The American Heritage Patriots will look to repeat as FHSAA Class 5A state champions on Friday as they face the Godby Cougars at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. They dominated the championship game last year when they crushed Clay 66-8.
American Heritage(11-3) had an easier on road to the state championship this year because they hosted all of their playoff games at Heritage Field in Plantation. They had three blowout victories with wins over Immokalee 51-0 in the regional quarterfinal, Lely 43-13 in the regional semifinal and Island Coast 56-8 in the regional final. The Pats got by Bishop Moore 20-17 last week in the state semifinal.
The Patriots have scored at least 30 points in every game this season except for last week's game and an opening game loss to Class 7A state finalist St. Thomas Aquinas 38-7. They had road wins earlier this year against Class 8A state finalist Apopka 30-20 and Class 4A state runner-up Bolles 35-20.
The offense is led by quarterback Torrance Gibson who can be a dual threat as he can throw the ball to anywhere on the field and run it out of the pocket anytime. They will be in trouble if they decide to throw deep passes all of the time like the Patriots did in Delray Beach when they fell to the American Heritage Stallions. Look for them to be more effective with short passes and screen plays.
Gibson will have a strong core of wide receivers to connect with which includes Dredrick Snelson, Brandon Johnson, Janarvis Pough, Blair Barrow, Nick Eubanks and Laress Nelson. Running backs Travis Jackson, Kyshaun Bryan and Shaddrick Lowery will carry the ball from the backfield. Cornerback Tavares McFadden is expected to dictate the defense.
Godby(12-2) has been successful all season except for their opening week loss to Georgia high school Marist 17-14 and a mid-season defeat to eventual Class 3A champion Trinity Christian 28-13. The Cougars currently ride an eight-game winning streak in which they have scored at least 35 points in seven of their last eight games. They have outscored their opponents 522-182 this season.
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