Florida High School Football Games of the Week: September 19-21
Norland, American Heritage and Bradford each won ranked matchups last weekend while F. W. Buchholz suffered an upset at home.
This week, a pair of top-10 matchups are in the limelight as Cocoa faces Venice and Norland takes on Chaminade-Madonna Prep.
Below are the Florida high school football games of the week.
The On3 Massey Ratings — which were officially used during the BCS era and have generated college high school sports team rankings since 1995 — rank sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule and margin of victory.
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Top high school football games in Florida
#7 Norland at #5 Chaminade-Madonna Prep — Thursday, Sept. 19
Norland got the huge crosstown win over Northwestern in a 21-17 thriller last week to remain undefeated on the season. The Vikings have a slew of prospects planning to stay in the Sunshine State, including UCF commits Darryll Desir and Mandrell Desir, and FAU pledges Jade Card and Adrian Farrow. Chaminade-Madonna has put together two bounce-back wins since its upset loss to Blanche Ely two weeks ago. The Lions beat Edison 56-19 last Friday, improving to 2-2. This year’s senior class features a pair of blue-chip prospects in Miami four-star cornerback commit Chris Ewald and Penn State four-star wide receiver commit Koby Howard. Junior athlete Derrek Cooper is the top player in the state of Florida for the 2026 class and the No. 14 overall recruit in the country. The On3 Massey Ratings project a 42-20 Chaminade win.
Columbus at #24 Northwestern — Thursday, Sept. 19
Columbus scraped by Miami Palmetto last week to move to 2-2 on the season — bouncing back from losses to St. Thomas Aquinas and Good Counsel (Md.). The Explorers’ top-10 defense is led by Miami four-star defensive back commit Bryce Fitzgerald. Northwestern fell in the rankings this week after dropping to 2-2 with a 21-17 loss to No. 7 Norland. The Bulls are stacked with Power 4 talent with the likes of elite junior receiver Calvin Russell, top-50 junior defensive back J’Vari Flowers and Penn State defensive back commit Antonio Branch. Columbus won handily last year, 24-7, but On3 Massey Ratings project Northwestern to bounce back with a 28-14 win.
#6 Cocoa at #2 Venice — Friday. Sept. 20
After dropping its first game of the season to IMG Academy the week before, Cocoa rebounded last weekend with a 39-13 win over Heritage. Cocoa’s top-5 defense is led by elite EDGE Javion Hilson, who decommitted from Florida State earlier this month. Also featuring for Cocoa are Mizzou four-star wide receiver pledge Jayvan Boggs and Michigan quarterback commit Brady Hart. Port Charlotte put up one heck of a fight against the Indians last Friday, but Venice ultimately pulled out the 49-41 win. Venice features a pair of speedy athletes in senior four-star receiver Winston Watkins Jr. and junior four-star athlete Asharri Charles. Cocoa beat Venice 31-21 in 2023, but this year’s On3 Massey Ratings project a close game resulting in a 40-34 Venice win.
#12 American Heritage at #8 Miami Central — Friday, Sept. 20
American Heritage beat Naples 23-3 last week to draw even to .500 on the year. The Patriots are led by junior Texas commit Dia Bell at quarterback. Bell is surrounded with offensive talent, including four-star receiver Brandon Bennett, four-star running back Byron Louis and Miami wideout commit Malachi Toney. Miami Central improved to 3-1 with a whopping 60-0 shutout win over Pompano Beach. The Rockets’ lone loss on the year came to No. 4 Lakeland in week one. They are stacked with Power 4 talent with the likes of Naeshaun Montgomery, Amari Wallace, Floyd Boucard, Ezekiel Marcelin, Randy Adirika, Bekkem Kritza, Sekou Smith and Kha’leal Sterling. The On3 Massey Ratings project Miami Central as the slight favorite.