High School Football Week Six: Catching Up On Storylines

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BY J.T. WILCOX | Senior Writer

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – As the high school football season rolls on, there's been a lot to happen already.

Some stuff happened in prime time on national television for everyone to see, some things took place in smaller stadiums around South Florida and were witnessed by a lucky, and some things happened right in front of your eyes and you didn't even know it.

And since it's pretty much at the halfway mark, I figured I'd bring everyone up to speed on some of the big storylines.

St. Thomas Aquinas is still No. 1.
The Raiders earned a hard-fought 36-28 win over Hallandale during week five, further solidifying their status as one of the top teams in the country.

Columbus' Marlin Brooks is out for the season.
Christopher Columbus junior defensive back Marlin Brooks sustained a neck injury during the Explorers' 21-7 week five victory over rival Belen Jesuit. Brooks, who has an offer from Florida Atlantic University, had successful surgery to repair two broken vertebrae and is no longer in intensive care. He will miss the remainder of the 2015 season.

American Heritage's Adam Reed has become a rock star.
The 4-foot, senior running back for nationally-rated American Heritage that has made headlines for his size – or lack thereof – has seen action in two games for the Patriots. He even recorded a 6-yard gain in the waning seconds of American Heritage's win over Coconut Creek.

Carol City replaced its athletic director.
SFHSSports learned this week that Carol City replaced Harold Barnwell as athletic director. Former Miami Norland band director Anthony Simon is the new Chiefs AD.

Two teams that were winless in 2014 have completely turned it around in 2015.
McArthur and Boyd Anderson are two teams that went winless during the 2014 season. Both teams hired new head coaches – Laron Culpepper and Eddie Brown respectively – and as of this week, both teams were in the latest SFHSSports Top 20 Rankings.

Booker T. has a pair of youngsters that are stars in the making.
Freshman quarterback Daniel Richardson has stepped off the optimist fields and is making a big splash as the Tornadoes starting quarterback. He's flashed serious playmaking ability and will be one of the top players in South Florida for years to come. And sophomore linebacker Jaquan Beaver is a terror coming off the edge and is already in the upper echelon of defensive players in Miami-Dade County.

Dade County Special
Carol City Chiefs vs. Central Rockets
Saturday at Traz Powell Stadium, 7pm

This is a major matchup that can rival any other high school football game in the country in terms of the amount of talented players that can and will go on to play big-time college football.

The stakes are high because it's a district game and, so far, you could make a case that these are the two best teams in the group right now.

Central comes in fresh off a 35-28 victory over rival Booker T. Washington. Even after giving up the most points it has since returning from its week one game against Maryland DeMatha, the Rockets defense remains one of the best units in the country.

Specifically the front seven, led by defensive linemen Keir Thomas and Eric Mitchell along with linebacker Donovan Thompson, is as good as you're going to find.

Carol City enters as winners of four straight and owners of Dade County's top overall offenses. Freshman running back Nayquan Wright is not only contributing, but he's already showing the ability to carry the load and balance out a Chiefs passing attack that features four division-I caliber receivers.

The coaching matchup is intriguing too.

Central's Roland Smith is in elite coaching club as one of only two head coaches in Miami-Dade County history to win state titles at two different schools. Smith led Northwestern to a title in 2006 and won titles with Central in 2013 and 2014. Billy Rolle is the other, winning titles at Miami Killian and Northwestern.

Carol City's Aubrey Hill, a Chiefs alum, has brought the experience he gained coaching at the college level and has restored the "Chief Pride" to a program that has its share of famous football alums.

It's the SFHSSports Game of the Week for good reason.

Broward County Special
Boyd Anderson Cobras vs. Dillard Panthers
Thursday at Dillard High School, 7pm

I know a lot of people will be parked in front of their televisions to watch the Hurricanes take on Cincinnati or the Michael Vick-led Pittsburgh Steelers face rival Baltimore on this night, but put that DVR to use and get out of the house to take in this very good high school game.

Both of these community schools are rich in football tradition and 2015 has been good to both of these teams so far. And the game is sure to be intense throughout, as this is a district game with potentially large playoff implications.

Boyd Anderson failed to earn a victory all of last season. But the Cobras hired a new head coach in Eddie "Rabbit" Brown and he's already done wonders for the program.

Brown himself has quite the resume. He played at Miami Central before taking his talents to Louisiana Tech and eventually the Arena Football League, where he was voted as the "Best Player In AFL History" in 2006.

Also, Brown is the father of Steelers All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown.

The Cobras have a strong defense led by linebacker Ricky Lewis, who coach Brown has compared to Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David – whom Brown coached at Fort Scott Community College before he went on to star at Nebraska.

Also, dual-threat quarterback Shabazz Telfort makes the Cobras' offense go – as he's accounted for 10 total touchdowns this season.

Dillard has a solid team. Offensively it's all about the aerial attack. Quarterback Anthony "Mo" Hasan, who transferred to the school before the start of the season, has quickly assimilated and become the trigger man for Dillard's offense.

Defensively, Dillard relies on a pair of players that have the size to match their skill in 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker Kenneth Ruff (a Virginia commit) and 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive lineman Aaron Thompson – who holds offers from Clemson and LSU.

For more information on high school sports in South Florida, visit www.SFHighSchoolSports.com