Chaminade led by Jarrard Randall pull off upset!

When the first round started there were two teams that felt they had a very good chance at repeating as State Champions. Those two teams would be Pahokee who was going for their 6th crown in 7 seasons and North Florida Christian. They were two of the favorites to make it to Orlando this year. When the dust settled on the first weekend of the playoffs both Pahokee and North Florida Christian were both upset. Not only were these two teams sent packing for the rest of the playoffs so were FAMU, Walton, Tampa Jesuit, Madison County, Riverdale, Winter Haven, Venice, First Coast, Orange Park and Deerfield Beach. We will take a look at some of the upsets of round one and what to look forward to in the coming weeks.

In the upset of the weekend Pahokee lost to Chaminade. Last season the Lions were one of the worst teams in Broward County. They added both Jerrard Randall and Curtric Evans who both have made their presence felt. Through all of the years that coach Guandolo coached at Chaminade he never had a quarterback as talented as Randall leading the way. He gives the Lions a run/pass threat that is quite impressive. The first time ESS saw Randall was as a 9th grader for Norland. He will be one of the more heavily recruited prospects in Broward County next season. Not only was Randall a great addition to the team so was Curtric Evans.

The biggest addition to Chaminade football program was the return of defensive coordinator Marcello Rodriguez. He has turned their defense around in one season to be among the best in Broward County.

So now that Chaminade has knocked off one Giant can they continue their run to another state title? We will find out this weekend as North Broward Prep and Chaminade square off.

 Another big upset on paper was North Florida Christian going down to Melbourne Central Catholic. What made this upset shocking was not that Melbourne Catholic beat NFC but that NFC lost in the first round. They are a sure bet to usually make it deep in the playoffs. For a team that has had a ton of success lately and played in the state title the past three seasons their first round loss was a bit shocking. Look for Melbourne Central Catholic to possibly make a run at the state title in Orlando.

Another team that lost this past weekend was Madison County. The team from North Florida has been one of the most successful programs in Florida. Madison County did lose much of their top players the past two years but most felt they would at least get further in the playoffs. Now it will be interesting to see how far their opponent can go. Baker County should have a legit shot to make it far in the playoffs this season. 

The last upset we will look at is Plantation over Deerfield Beach. The Bucks looked like a sure bet to win the game against Plantation. Coach Steve Davis has been quietly building Plantation back into a power in Broward County but this year’s team seemed a bit young in talent. Led by Immani Carswell, Jeremy Cash and Ryan Shazier is a fast rising team in Broward County. They play a rematch with Miramar High School that handles them earlier this year. Can Coach Davis get his team to round 3? We will find out this weekend.

Tomorrow we will take a look at each bracket and breakdown most of the matchup and tell you what we expect to happen.