Battle of nationally-ranked teams takes place on Saturday in Alabama.
Hoover and Central will do battle on Saturday in the biggest game of the young 2014 high school football season.
Photos by Stuart Browning/Randy Sartin. Graphic by Ryan Escobar
Noon, ET
Where: Bucs Stadium, Hoover, Ala.
Follow live scoring via QwixcoreTwo of the nation's top programs will lock horns Saturday as No. 15
Central (Miami) travels to Alabama to take on the nation's No. 3-ranked team,
Hoover (Ala.) in a nationally-televised affair.
The enormous Alabama-Florida showdown is clearly the
MaxPreps National Game of the Week.
Both Hoover and Miami Central are coming off state title-winning seasons, and both could be in the thick of state — and national — title chases this fall.
Central enters the game with an inexperienced offense, but nine returning defensive starters.
Roland Smith's squad does feature dynamic receiver
Da'vante Phillips, a Florida State commit ranked
by the 247Sports Composite as the eighth-best player at his position.
Hoover features a more balanced group of returners, including quarterback
Jack Hutcheson, running back
Bradrick Shaw, and defensive players
Christian Bell and
Darrell Williams.
While Hoover has an 8-3 record in interstate matchups since 2004, Central is only 3-3. The Rockets were beaten soundly by Grayson, 35-3, in 2002, but decisively defeated Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, 50-21, last year.
Winning on the road is never easy, but winning in Hoover may pose an especially great challenge to Central. Hoover owns a sterling 51-3 mark at home since 2004.
