Miami Northwestern heading to state title game in first season under head coach Teddy Bridgewater

Back in February, it was announced that former Pro Bowler Teddy Bridgewater was returning to his high school alma mater — this time as a coach. The former quarterback at Miami Northwestern from 2008-11, the Bulls chose to bring Bridgewater back to lead the team back from its first losing record in more than a decade.

Prior to bringing in Bridgewater, Northwestern had gone through two head coaches in two seasons. Now, the return of Bridgewater to Northwestern has seen a remarkable turnaround for the Bulls. After hammering Melbourne Eau Gallie 40-0 over the weekend, Northwestern will play for the Florida 3A state championship against Jacksonville Raines.

Northwestern has lost just twice this season — an overtime heartbreaker to No. 4 Venice in August and a nailbiter against Miami Norland in September. Since the Norland loss, the Bulls have rattled off nine consecutive wins.

Throughout the winning streak, the Bulls have appeared to improve on both sides of the ball. They have blown through the postseason with winning margins of 69, 52, 48 and 40 points.

Raines is ranked No. 15 in the state of Florida and has yet to drop a game this season, but the Vikings have also not yet played a team ranked in the top 25 of the Florida On3 Massey Ratings.

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.

The Massey Ratings currently project Northwestern as an 18-point favorite over Raines.

Raines is anchored by a five-star talent along the offensive line — LSU interior offensive line signee Solomon Thomas. Northwestern is loaded with plenty of Power 4 talent itself, especially among the underclassmen.

Northwestern’s defensive secondary includes four-star junior J’Vari Flowers, Colorado signee Antonio Branch and Illinois signee Tywan Cox. Elsewhere on defense are Syracuse DL signee EJ Thomas and ‘Cuse EDGE signee Deangelo Thompson.

On offense for the Bulls are elite junior receiver Calvin Russell, top-100 sophomore WR Nick Lennear and Syracuse WR signee Darius Johnson.