South Florida High School Champions

     South Florida high schools competed in six FHSAA state championship games this past week on South Dade Kia Field in Pitbull Stadium at the Florida International University campus. The local three-county area won four state championships this year. The South Florida region had three state titles in 2021, three state titles in 2022, four state titles in 2023 and five state titles in 2024. 

     Palm Beach County finished with two state championship teams. It was the first time more than one high school from that county won a state title since 2009 when they captured three state titles. The Cardinal Newman Crusaders made their first state title appearance in school history and stunned the defending champions the Chaminade-Madonna Lions 17-14 for the FHSAA Class 1A state championship. 

     The West Boca Raton Bulls repeated as FHSAA Class 6A state champions when they blanked the West Broward Bobcats 31-0. They became the first back-to-back state champion from Palm Beach County since Glades Day did it in 2009 and 2010. 

     There was two high schools from Broward County that won a a state title. The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders shut out the Lakeland Dreadnaughts 29-0 in the FHSAA Class 5A state championship contest. The Raiders captured their state-record seventh consecutive state title and their state-record 17th overall state football championship. STA extended their postseason winning streak to a state-record 35-game winning streak. They have won 14 state championships in the last 19 seasons. The Raiders reached the FHSAA Football Finals for the 18th time in the past 22 seasons.  

     The American Heritage Patriots held off the Jones Tigers 33-28 in the FHSAA Class 4A state championship game. They became back-to-back champions and won their seventh state title in school history. Chaminade-Madonna made their state-record 10th straight state title game appearance and had their streak of four consecutive state championships end by Cardinal Newman in the Class 1A state title game. 

     There was no state championships from Dade County for the first time since 2009. The Miami Northwestern Bulls were edged in the final 10 seconds by the Raines Vikings 23-22 in the FHSAA Class 3A state championship game. 

      Indian River County fell short of a state title. The Vero Beach Indians lost on the last play of the game to the Lake Mary Rams 28-27 in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship game. They were trying to win their first state title since 1981 and their second overall state title in school history.