Fernandez: It has been a blast. My high school football picks one last time

It’s one of my favorite things in life.

That thrill you get just minutes before kickoff or tip-off or first pitch or first serve.

Right when the crowds of two opposing schools raise the volume in a stadium or gym. The bands start playing. It almost has a soundtrack that makes the game I’m about to cover that much more fun.

While I’m positive it won’t be my last, this will be the last version of this column and my last week covering high school football or sports, in general, for the Miami Herald.

For 24 combined years, I have written thousands of articles and spent countless hours on Thursday, Friday, Saturday …and even some Monday nights on a football field thanks to that ever unpredictable South Florida weather.

I just want to begin this by thanking everyone who has followed my work over the years and hope you will continue to do so once a new chapter begins.

Ever since one late afternoon in 1999, my former editor Bill Van Smith tapped me on the shoulder and asked a 19-year old Miami-Dade College student and Champagnat Catholic alum “Do you have a car?” I said, “Yes, why?”

A few minutes later, I was headed to cover the GMAC water polo championships at Miami-Dade’s North campus. A week later, I covered my first football game at Ted Hendricks Stadium, a.k.a. Milander Park to cover Goleman and Dr. Krop. It was Krop’s first ever varsity game and the start of Goleman’s second-ever season.

After the game, I hustled to the pay phone across the street at the Wendy’s to dictate my story to one of the editors at the time. Times have changed.

From there, I went on to cover some of the greatest players to ever come out of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties including Dalvin and James Cook, T.Y. Hilton, Devonta Freeman, Nick and Joey Bosa, Jacory Harris, Teddy Bridgewater, Duke Johnson, Amari Cooper, Santana and Sinorice Moss, Greg Rousseau, Antrel Rolle, Geno Smith, Sony Michel…just to name a few.

There are so many more in football and other sports that I don’t have space to name in this column. Many I’ve seen succeed both inside and outside the sports they excelled at in high school.

Many have since become coaches, and many now have sons and daughters or nieces and nephews or cousins of their own who are making their own names inside and outside the sports world.

It has been an honor and an absolute blast chronicling those moments.

While it definitely won’t be my last, for now, one last time for the Miami Herald, here are my picks for high school football this week.

SOUTH FLORIDA TOP 20

1. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (5-0); 2. Miami Columbus (4-1); 3. Miami Carol City (2-2); 4. Miami Central (3-1); 5. Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna (3-1); 6. Miami Palmetto (4-1); 7. Miami Northwestern (4-1); 8. Plantation American Heritage (2-3); 9. Fort Lauderdale Dillard (2-2); 10. Coconut Creek (4-1); 11. Miami Norland (2-2); 12. Weston Cypress Bay (5-0); 13. Miami Immaculata-La Salle (4-0); 14. Sunrise Piper (3-2); 15. Coconut Creek Monarch (2-2); 16. Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons (2-2); 17. Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy (2-3); 18. Hollywood McArthur (1-3); 19. Miami Killian (4-1); 20. Davie Western (3-1); Dropped out: 19. Miami Southridge (1-3); On the cusp: Miami True North (1-3), Miramar (2-2), North Miami Beach (3-1), Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy (2-2), Miami Monsignor Pace (2-2), Miami Westminster Christian (4-0), Miami Ransom Everglades (4-0).

GAMES OF THE WEEK

4. Central (3-1) vs. 7. Northwestern (4-1), 7:30, Friday, Traz.

The Rockets are on a mission of vengeance and out to retake control of this rivalry. All signs entering the season pointed to Central being able to do so as Northwestern underwent a lot of changes this offseason both on the field and on the sideline.

But tap the brakes on that assumption a little bit.

The Bulls have proven through the first few weeks that they are still among the top teams in the state and their young talent is getting better with each passing game. But with this series, often you have to play in one of them to really gain the experience you need to become the dominant team. Central has the edge on overall experience even with a few new faces in key places. Dre’s pick: Central 28, Northwestern 24.

11. Norland (2-2) vs. 18. McArthur (1-3), 7, Saturday, Traz.

McArthur entered the season with high expectations, but has struggled mostly so far albeit against tough competition. The Vikings are a tough squad which has struggled against the area’s elite. It’ll be interesting to see which side comes away with valuable ranking points after this one. Dre’s pick: McArthur 14, Norland 13.

20. Western (3-1) at 12. Cypress Bay (5-0), 7, Friday.

We knew Cypress Bay would be one of the more improved teams in Broward. And we knew Western would be better than last year when it dropped badly following the departure of numerous players and coaches. This game should show just how much better each side is and how far they have to go before the playoffs. Dre’s pick: Cypress Bay 21, Western 17.

Ransom Everglades (4-0) at 13. La Salle (4-0), 7, Friday.

The battle for Coconut Grove. Ok, it’s not the official title of this game, but might as well be for the two schools located in that area, who are very competitive with each other in multiple sports. In recent years, football has surged at both schools and made this one of the more entertaining rivalry games in the county. This one should be no different. Slight edge to La Salle, who has been mostly unbeatable going on three seasons. Dre’s pick: La Salle 24, Ransom 21.

19. Killian (4-1) at Westminster Christian (4-0), 4, Friday.

Westminster Christian has made quite the turnaround under new coach Josh Kirkland, and is in position to win the district if it wins this game. Killian can realistically do the same, although it still has to beat Somerset Silver Palms next week to make it official.

This promises to be a solid matchup in the afternoon heat of two teams eager to prove they can contend in Class 2A. Killian has been a bit more battle-tested so far. Dre’s pick: Killian 20, Westminster 14.

REST OF THE TOP 20

1. St. Thomas Aquinas (5-0): Idle

Homestead (1-3) at 2. Columbus (4-1), 6, Thursday.

Dre’s pick: Columbus 47, Homestead 6. The Explorers are looking like Open Division contenders and should have no trouble here.

3. Carol City (2-2) vs. Booker T. Washington (1-3), 7, Thursday, Traz.

Dre’s pick: Carol City 44, Booker T. 2. The battle of orange and black-clad teams isn’t what it used to be.

Boca Raton St. Andrews (4-2) at 5. Chaminade (3-1), 6:30, Friday.

Dre’s pick: Chaminade 42, St. Andrews 14. The Lions couldn’t play last week so they’ll be eager to pick up their first district win.

Southwest Miami (1-3) vs. 6. Palmetto (4-1), 7:30, Friday, Tropical.

Dre’s pick: Palmetto 49, Southwest 3. The Panthers just need to keep stacking up wins and momentum for the postseason.

Miramar (2-2) at 8. American Heritage (2-3), 7, Friday.

Dre’s pick: American Heritage 27, Miramar 6. The battle of the Patriots goes to a Heritage team, which just got through the toughest part of an unrelenting schedule.

Fort Lauderdale Stranahan (1-3) at 9. Dillard (2-2), 7, Saturday.

Dre’s pick: Dillard 40, Stranahan 8. The Panthers need a bounce back after that ugly, but understandable loss to Aquinas.

10. Coconut Creek (4-1): Idle

14. Piper (3-2): Idle

15. Monarch (2-2) vs. Deerfield Beach (4-1), 7, Friday, Coconut Creek.

Dre’s pick: Monarch 28, Deerfield Beach 15. The Knights need this one after that setback against Piper last week.

Plantation (2-3) at 16. Cardinal Gibbons (2-2), 7, Friday.

Dre’s pick: Gibbons 37, Plantation 7. The Chiefs’ matchup with Chaminade was postponed until Oct. 22nd. Gibbons is back in the win column this week.

17. Archbishop McCarthy (2-3): Idle

OTHER GAMES

Thursday – Miami-Dade vs. Broward: Somerset Silver Palms at NSU University School, 7; SP 16-13; Miami-Dade: Goleman vs. Miami High (Curtis), 7; Gol 28-7; Coral Park vs. Varela (Tropical), 7; Var 19-6; Krop vs. South Miami (Ives), 6; SM 24-14; Edison at American, 3:30; A, 38-6; Sunset vs. Coral Reef (Southridge), 7; Reef 30-14; Braddock vs. Reagan (Milander), 7; RR 20-6; Broward: Pines Charter at Hallandale, 7; Hall 17-14; Taravella vs. South Broward (Coral Springs), 7; SB 30-14; Palm Beach Christian at Pine Crest, 7; PC 27-7.

Friday – Miami-Dade vs. Broward: North Miami at Calvary Christian, 7; Calv 20-18; Miami Beach at Everglades, 7; MB 31-16; Miami-Dade: Coral Gables vs. South Dade (Harris), 7:30; SD 27-14; True North at Key West, 7:30; TN 44-20; Mater Academy at Southridge, 7:30; SR 21-18; Jackson vs. Miami Springs (Milander), 7:30; MS 20-12; NMB at St. Brendan, 7; 41-7; Monsignor Pace at Doral, 7; Pace 16-10; Archbishop Carroll at Palmer Trinity, 4; AC 34-14; North Palm Beach Benjamin at Gulliver, 3:30; Gul 14-13; Broward: Fort Lauderdale at Cooper City, 7; Coop 17-16; Boca Raton Spanish River at Coral Glades, 7; SR 44-12; Coral Springs Charter at Nova, 7; Nova 27-14; Pompano Beach at Hollywood Hills, 4; HH 30-22; South Plantation at Douglas, 6; SP 34-6; West Broward at Camden County (Ga.), 7; Camden 34-21; North Broward Prep at Westminster Academy, 7; WA 34-14.

Saturday – Miami-Dade: Hialeah vs. HML (Milander), 7; Hia 3-2; Broward: Northeast at Blanche Ely, 7; Ely 37-6; Flanagan at Boyd Anderson, 7; BA 16-7.

Andre Fernandez’s record – Last week (Top 20 games): 12-2 (.857); Overall: 30-12 (.714); Season – (Top 20): 55-16 (.775); Overall: 174-50 (.777).

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PICKS

And don’t forget, in case you want to see later how accurate I was, these were my state championship picks in the preseason.

Open: St. Thomas Aquinas over Sarasota Cardinal Mooney; Other qualifiers: Chaminade-Madonna, Gainesville Buchholz, Venice, West Boca Raton, Lakeland, DeLand; 6A: Miami Palmetto over Daytona Beach Mainland; 5A: Jacksonville Mandarin over Seffner Armwood; 4A: American Heritage over Orlando Jones; 3A: Central over Jacksonville Raines; 2A: West Palm Cardinal Newman over Miami Carol City; 1A: Miami True North over Madison County