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The game was part of the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic.
Dwyer (No. 11 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 presented by the Army National Guard) was flagged for 156 yards in penalties, committed some costly miscues on special teams and still almost won the game. Actually, replays of two controversial plays in the final 1:28 of the game shown live on ESPN showed that Dwyer should have been awarded a touchdown that would have given the Panthers the win. However, game officials waved off both scores — the first on a pass play to wide receiver Tommylee Lewis, who made a fantastic leaping catch in the end zone, and the second on a 1-foot quarterback sneak by
Jacoby Brissett on the final play of the game.
Dwyer, the 2009 Class 4A state champion, was making its first appearance on a national stage and the Panthers showed that they again will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Brissett, who is a major Division I prospect and also an outstanding basketball player, showed tremendous poise leading the final drive. His favorite target was tight end
Nick O'Leary, a grandson of golf legend and Ohio State grad Jack Nicklaus, who was in attendance. O'Leary, who is rated the nation's top prospect at tight end, snagged nine catches from Brissett for 156 yards and a touchdown. He also is Dwyer's punter and was back on punt returns as well as playing some at defensive end.
Dwyer also lost its season opener last year, but then reeled off 14 consecutive wins en route to capturing the program's first state title. The Panthers made the 1,100-mile trip home on Tuesday and will face crosstown rival
Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday.
2. Aquinas dominates again: St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) once again flexed its muscles at the Herbstreit Classic, defeating powerhouse
Skyline (Dallas) 31-3 Monday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It's the third consecutive year that Aquinas has won its season opener playing in the Herbstreit event and the Raiders have now outscored their opponents by a whopping 118-34 margin. Aquinas had 13 senior starters sign with Division I programs after last season, but despite losing that much talent to graduation, the Raiders look like they'll again be a formidable power in the Sunshine State.
3. Top OL prospect sustains knee injury: Highly touted guard
Cody Preble of
Park Vista (Lake Worth) sustained a strained MCL injury to his left knee in the fourth quarter of the Cobras' preseason game and had to miss the team's season opener, a 34-28 overtime win against
Jupiter Friday night. Preble (6-4, 275) made a verbal commitment to Wake Forest in the spring. He said he notified the Demon Deacons of the injury last week and assured them that the injury is not serious. He said, however, that he likely will sit out the next two games as a precautionary measure.
4. Precision of a surgeon: Quarterback
Teddy Bridgewater of Miami-Dade County
Northwestern (Miami) is often referred to as 'The Doctor' by the public address announcer at Traz Powell Stadium. Bridgewater certainly lived up to that nickname last Friday night in Northwestern's 40-18 win against rival
Carol City (Miami) in the season opener. Bridgewater, who is rated as the top prospect in Miami-Dade, cut up the Carol City defense, completing 23 of 28 passes for 357 yards and and five touchdowns. Three Bulls receivers finished with more than 100 yards.
5. Sleepless in Jupiter: Ever since his team lost to small-schools power
Glades Day (Belle Glade) in last year's playoffs,
Jupiter Christian coach Bill Powers jokingly said last week that he hasn't been able to sleep well. Powers no doubt had a restful Labor Day weekend. Jupiter Christian avenged that 2009 playoff loss with an impressive 38-14 road victory against Glades Day in the season opener Friday in Belle Glade. Running back
Trey Pendergrass of Jupiter Christian rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns, outgaining Glades Day's sophomore phenom tailback
Kelvin Taylor (135 yards), who is the son of NFL running back Fred Taylor.
TOP PERFORMERSAmong outstanding efforts last week:
— Quarterback
Doug Cooke completed 20 of 30 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns to lead
University (Fort Lauderdale) to a 32-14 win against Broward County rival
Nova (Davie). Cook also rushed for 52 yards on 10 carries.
— Quarterback Robert Bender threw for five touchdowns while completing 12 of 16 passes for 224 yards in a
Flanagan (Pembroke Pines) 52-7 rout of crosstown rival
Pembroke Pines Charter.
— Jupiter junior quarterback
Tyler Cameron passed for 162 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 160 yards and a score in a 34-28 overtime loss to Park Vista (Boynton Beach).
— Nick Kazen of
American Heritage (Delray Beach) nailed a hole-in-one using an 8-iron on the 160-yard, No. 7 hole at Winston Trails Country Club.
ON DECKSouth Florida's top football games this week:
— The Florida-Texas Gridiron Challenge continues this Saturday when
Miramar, the defending Florida Class 6A state champion, visits Texas power
DeSoto, and
Central (Miami) takes on
Madison (San Antonio). Also, Palm Beach County power
Glades Central (Belle Glade), which has won six state titles in its history, will play
Denison (Texas). All three games are Saturday at DeSoto.
— Miami-Dade County powers
Washington (Miami) and Carol City hook up at Traz Powell Stadium in what should be one of the best games of the week in South Florida.
— Powerhouse programs from neighboring counties clash Friday when defending Class 1A state champion
American Heritage (Delray Beach) travels south down I-95 to face
Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood).
— Nationally ranked Dwyer will try to rebound from its heartbreaking loss at the Herbstreit Classic in Ohio when the Panthers host cross-town rival Palm Beach Gardens, the 2005 6A state champ, on Saturday.
RECRUITING NEWSDwyer's Nick O'Leary, the top-rated tight end in the nation, recently narrowed his college choices to Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Miami and North Carolina. O'Leary (6-4, 230) visited a few campuses this summer with teammates quarterback Jacoby Brissett and defensive end
Curt Maggitt, also highly touted Division I prospects. O'Leary said he has no clear-cut favorite yet, nor a timetable on his decision-making process.
DORSEY'S DIGSI've long believed that Friday nights should be the exclusive domain of high school football, so college football should leave that night vacant throughout the fall. Yet, there's a game this Friday night, with nationally ranked West Virginia (which happens to be my alma mater) playing at in-state rival Marshall. Now how am I supposed to be able to watch that game when I'll be covering a high school game? And no, I don't much care for taping games to watch later when I'll already know the outcome.
