Florida High School Football Games of the Week: September 5-7

Week two saw a handful of major upsets and top-10 clashes in the Sunshine State, and the Florida high school football games of the week for Sept. 5-7 look to be just as promising.

This week features a pair of top-10 showdowns as Cocoa takes on top-ranked IMG Academy while Lakeland hits the road to play Lake Mary.

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.

CLICK HERE to watch high school games on NFHS Network now!

Top high school football games in Florida

#4 Cocoa at #1 IMG Academy — Friday, Sept. 6
Cocoa went on the road against defending state champion Mainland and thrashed the Buccaneers 51-0. UCF commit Jayvan Boggs caught all four passing touchdowns from Michigan quarterback commit and Cocoa junior Brady Hart. IMG Academy faced another elite out-of-state opponent last week as the Ascenders took on Bergen Catholic (N.J.). IMG came away with the two-score 27-14 win over the Crusaders. SMU quarterback commit Ty Hawkins broke a 7-7 tie in the third quarter with a 51-yard touchdown run before finding freshman wide receiver Eric McFarland for a 45-yard strike on the next drive.

#5 Lakeland at #9 Lake Mary — Friday, Sept. 6
Lake Mary beat Osceola 24-7 last week behind a nearly 200-yard effort from junior Notre Dame quarterback commit Noah Grubbs. Through the third quarter, Osceola had gained just 28 yards on 25 snaps. Lakeland was idle on the second week of games in the Sunshine State. Previously, Lakeland took down top-5 Miami Central in a major upset victory for the Dreadnoughts. Junior four-star linebacker Malik Morris accounted for a rushing touchdown, a blocked punt and a stuffed Miami Central third-down run on the 1-yard line.

#11 American Heritage at #10 Chaminade-Madonna Prep — Friday, Sept. 6
American Heritage took down Western at home 51-12 to move to 1-1 on the season. Texas commit Dia Bell threw for 332 yards and five touchdowns in the win while Byron Louis ran for 84 yards and a score on the ground. Chaminade-Madonna fell in a shocker last weekend with a 35-34 overtime loss to Blanche Ely. Senior quarterback Preston Wright was 9-of-14 passing for 106 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore Tyler Chance was 6-of-11 for 113 yards and an interception. Elite junior athlete Derrek Cooper ran 29 times for 184 yards and four touchdowns. Chaminade-Madonna won last year’s matchup against American Heritage 28-16.

#2 Venice at #16 Bishop Verot — Friday, Sept. 6
Bishop Verot moved to 2-0 last week after going on the road and smacking Tampa Catholic 55-12. Michigan quarterback commit Carter Smith passed for 122 yards and two scores and Deshon Jenkins rushed for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Venice took down Northwestern in a top-10 matchup last Friday, downing the Bulls 48-42 in overtime. Sophomore running back Dorien Irving-Jones scored the game-winning rushing touchdown. Venice’s James Madison running back commit, Jamarice Wilder, rushed for an astonishing 341 yards and two touchdowns.

#23 Columbus at #3 St. Thomas Aquinas — Friday, Sept. 6
Columbus is looking to bounce back from its narrow 14-10 loss to Good Counsel (Md.). The Explorers defense has given up just 17 points combined over two games, with one of Good Counsel’s touchdowns coming on special teams. St. Thomas Aquinas shut out Boyd Anderson on the road 51-0.

#25 Tampa Bay Tech at #12 Armwood — Friday, Sept. 6
Tampa Bay Tech rebounded from its opening week loss to Venice with a 74-0 clobbering of Wharton. Darryon Jones threw for 164 yards and four touchdowns on just nine attempts. Freshman QB Macho Dile followed up with touchdown passes of his own on both of his completions. Armwood moved to 2-0 with a 44-7 win over Sumner. Junior quarterback Rhys Brush passed for nearly 250 yards and four touchdowns with Miami commit Girard Pringle adding a score on the ground. Armwood beat Tampa Bay Tech soundly 51-34 last regular season — but the Titans got revenge in the postseason with a 27-22 victory.