2020 FHSAA & South Florida Football Title Recap

     South Florida high school football teams won five state championship games in 2020. It was hard to compare when the region swept in seven classifications that they played in last year. 

     The coronavirus pandemic prevented many South Florida schools from participating this year. Most public schools in the tri-county area opted out from the FHSAA Playoffs by the late September deadline. The South Florida Tri-County Football Championships was created for them left out of the state tournament. 

     The FHSAA football state title contests were all held at Doak Campbell Stadium on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee. Class 8A to Class 4A were held at Daytona Stadium in Daytona Beach while Class 3A to Class 1A occurred at Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee last year. 

     Three Broward County schools ended up winning state championships this year. St. Thomas Aquinas captured a state-record 12th FHSAA football state championship as they won their second straight Class 7A over Edgewater 31-21. It was the Raiders fifth state title in the last seven seasons and ninth state title since 2007. 

     Cardinal Gibbons reached the top of Class 4A with their second championship in the last three seasons. The Chiefs mounted a 21-point gap late in the game to knock off Bolles 35-21 and prevented them from matching STA with a 12th state title. 

     American Heritage picked up the Class 5A state title over hometown team Rickards 24-6. It was the Patriots first state championship since 2017 and their fifth state title since 2013. 

     Chaminade-Madonna is the only local team that did not win in the state finals and failed to win their fourth consecutive Class 3A title. The Lions were unable to hold a 16-point halftime lead against Trinity Christian Academy and lost 25-22. 

     Dade County finished up with two state championships in 2020. Miami Central easily dominated Lake Minneola 46-0 in the Class 6A state championship game for their second straight title. It was the seventh state championship for the Rockets. 

     Champagnat Catholic pulled away from University Christian for a 41-27 victory. It was the Lions second straight Class 2A title and third in the last four years.

     The South Florida Tri-County High School Football Championships had six local title games held at Traz Powell Stadium in Miami. It involved three classifications that consisted of three gold brackets and three silver brackets. 

     Columbus got by Deerfield Beach 27-24 in the Class 8A gold bracket. They both met in the FHSAA Class 8A state semifinal last year. 

     Boca Raton defeated Palm Beach Gardens 24-17 in the Class 8A silver bracket. It was the only title game that had two Palm Beach County high schools clash. 

     The Class 7A gold bracket had Atlantic down Plantation 44-6. Both teams met in the 2017 FHSAA Class 8A regional quarterfinal. 

     It was an upset in the Class 7A silver bracket when Fort Lauderdale beat South Broward 35-6. It was the only championship contest that involved two Broward County teams. 

     The last two title games had high schools from Class 6A down to Class 1A. Dillard handled North Miami Beach 32-6 in the gold bracket while Miami Norland topped Coconut Creek 41-28 in the silver bracket. 

South Florida Sports Review 2020

     It was a good year for all professional sports teams in South Florida for 2020. Almost all four longtime professional sports clubs made the postseason for just the second time in local sports history. 

     The Miami Heat won the Southeast Division with a 44-29 record and ended up fifth in the Eastern Conference. They got playoff series victories over the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics to capture the Eastern Conference title. The Heat made the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014 and fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. 

     The Miami Marlins appeared in the National League Playoffs for the third time in franchise history as a wild card. They reached the postseason for the first time since 2003 with a 31-29 mark. They stunned the Chicago Cubs in the National League Wild Card Series and were swept by the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series. 

     The Florida Panthers got to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in five seasons and third time since 2001. The Cats ended up 35-26-8 for 78 points and in tenth place by percentage in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers were eliminated in four games by the New York Islanders in a Stanley Cup Qualifier Series.

     The Miami Dolphins had a 10-6 record and finished second in the AFC East Division. They missed an American Football Conference wild-card spot in the final week of the regular season when they lost to the Buffalo Bills along with being surpassed by the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts. 

     Inter Miami CF also made it to the postseason in their inaugural season in Major League Soccer as the team finished ninth in the Eastern Conference. They lost in a play-in contest against Nashville SC 3-0. 

Heat Handle Bucks

     The Miami Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 119-108 on Wednesday night at American Airlines Arena. Both clubs had a rare circumstance and faced each other in the same venue on consecutive nights.

     Miami(2-2) had a 25-19 advantage after the first quarter, however Milwaukee(2-3) bounced back to go ahead 56-51 by halftime. The Bucks had a slight lead 93-88 after three quarters. The Heat went on an 20-6 run to begin the fourth and never looked back. 

     Goran Dragic came off the bench and scored 26 points for Miami. Bam Adebayo compiled a double-double with 22 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while Tyler Herro had 21 points along with 15 rebounds. Avery Bradley dropped in 16 points and Kelly Olynyk put in 15 points. 

     Giannis Antetokounmpo came back with a better stats than the previous night with a triple-double of 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Donte DiVincenzo drained in 15 points and Jrue Holiday had 13 points. 

Greyhound Racing Ending In Florida

     Greyhound racing will no longer be held in the state of Florida as of 2021. An election was held back in November 2018 and voted upon to eliminate dog racing altogether. 

     Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach will have their final day ever of greyhound racing after 88 years on December 31. The last race will occur at 11:59PM on New Year's Eve. Palm Beach Kennel Club has held dog races since 1932 and owned by the Rooney family since 1970.

Steve Shapiro Retires

     Longtime Miami television sportscaster Steve Shapiro retired on Wednesday. Shapiro leaves his position as sports director and lead sports anchor at WSVN-TV Channel 7 in Miami. He became a part of that organization as a sportscaster in 1997 and was elevated to lead sports anchor in 2003. 

     Shapiro worked in the Roanoke, Boston and Albany markets before arriving in South Florida. He joined WCIX-TV Channel 6 as a sportscaster in 1990. Shapiro shifted to WFOR-TV Channel 4 when their signal was exchanged for WTVJ-TV in the mid-1990s. 

     He did have a stint as a late morning co-host with Joe Zagacki and Dave O'Brien at 560 WQAM-AM until September 1995. Shapiro was also a sports contributor on Miccosukee Sports Rap at Fox Sports Net Florida in the 2000s. 

Bucks Pay Back Heat

     The Milwaukee Bucks extracted revenge as they topped the Miami Heat 144-97 at American Airlines Arena on Tuesday night. The Heat pulled off a playoff upset of the Bucks in five games during the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season. 

     The Bucks set an NBA record with 29 three-point shots made in a game. The Heat surrendered the most points in a home game ever in franchise history. The 47-point loss tied for the second worst defeat in Heat history. 

     Both teams will meet each other on Wednesday night in a back-to-back set in the same venue. It is a rare scheduling concept to save clubs from traveling more for the shortened 2020-21 regular season.

     Milwaukee(2-2) scored the first 12 points of the contest and ripped out to a 46-26 lead after one quarter. The Bucks scored the first nine points of the second quarter and led 83-51 at halftime. Miami(1-2) was unable to cut the deficit and were down 115-75 at the end of three quarters. 

     Tyler Herro had a team-high 23 points and seven assists for the Heat. Kendrick Nunn added 15 points and Avery Bradley dropped in 14 points. 

     Khris Middleton put up a game-high 25 points for the Bucks. Jrue Holiday compiled 24 points and seven assists while Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to nine points, six rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes. 

Oklahoma State Drops Hurricanes

     The Oklahoma State Cowboys stopped the Miami Hurricanes 37-34 in the Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Tuesday night. It was just the second game this season that the Hurricanes played a contest outside of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Canes have lost 10 of their last 11 bowl game appearances. 

     Oklahoma State(8-3) broke out to a 7-0 lead at the 11:39 mark of the opening quarter. Quarterback Spencer Sanders connected a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receive Brennan Presley on the left side. 

     The Cowboys extended it to 14-0 with 5:25 left in the first. Running back L.D. Brown busted up the middle from two yards away. 

     It became a 21-point margin for Oklahoma State with 56 seconds to go. Pressley caught a pass from Sanders on the left numbers, cut to the left hash marks and sprinted in on a 32-yard score. 

     Miami(8-3) got on the scoreboard 46 seconds into the second quarter to make it 21-7. Quarterback D'Eriq King fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brevin Jordan in the middle of the zone. The Canes added a 22-yard field goal by Jose Borregales with 3:55 remaining in the first half. 

     The Hurricanes got some points on their first possession of the third quarter. Borregales booted a 40-yard field goal at 13:25.

     Miami pushed closer at the 8:45 mark and were down 21-19. Running back Cam'Ron Harris sprinted down the right hash marks from 42 yards out for a touchdown. The Canes tried to tie it, however they missed on a two-point conversion. The Cowboys moved it to 24-19 when Brady Pohl kicked a 26-yard field goal with 2:56 to go in the third. 

     In the fourth quarter, Oklahoma State extended their lead to 31-19 at 14:19. Sanders threw a five-yard pass to wide receiver Dillon Stoner near the left hash marks. 

     The Canes kept up with their opponent over two minutes later. Backup quarterback N'Kosi Perry came in and send a one-yard pass to Jordan. 

     Sanders had his fourth touchdown pass of the contest at the 9:55 mark to make it 37-26 for the Cowboys. He found Pressley on a 16-yard pass in the front of the end zone. 

     Miami answered back with 5:39 left in the fourth. Perry threw a swing pass to the left side and wide receiver Mike Harley raced in from five yards. They got the two-point conversion when wide receiver Marshall Few took a handoff on a reverse and they trailed 37-34.