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Westchester, FL — COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the U.S. and the tri-county notoriously has had the highest number of cases in the state of Florida compared to other radiuses since the Spring of 2020. Currently, about 150,000 of the state’s 864,000 cases are from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.
As a result of these high numbers, the governing bodies of high school athletics among public schools decided to opt-out of the Florida High School Association (FHSAA) state championship to reduce the risk of spreading the harmful virus that has taken the lives of over 17,000 in the sunshine state.
The majority of public schools in the three counties will however participate in the Tri-County Championship, a tournament that will determine the best teams of those that did not opt-in to the state championships. The postseason tournament will be divided into two levels: Gold Level and Silver Level. There will be three brackets and two levels for each bracket: 8A bracket, 7A bracket, and the 6A-1A bracket.
The tournament selection committee, composed of six high school sports writers, will determine which teams will participate in the tournaments with a weekly ranking system that debuted this week.
Two teams that will contend on the Gold Level took the field Friday. The defending 8A state champions Miami Columbus hosted surprise 6A-1A tri-county championship contender North Miami Beach. Coming into the game Columbus ranked number one in the 8A bracket and NMB ranked 4th in the 6A-1A bracket. Both teams defeated defending 4A state champion Miami Booker T. Washington this season. Columbus was one of seven teams to win state championships last season from South Florida.
Columbus looked dominant Friday with a 35-0 shutout of NMB on their home field. Fernando Mendoza threw three touchdown passes on the night delivering two to senior wide receiver Chris Gibert. Mendoza had only to incompletions on the night with zero interceptions. The Explorers are now 4-0 while the Chargers dropped to 2-2.
“We would love to go repeat,” said the junior quarterback after the shutout win. “It’s unfortunate we cannot play for a state championship, but I think playing for the tri-county championship was the right decision. The best talent is in South Florida.”
Columbus’s first offensive play was an explosive one as Mendoza dropped back to pass, stepped up in the pocket, and delivered a strike to Jahvar McSween cutting across the middle of the field. McSween accelerated and took it about 60 yards for a touchdown.
TOUCHDOWN!!! Mendoza finds Jahvar McSween to make it 7-0 Columbus early in the 1st. #CPride @FlaHSFootball pic.twitter.com/L4W5Qd2gES
— CCNN Live (@CCNNLive) November 13, 2020
“The lineman makes it easy for me to make plays,” said Mendoza of his teammates. “This team (NMB) is very physical upfront. We still can be better but I think we are getting close to our full potential.”
NMB played without their starting quarterback Davandre Coure and starting safety Xavier Robio who sat out this game due to COVID restrictions. The Columbus receivers took advantage of one-on-one situations as Mendoza found Gibert in the corner of the end zone with both touchdown passes. Gibert was able to beat the defender to the football by locating the football at its highest point. The Explorers took a 28-0 lead into halftime.
“Chris is a next-level player,” said Mendoza. “We’ve been working on getting our timing down. We go over the mental side of the game. I know he is going to be in the right place at the right time as well as all of our receivers.”
From left to right: Chris Gibert, wide receiver and Fernando Mendoza, quarterback, Columbus
FINAL: @ColumbusFtball defeats North Miami Beach 35-0. @qb_fernando tosses three touchdown passes with two going to @gibert_chris. @FootballHotbed https://t.co/UwzHyu4evI
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) November 14, 2020
The running back tandem of Vershard Quinn and Denim Edwards would wear the Charger defense down throughout and Edwards would find paydirt on two occasions.
Denim Edwards takes this one the distance as @ColumbusFtball takes a commanding 21-0 lead over NMB in the first half. @FlaHSFootball @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/SJB7NyRmnB
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) November 13, 2020
HALFTIME: @ColumbusFtball extends the lead with this touchdown run by Denim Edwards on NMB 28-0 just before the half. @FlaHSFootball @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/nU434lX8kS
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) November 13, 2020
Columbus defenders Jabari Ishmael and Dustin Vinas lead are strong defensive front that is stout against the run while Rodney Williams Jr. leads an impressive secondary.
Miami @CanesFootball commit @IshmaelJabari gots the stop here for @ColumbusFtball. pic.twitter.com/mR13jTIDl8
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) November 13, 2020
“We can only rely on them to get a stop,” said Mendoza. “The Columbus defense is the best defense that we are going to face and we face them every day in practice.”
The rising star is looking to build a strong resume for college recruiters but remains focused on bringing another championship to Westchester. Last year’s quarterback Brandon McDuffy led the Explorers to its first championship in school history and Mendoza says he learned much from the experience.
“I learned a lot from Brandon last year,” said Mendoza. “Coach Dunn has prepared me to check down to my receivers and I believe in my football IQ.”
The 6-4, 212-pound quarterback wants to stay close to home for college and says academics are equally important as athletics in choosing a school.
“I’m just being patient right now,” said Mendoza. “I just want to play not too far from home.”
Mendoza is in contact with Florida, USF, and Indiana at the moment and will continue to evaluate schools for the best opportunity to showcase his talent.
Columbus will complete their shortened regular season against Coral Gables next Friday while North Miami Beach will look to recover from the loss with a win over rival North Miami in the traditional ‘Zoe Bowl’ next week.
