MitchMash: The very longs odds of Washington versus Central

WATCH LIVE

MIAMI, Fla. – More than 15,000 high schools play varsity football, so what are the chances that the two very best are located a mere 7.7 miles apart?

The obvious answer is slim. The second answer: none.

Further, what is the possibility that both of those schools are public, drawing from their own boundaries.

Again, miniscule.

But this is South Florida — Dade County and Miami to be more precise — per capita the hottest of all beds for America's favorite game/passion/obsession — football.

And tonight, at 7:30, the nation's top two squads – Washington (Booker T. to most) and Central – will engage in an all-out free-for-all for local bragging rights, which ultimately for teenagers is much more important than national rankings.

Washington, on the heels of one of the most impressive performances in the history of national showdown games – a 55-0 stomping of the then-No. 3 team Norcross behind sensational dual-threat quarterback Treon Harris – is No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings.

Central, which got a cool and combined 380 yards and six touchdowns from probably the nation's best running tandem in Joseph Yearby (a Miami commit) and Dalvin Cook (Florida) in a 42-20 win over American Heritage, is No. 2.

That, of course, isn't a consensus ranking. At least two national rankings have Central No. 1. At least four have Washington. Something, as they say, has to give.

More likely, the arch-rivals will be looking to take something away. Namely, their opponents' swagger, field position and  room to run.

With as much sheer speed that will be on the field, there will be little space to run. That space will close fast. The Miami Herald estimates that more than 35 players from the two schools are being recruited by Division I college programs. Thirty-five!

College recruiters love speed and that's why they all head to South Florida, as have I. All the way from Northern California.

I've been fortunate to cover the four previous No. 1 versus No. 2 games — What are the chances? — and my boss was good enough to keep my lucky streak alive.

The intense city rivalry and sheer speed is what I think will be remember about this Super Prep Bowl V – though someone or some play always emerges. Here are my impressions of the first four. 

Super HS Bowl I
Oct. 6, 2001, Long Beach City College
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 29, Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 15

Who could remember anything else?

De La Salle’s Maurice Jones-Drew somersaulting into the end zone, the first of four touchdowns he scored in a breakout performance. We just retold that story last week.

Poly, with one of the most talented high school teams ever (four players from that team are on NFL rosters), was shell-shocked.

Super HS Bowl II
Oct. 12, 2002, Cal-Berkeley
De La Salle 28, Long Beach Poly 7

The far-away dreamy look of De La Salle quarterback Britt Cecil, an absolute afterthought going into the star-studded game who turned out to be the star by going 12-of-17 for 237 yards and three touchdowns.

He also rushed for a score and a 2-point conversion.

"I'll probably go to bed tonight and just cry," Cecil said that day. "I mean that, I'll probably cry. No one knows how good this feels right now. I can't describe it."

Super HS Bowl III
Sept. 15, 2007, Southern Methodist University
Northwestern (Miami) 29, Southlake Carroll (Texas) 21

Another far-away stare, this one from defensive stud Marcus Forston, who looked into the warm Texas night long after Northwestern broke Carroll’s 49-game win streak before 31,896 fans in Dallas and a national television audience.

His team held high-powered Carroll scoreless the second half while Jacory Harris completed 21-of-28 for 280 yards and four touchdowns. (Harris and Forston are now leading the resurgence at the University of Miami.)

Forston was reflective because his team’s previous coaching staff was fired a couple months earlier in a controversial decision.

"We practiced for a week without a coach," Forston said. "What team anywhere would practice without a coach?"

Forston then answered his own question.

"I knew then this was a special group," he said. "I could see it in their eyes."

Super HS Bowl IV
Oct. 2, 2009, Lockhart Stadium
St. Thomas Aquinas 42, Byrnes 34

An hour before the game, the two teams and coaching staffs jawed at midfield, setting the tone for the most entertaining of the previous three showdowns.

This one had it all, including celebrity sightings, electrifying runs, bonehead mistakes, heroes, goats, comebacks, trick plays, fake punts, pin-point passes, speed demons, hellacious hits, 861 yards, a 93-yard kickoff return, a blocked field goal, a fumble return for touchdown, gobs of Division I talent, numerous Division I college coaches, and speed, speed and more speed.

Junior quarterback Jacob Rudick threw for four touchdowns, including a 52-yard beauty to Lamarcus Joyner, who later put the game away with a 93-yard kickoff return.

"I felt a little disrespected that they would kick to me in that situation," said Joyner, who is now starring on defense at Florida State. "We call that an automatic six when Lamarcus Joyner is back on the return."

There was a lot of talk and kids backing it up in this game. In a losing effort, Chas Dodd threw for 416 yards and three touchdowns and Byrnes actually outgained STA 558 to 303. Turnovers did in Byrnes and the chief culprit, of all people, was its unquestioned star and leader Marcus Lattimore, who fumbled four times, twice in the red zone.

He also rushed for 118 yards, had 94 more receiving and scored two touchdowns. But afterward he was inconsolable. There was a lot of emotion in this one.

"That's the first dog fight St. Thomas has been in for a long time," Joyner said. "This just showed the world that we're No. 1. It feels great."

Said Dodd: "It was a great high school football game. I'm sure people got their money's worth."

See slideshow of first four Super High School Bowls

See preview of tonight's game