A glance at the big Florida games – from 1A to 8A

COMPILED BY ANDREAS BUTLER
FLORIDA COURIER

Here is a recap of the Florida High School Athletic Association football championships that were played at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17. There were some blowouts, upsets and exciting finishes.

Class 8A: Plant holds off Miramar

A bruising ground game lifted Tampa Plant past Miramar High School 31-20 for the Class 8A state championship.

The Panthers gained over 300 yards of total offense, including 254 on the ground. Wesley Bullock led Plant with 124 yards and a touchdown.

Plant (14-1) won its fourth state championship in the past six years. The Miramar Panthers have played in five title games in the last six years. Miramar (13-1) won the Class 6A title in 2009.

Plant took a 14-7 lead on an eight-yard score by James Few in the first quarter. The Panthers would never trail again and led 24-7 at halftime.

The Patriots got within 24-20 after Cam Hudge threw third-quarter touchdown passes to Malcolm Lewis and Tenares Robinson.

Plant was penalized 14 times for 138 yards while Miramar was penalized 14 times for 94 yards.

Few added 57 yards rushing with a score for the Panthers. The Patriots were led by Lewis who had seven catches for 94 yards and a score.

Class 7A: Manatee rips First Coast

Defense keyed Manatee High School in Bradenton as the team shut out Jacksonville First Coast 40-0 in the Class 7A championship game.

The Manatee Hurricanes (13-2) held First Coast (13-1) to 108 total yards, including negative 71 rushing.

The Hurricanes won their fifth state title and their first since 1992. They had lost in their last two championship appearances, including two years ago to Tampa Plant.

Cord Sandberg led Manatee with 180 yards passing and 78 yards rushing with a touchdown.

Manatee head coach Joe Kinnan became the fifth coach in state history to win five state titles and fifth to win a title in three different decades.

Anthony Lauro added two scores, Blake Keller a touchdown, Derrick Calloway three sacks, and Purvis Goff a blocked punt for the Hurricanes.

The First Coast Buccaneers were led by freshman quarterback DeAndre Johnson, who threw for 163 yards with two interceptions.

Class 6A: Armwood upsets Central

Armwood High School in Seffner beat Miami Central 40-31 to win the Class 6A title.

The Armwood Hawks defense forced the Rockets into four turnovers, which resulted in 21 points and scored a touchdown.

Armwood (15-0) ranked #2 nationally by ESPN won its third state title since 2003.

Central won the 6A title last year by rallying from a 17-0 deficit to beat Orlando’s Dr. Phillips but couldn’t overcome a 16-0 first quarter deficit this year.

The Miami Central Rockets failed to become the fourth Miami-Dade county team to win back-to-back titles.

The Hawks outgained the Rockets 312-261 in total offense.

Central (13-1) got within 23-21 on a 99-yard kickoff return from Dalvin Cook with 10:31 left in the third quarter.

The Hawks went up 30-21 after a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jevonte Snead to Alvin Bailey.

Bailey connected with Matthew Jones for an 80-yard score with to give Armwood a 37-24 fourth quarter lead.

Joseph Yearby led the Central Rockets with 101 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Yearby finished the season with 2,160 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Bailey finished with 139 yards passing with two touchdowns, 39 yards rushing, 28 yards receiving with a 19-yard touchdown reception to lead Armwood.

Jones added 119 receiving yards with a touchdown and Jarvis McCall a 56-yard interception return score for the Hawks.

Cook added 84 yards rushing with a 63-yard touchdown run for the Rockets.

Class 5A: Norland blanks Wakulla

Randy "Duke’’ Johnson had 266 total yards and five touchdowns to lead Miami’s Norland Senior High School past Crawfordville Wakulla 38-0 in the Class 5A state championship game.

Johnson ran for 136 yards with four touchdowns and had a 69-yard kickoff return for a score for Norland. He finished the season with over 2,000 yards rushing and eclipsed the 5,000-yard rushing mark with 71 touchdowns for his career.

The Vikings ranked No. 8 nationally by ESPN Rise scored 16 points in a span of one minute and 12 seconds in the behind two scores from Johnson and a safety in the second quarter.

Norland (15-0) won its first state championship since 2002. The Vikings lost in the Class 3A state title game a year ago.

Wakulla (12-3) failed to win its first state title since 1981. Coming into the game, Wakulla had a defense that had 37 takeaways and seven touchdowns.

Norlands’ defense held Wakulla to just 17 yards rushing and 58 total.

Tony Thomas added 125 yards passing and Darin Owi 69 yards receiving for the Vikings.

Deonte Hutchinson had 25 receiving yards and Tamrick Holmes 14 tackles for Wakulla.

Class 4A: Bolles upsets Washington

Jacksonville Bolles rallied from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Miami’s Booker T. Washington 33-25 for the Class 4A state title.

The Bolles Bulldogs scored 21 straight points to win their state record 11th football state championship.

Tim Betros’ 33-yard touchdown run gave Bolles a 26-25 lead in the fourth quarter.

Booker T. Washington’s Nigel Patten muffed the kickoff and Bolles’ Cody Boswell recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to ice the deal for the Bulldogs.

Betros led the Bulldogs with 117 yards rushing with a score.

Melton Revelle added 75 yards rushing, D.J. Stewart had 61 yards rushing, Colby Peters contributed 69 yards passing and Max Tejada had 12 tackles for Bolles.

Treon Harris led the Tornadoes with 172 yards passing with a touchdown and 72 yards rushing with two scores.

Ballard also had 123 (81 rushing) total yards for Washington.

Matthew Thomas was named game MVP; he recorded 15 tackles with two fumble recoveries for Washington.

Booker T. Washington also was penalized eight times for 88 yards.

Class 3A: Heritage blasts Madison County

Junior running back Greg Bryant grinded out 243 yards with three touchdowns to lead Delray Beach American Heritage to a 30-3 win over Madison County to claim the Class 3A state championship.

Heritage (12-1) won its third state title in the past five years.

The Stallions rebounded from last year’s loss to Jacksonville Trinity Christian in the title game.

Madison County’s Tommy Young was held to 34 yards rushing and Deonshay Wells 76 yards rushing.

The Stallions defense held the Cowboys to just 97 yards rushing and a 35-yard field goal by Zach Money.

Class 2A: North Florida dominates Admiral Farragut

Tallahassee’s North Florida Christian (NFC) crushed St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut Academy 69-0 to claim the Class 2A state championship.

The North Florida Christian Eagles (13-0) finished with their first unbeaten season and won its seventh state title.

The Eagles won their first title since 2008 and tied Belle Glades Glades Day for the second most state titles in history.

Matt Dobson threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns all in the first half to lead NFC.

Johnathan Vickers and Warren Hart each ran for two scores while Marvin Clark had a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown and Caleb Helms a fumble return score for the Eagles.

NFC outgained the Farragut 467 to 121 in total offensive yardage.

The Blue Jackets finish the season with a 12-2 record.

Class 1A: Jefferson County too much for Chipley

Jefferson County erupted for 26 third-quarter points en route to beating Chipley 47-13 to win the Class 1A state title.

Jefferson County won its sixth state championship. Chipley is still yet to win one.

Alphonso Footman ran for 130 yards with two touchdowns and Ladarian Smiley had five catches for 115 yards and two scores to lead Jefferson County.

Smiley also added a 72-yard punt return for a score for the Jefferson County Tigers (8-5).

Lenorris Footman threw for 145 yards with two scores and ran for another score for the Tigers.

Ryan McIntyre led Chipley (11-3) with 109 yards rushing and a touchdown.