ST. AUGUSTINE — “You’re making a lot of history right now. Don’t ever take this for granted. You don’t get these opportunities very often.”
In the aftermath of the Choctawhatchee’s 31-28 region title win at St. Augustine, Frank Beasley let his players know the historical significance of where they stood.
Only four Big Green teams have been in this position, the first in 1971, the next a state runner-up in 1977, the most successful from 1990 and the most recent recent from 2014, when Greg Thomas’ crew took a 13-0 Armwood team to the brink in a 19-15 loss at Joe Etheredge Stadium. Friday will mark appearance No. 5 when second-seeded Choctaw (12-1) hosts defending 4A state champ and third-seeded American Heritage (7-5) at 7 p.m. at Joe Etheredge.
Before we get to my pick, let’s see how the teams match up on paper.
State Titles: The Patriots have a whopping six — 2013 (5A), 2014 (5A), 2016 (5A), 2017 (5A) , 2020 (5A), 2024 (4A) — to the Big Green’s lone 5A title from 1990.
Strength of Schedule: The nod easily goes to American Heritage, whose 17.66 SOS rating not only dwarfs Choctaw (5.96) but is the toughest in the Sunshine State. Suddenly the five losses makes sense. The Patriots lost 28-24 to fourt-time defending 1A state champ Chaminade-Madonna. They lost in overtime to a 12-0, Final 4 Edna Karr team ranked first in Louisiana and eighth nationally. They lost 19-12 to defending 5A state champ and Final 4 qualifier St. Thomas Aquinas, who’s ranked 11th nationally and second in Florida. And they dropped a 31-21 defeat to 3A Elite 8 qualifier in Miami Central. Their other loss came to Archbishop McCarthey, which they avenged Friday in a 25-20 Region 4 championship win. Any team in Florida outside of IMG Academy would have at least four losses with that schedule.
But as far as big wins go, Choctaw and Heritage are interchangeable with road wins in the region title game against the previous No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the state.
Common Opponents: None
Defense: Choctaw is allowing 8.5 points per game and 18 points per contest in the playoffs, St. Augustine the lone foe to top 20 points in any game against the Big Green. Last week Amir Reese shut down Somourian Wingo, Alante Reese and Jordan Figueroa delivered turnovers and the Alloway brothers and Choctaw’s pass rush limited Brenton James to 7 of 15 passing for just 106 yards and a single score, offsetting a day when Trendell Anderson gashed the Big Green for 240 rushing yards and three scores. Anderson’s big runs were up the gut and an anomaly for Choctaw, which hadn’t allowed a single 100-yard rusher all year to go along with 40 sacks and 28 turnovers created (19 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries).
After pitching a second-half shutout versus McCarthy, the Patriots are allowing 18.7 points per game on the year and 16 points per game in the playoffs. Terrance Johnson forced a fumble and delivered two of Heritage’s three picks last round, Johnson up to 10 interceptions on the year and likely lined up against Wisconsin commit Zion Legree next round. The Patriots are allowing 317 yards per game in the playoffs.
Offense: It’s been a next-man-up mentality for this Patriots’ offense, and the region championship further expemplified that. Ater recevoring from the loss of five-star Texas Longhorn recruit Dia Bell following the Chaminade-Madonna loss in Week 3, the Patriots lost leading rusher Jonathan Bueno Jr. last week. In stepped sophomore Tremaine Mullen, who had 21 carries for 158 yards and a score. As far as overall look, Heritage is a pass-first offense with a 55/45 split of passes to rushes and 2,501 yards through the air compared to 1,218 yards on the groun. Quarterback Leon Strawder is no Bell, but he’s filled in admirably with 1,751 passing yards and a 16/11 TD:INT ratio with five rushing scores. There’s a lot of speed at the receiver position, Old Dominion commit Jamar Denson leading the Patriots with 65 receptions for 953 yards and 13 touchdowns and Jeffar Jean-noel posting 53 receptions for 713 yards and six touchdowns. Expect Amir Reese and Jaylen Brazan to be shadowing those two.
Choctaw, meanwhile, has a dual-threat quarterback in Tamen Zabetakis coming off his best effort of the season. The senior play caller carved up St. Augustine for 120 rushing yards on 14 carries and 171 passing yards, spreading the love with touchdown tosses to Legree, DJ Spence and Carter Marracco. More importanly, he didn’t force anything as he extended his TD/INT ratio to 25:6 — his lone pick came on a deflection that wasn’t his fault — while scoring his fifth rushing touchdown. Legree was also a focal point of the offense, getting seven touches for 67 yards and picking up four third downs as he pushed his touchdown total to 10 on the year. Keller also generated 22 carries for a hard-fought 65 yards. On the year, the Big Green have a 63/37 split on rushes to passes with 2,241 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on the ground and 1,806 yards and 26 touchdowns through the air.
Special Teams: Choctaw has shined in every phase, getting back-to-back punt blocks in the opening two rounds and last week capitalizing on St. Augustine’s short kickoffs with returns past midfield. The combination of kicker Kyler Galkowski (6 of 7 on field goals) and punter Jordan Figueroa has been a game-changer for the Big Green, along with the contributions of defensive playmakers in limiting big returns. Heritage has an equally dominant duo in punter Justin Cassini, who had two coffin corner kicks last week, and kicker Kade Bailey (11 of 14 FGs).
Key Matchups: Choctaw brings to the table physicality and the best playmaker on the field at all times, whether it be Zion Legree on offense or the Reese/Alloway brothers on defense. American Heritage brings Power 4 talent across the board and speed. This makes wrapping up tackles essential for the Big Green, who need to disrupt the visitors’ athleticism and rattle them early on. If Alante Reese and Mario and Ellis Alloway bring the pass rush, the secondary will get ample opportunities to flip the field. Likewise, if Choctaw has lapses in the secondary, Heritage’s speed will break loose on post routes.
Last week, Choctaw opened the game with a 15-play drive that took 8:06 off the clock and ended in a 15-yard touchdown connection from Zabatakis to Legree. The next drive, Chotaw’s defense forced a punt not once, but twice. The Big Green need to get its playmakers the ball in open space, move the chains and control the clock. Heritage is too athletic to turn this into a track meet.
Prediction: I’m 75-16 in my picks this year, including a 12-1 record predicting Choctaw games. A big reason why is I’ve witnessed first-hand the maturation of Choctaw’s offense and the continued dominance of Terrence Brooks’ defense. Choctaw outscored Columbia and St. Augustine by a cummulative 22-0 in the fourth quarterer. Choctaw trailed 20-7 and 28-17 in both games, only for the defense to clamp down, flip the field and allow Choctaw’s offense to feed its playmakers in the biggest moments.
American Heritage will need a full day of travel to make the 625-mile-or-so trek to Joe Etheredge Stadium, which will be absolutely electric. I think Choctaw feeds Legree for 10-plus touches. I think Zabetakis shines outside the pocket. I think Choctaw’s pass rush flourishes and Amir Reese delivers another game-changing pick. I think Choctaw wins the field-position battle. I think physicality beats speed.
I’m taking Choctaw 28-21.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Choctaw, American Heritage football’s FHSAA Final 4 tilt: prediction
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
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