This weekend's slate of high school football action is one of the best we have ever seen, and it got started by a huge upset as No. 14 Miami Central (Miami) took down No. 4 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 20-14. This was the first time a Florida team beat the Ascenders since 2013, not counting American Heritage's (Plantation, Fla.) win in the kickoff classic in 2015.
The Rockets trailed 14-6 at halftime but outscored the fourth-ranked Ascenders 14-0 in the final 24 minutes.
LaWayne McCoy came up with the biggest play of the night with a 34-yard pick-six to give the Rockets a 20-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Ascenders defense came up with a big stop to get the ball back with just over a minute remaining but the Rockets intercepted a pass to seal the game. Four-star defensive end
Rueben Bain made a huge impact finishing the night with three sacks and expect the Rockets to make a huge jump in next week's MaxPreps Top 25 rankings.
California vs. Texas took place at Allen's 60-million dollar stadium and No. 1 St. John Bosco (Bellfower, Calif.) made a statement with a dominant 52-14 win over the Eagles to start its 2022 season. The top-ranked Braves had the game sealed at halftime with a 38-7 lead and will face Bishop Amat (La Puente, Calif.) next week on Sept. 2.
No. 2 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) erased a 21-7 3rd quarter deficit and came back to win 24-21 to reel off its 19th consecutive victory. Junior quarterback
Elijah Brown improved his record to 19-0 to start his prep career. Up next for the Monarchs is No. 9 Centennial (Corona) on Sept. 2. The Huskies beat Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 42-7.
No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was the first of eight MaxPreps Top 25 teams to play on Saturday and beat St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia) 48-37 on ESPN.
Gemari Sands and
Jordan Lyle both had two touchdowns while
Champ Harris threw for three scores in his first start for the Raiders.
No. 19 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) dominated the trenches against No. 25 Los Alamitos (Calif.) rushing for nearly 500 yards in a 56-27 win on ESPN2. Ohio State-bound running back
Mark Fletcher Jr. had 19 carries for 224 yards and two scores. The one bright spot for the Griffins was four-star USC commit
Makai Lemon who had 17 receptions for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns.
No. 13 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Fla.) outlasted No. 17 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) with a 35-28 victory. The Cadets trailed 35-7 halfway through the third quarter then scored 21 unanswered points and got the ball back in the final two minutes but the Lions defense got a sack on fourth down to ice it.
One of the biggest upsets nearly took place on Saturday in Canton (Ohio) as East St. Louis (Ill.) had a 13-12 lead with under two minutes remaining against No. 3 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore). A bad snap on a punt attempt for the Flyers gave the Panthers the ball at their own 41 and on the first play of the drive junior quarterback
Michael Van Buren connected with
Mekhi Workman for a 59-yard touchdown. The third-ranked Panthers overcame four turnovers and will travel to Texas next week to face a very talented DeSoto squad on Sept. 3.
MaxPreps Top 25 National Scoreboard
Saturday, noon - ESPN
Idle
Season opener: Sept. 2 at Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)
Friday, 7 p.m.
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Idle
Season opener: Sept. 2 vs. No. 20 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.)
Saturday, 6 p.m. - ESPN2
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Saturday, 4 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) - ESPN2
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
