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Bald Predictions - High School Football Week 11

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We've come to the final week of the regular season folks.

It actually went by a bit faster than I thought.

Far too often we take weeks, days, hours, minutes and moments for granted. Each time we're blessed enough to play our role in a new day, it's an opportunity to do something meaningful – dare I say, something great.

For a lot of the players across South Florida – what up, Class of 2017 – this week's game could be the last time they ever put on a football uniform.

Sure, there's some individuals that will play in postseason all-star games and then there's that lucky handful who's on a team that qualified for the playoffs.

They've been given a few extra moments.

Ask yourself, "did I take any moments for granted?"

If there's any part of you that hesitates even for a split second, I challenge you to change that this week.

Have proactive moments; because they turn into progressive seconds, which turn into positive minutes; which turn into productive hours; which turn into prosperous days; which leads to powerful results.

From a football standpoint, week 11 is always a tough week to pick. You never know how teams are going to play it this week. Playoff teams could elect to rest key players, while non-playoff teams could either be super-jacked to play in their last game or they could go out there and just go through the motions because they have to.

It's tough to gauge – especially because in more than couple of the games this week, it's a great matchup but you wish it could've happened earlier in the season when the two teams wouldn't be as concerned with the playoffs.

But I'm riding the wave of the past couple weeks and I want to go into the playoffs on a high note.

Record last week: 42-5
Season record: 398-60 (.868 Correct Pick Percentage)

45 games picked this week with three games in the Bald Predictions Spotlight

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(3) St. Thomas Aquinas (6-2) vs. (4) Flanagan (8-1)
Friday at Flanagan, 7 p.m.

Here's an intriguing game between a pair of teams that will likely share the same mindset coming into this game.

Both the Raiders and the Falcons will want to knock heads with another tough opponent and show that they are superior. That's what makes the great programs – in a word, great.

Flanagan enters this game on an eight-game winning streak, having most recently dispatched Class 3A power Chaminade-Madonna. The "Dirty Birds" lost their opening week game to Palm Beach Oxbridge Academy and haven't lost since.

Defensively, Flanagan is still one of the best teams in South Florida. First-year head coach Stanford "Boosie" Samuels has kept pumping the swagger and edginess into the Falcons and they're continuing to buy in and produce on the field.

What the defending Class 8A champs will need to do is continue to work on the efficiency and consistent effectiveness of its offense. When matching up against teams with winning records this season (four games), the Falcons have only totaled 46 points – or just under 12 points per game.

Staring back at the Falcons this week is a St. Thomas Aquinas squad that has found a way to fly under the radar since being in the national spotlight for the first two months of the season.

Since its heartbreaking one-point loss in Las Vegas, Aquinas has looked like the team most thought it would be at the start of the season. Even without top receiver Trevon Grimes (torn ACL), the Raiders have put up at least 42 points in four of their past five games.

Flanagan is not a team that will lay down – not on Coach Boosie's watch. The Dirty Birds will fight and stand toe-to-toe with their opponent until the clock runs out. It just so happens that the opponent this week is still one of the better high school football teams in the country.

St. Thomas Aquinas won't score 40, but they will take down the Falcons.

Bald Prediction = St. Thomas Aquinas win 23-12

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(6) Deerfield Beach (7-1) vs. (12) Cardinal Gibbons (7-1)
Friday at Deerfield Beach, 7 p.m.

Here's another game that I wish was played earlier in the season – maybe more than any other game on the slate this week.

I had the opportunity to watch both of these teams in recent weeks and I came away impressed with both of them for different reasons.

Cardinal Gibbons looks like a much different team this year under the direction of Matt DuBuc than it has in years past. That's not a knock on former head coach and Gibbons athletic director Mike Morrill. Morrill led Gibbons to some very successful seasons.

However, I think DuBuc represents a fresh voice and a renewed energy that is permeating throughout the program. Flat out, the Chiefs look like a much tougher – physically and mentally – team this season than it has before.

Gibbons has a hidden gem in senior receiver James Bostic. Though he's a Vanderbilt commit, Bostic's size (6-foot-3) and natural receiver skills go largely unnoticed. Also, I really like junior linebacker Donnell Bennett III. Like his dad, former NFL fullback and University of Miami standout Donnell Bennett Jr. – who's on Gibbons' coaching staff, "DB3" is a playmaker.

I made it a point to watch Deerfield Beach up close and personal to see exactly where the team was heading into the final weeks of the season. Leaving the Bucks' 34-0 win over Piper, I saw a team that is not only talented on both sides of the ball – but I saw a team that was starting to click on both sides of the ball.

Receiver Jerry Jeudy is a superstar; fellow pass catchers Daewood Davis and Leroy Henley are studs, and I saw that Deerfield Beach can actually line up and run the ball quite successfully with Jakari Norwood.

Defensively, I came away most impressed with junior linebacker Ashton Pierre. He was all over the field and showed top-end athleticism as he made plays in the backfield and dropping back in coverage.

I could see a scenario where both of these teams go all out for a half and then start to rotate in a lot of backups, since the playoffs are right around the corner. I know Deerfield Beach quarterback Nick Holm is nursing a right shoulder injury, and it would be wise to keep him as healthy as possible for the playoff run.

The Bucks get on top early and stave off the Chiefs the rest of the way.

Bald Prediction = Deerfield Beach wins 27-17

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(9) Coral Gables (7-1) vs. (21) Southwest (7-1)
Thursday at Tropical Park, 7:30 p.m.

Here's a game that a lot of people will brush under the rug, but I think it's a fairly intriguing matchup.

Since its late-game collapse against district rival Columbus, Southwest has been able to rebound and get back on the winning track.

The Eagles have a legit playmaker in sophomore Te'Cory Tutson. Though he's small, he's someone who can make positive things happen wherever he is on the field. He's even among Southwest's leading tacklers this season from the cornerback position.

Coral Gables has its own "big thing in a small package" in junior Johnny Ford. Unfortunately, Ford is working his way back from a pretty bad ankle injury. He was limited during the Cavaliers' 14-7 loss to Columbus – and it's unclear just how healthy he'll be for this game.

Still, this game represents a solid test for both programs that'll want to go into the postseason on a high note.

There's an underlying trait to watch here; Southwest defeated North Miami Beach earlier this season. North Miami Beach will host Coral Gables in the opening round of the playoffs next week. I'm not one who usually applies the transitive property to sports, but it's worth noting and I think it's something that Gables head coach Roger Pollard can dangle in front of his players.

Ultimately, I think Coral Gables has a more physically gifted team man-for-man and players like junior safety Gilbert Frierson and senior athlete Kevin Romer represent the mitigating factors that'll sway this game in the Cavs' favor.

Bald Prediction = Coral Gables wins 21-13

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Other Games

(2) Northwestern vs. Jackson = Northwestern wins by 17

(5) McArthur at South Plantation = McArthur wins by 32

(10) Carol City vs. American = Carol City wins by 28

(11) Southridge vs. Miami High = Southridge wins by 21

(14) Edison vs. Miami Beach = Edison wins by 15

(15) Chaminade-Madonna vs. Bradenton IMG Academy (Fl.) = IMG Academy wins by 21

(16) Dillard vs. Blanche Ely = Dillard wins by 20

(17) Mater Academy vs. Hialeah-Miami Lakes = Mater Academy wins by 27

(18) Miami Palmetto vs. Ferguson = Palmetto wins by 21

(19) Piper vs. Cooper City = Piper wins by 14

(20) Boyd Anderson vs. Nova = Boyd Anderson wins by 6

(22) North Miami Beach vs. South Dade = North Miami Beach wins by 16

(23) Western vs. South Broward = Western wins by 7

(25) Doral Academy vs. Fort Pierce Westwood = Doral Academy wins by 10

Hialeah Gardens vs. A&T Mourning = Mourning wins by 18

Stoneman Douglas vs. Hollywood Hills = Stoneman Douglas wins by 20

Highlands Christian vs. Palmer Trinity = Palmer Trinity wins by 12

Fort Pierce John Carroll Catholic vs. North Broward Prep = North Broward Prep wins by 7

Coral Reef vs. Hialeah = Hialeah wins by 6

Keys Gate Charter vs. Homestead = Keys Gate Charter wins by 2

Braddock vs. Sunset = Braddock wins by 1

Dr. Krop vs. Miami Springs = Dr. Krop wins by 13

Coral Glades vs. Pembroke Pines Charter = Coral Glades wins 8

Ocala Trinity Catholic vs. Westminster Christian = Trinity Catholic wins by 12

Somerset Academy Pines vs. Boynton Somerset Academy Canyons = Somerset Academy Canyons wins by 8

Gulliver Prep vs. Key West = Key West wins by 7

North Miami vs. South Fort Myers = South Fort Myers wins by 10

Calvary Christian vs. Archbishop McCarthy = Archbishop McCarthy wins by 4

Coconut Creek vs. Northeast = Coconut Creek wins by 7

Cypress Bay vs. Coral Springs = Cypress Bay wins by 5

International School of Broward vs. Immokalee HS (Fl.) = Immokalee wins by 37

Everglades vs. Palm Beach Oxbridge Academy = Oxbridge Academy wins by 28

Fort Lauderdale vs. Stranahan = Fort Lauderdale wins by 6

Monarch vs. Hallandale = Hallandale wins by 16

West Broward vs. University School = University School wins by 3

Belen Jesuit vs. Monsignor Pace = Pace wins by 5

Westland Hialeah vs. Port Charlotte (Fl.) = Port Charlotte wins by 42

South Miami vs. Coral Park = Coral Park wins by 7

Varela vs. Ronald Reagan = Reagan wins by 14

Community School of Naples vs. Somerset Academy Silver Palms = Community School of Naples wins by 11

Barbara Goleman vs. Everglades Prep = Goleman wins by 7

Norland vs. Killian = Norland wins by 9

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