North Miami Beach @ American
WEEK 11 | 2023 SEASON
November 1, 2023
by Josh Zedner
Hialeah, Fla. | “Chargers Strike Down Patriots”
Florida Man Sports is back with Week 11 coverage of the South Florida high school football circuit. Teams are getting in their final reps in before we enter the playoffs, and tonight’s showdown was a massive one with big implications. The North Miami Beach Chargers, coming in at 3-6, face off against the 6-3 Hialeah American Patriots. For the Chargers, despite their rather disappointing record, it was “win-and-in,” as they would face off against Norland with a dub on the road. For American, they are already in, but would match up with either Southridge or South Broward depending on the result.
Things were sloppy early on. 2026 ATH Santiago Villaman was stripped in the backfield by 2025 DL/OL Tyrese Bell and the Chargers had an early fumble recovery. Following this, 2027 ATH Byron Turner threw an arm punt that was picked off by 2025 DB Marlon Brown and returned to midfield. When NMB got the ball back, another turnover was caused by 2026 ATH Jordan Campbell when he stripped 2027 DB/RB John Gray, and it was returned for a scoop and score TD by 2024 DB Theandre Balloon. Campbell had a huge impact on the game, delivering tackles for loss and sacking Turner with ease.
The middle of the second quarter is where things took a turn in a positive way for the Chargers. They put 2026 QB Chris Polanco into the game and he sparked the offense. He delivered a scramble for a first down run, then found 2024 WR/DB Frank Montijo for another conversion down the seam. NMB then gave the ball right back to Montijo on a jet sweep run and he cruised into the endzone to tie the game at 6-6. After a turnover on downs, preceded by a sack from 2024 DL/OL Fernando Jeanty, Polanco kept filtering the ball to Montijo. He got two more first down chunks before Polanco ran for another.
Montijo then made an arguable catch of the year candidate play to give the Chargers their second score of the game. An incredible one-hand stab in the image of Odell Beckham Jr. and Florida Gators’ WR Ricky Pearsall. 12-6 Chargers at half.
In the second half, the Patriots put together a drive to re-tie this game. Villaman delivered a deep dime to 2025 WR Shamar Fowles to get American deep into Charger territory. 2025 RB Johnnie Henderson then gashed through for another first down. Villaman found his man Fowles again on a fade in the endzone that was incredibly toe-tapped and knotted our score at 12-12.
Another incredible response by Polanco. He found 2024 WR/DB Amani Floyd for a first down. And then found Montijo again on a rope that was caught and ran into the endzone to give the Chargers the lead back at 18-12. The Patriots tried to find responses in the 3rd and into the 4th quarters but were met by a Chargers defense that displayed incredible effort all night. They forced another fumble. Montijo (yes, that guy again), made some big hits. And the star all night defensively was 2024 LB Daymeon Casimir. This dude was all over the place. Whenever the Patriots attempted to gain momentum he was there to stop it. He in fact forced American to turn it over on downs at the beginning of the 4th.
American had one last push that resulted in glory. After an early sack by 2025 LB/WR Malik Charles, Villaman got his arm in order. He delivered two first down passes to 2025 WR Jordan Turner and then another to Henderson on a screen to get the Patriots near the goal line. Villaman then found 2024 WR Jaylan Nelson in the endzone to once again get our scored tied at
18-18.
After a few defensive stops highlighted by American’s Campbell and NMB’s Jeanty, the Chargers had a chance to win the game in regulation after a couple of stone-cold booming runs by their tailback Gray, but they missed their second field goal of the game wide left sending us to overtime.
As we got to overtime, the Chargers plan was clear. Right back to Frank the Tank. On an end around, Montijo got the ball, and ran threw a couple of arm tackles to get the lead back once again for NMB. After a failed 2-point conversion, the first play on the Patriot response was a ball that was thrown into the endzone and picked off by Floyd! And that’s the game.
NMB wins against all odds, 24-18.
What a game. One of my favorites that I’ve covered all season. Talk about some high intensity action. NMB now heads to the playoffs with the daunting task of playing the undefeated Norland Vikings. They recently played the Vikings and were thrashed to the tune of 54-7. A tough scene. The Chargers have some young studs for sure though. Gray is a tough runner. Polanco can definitely wing it and deliver the accurate pass. Room to grow here regardless of the result. And I know we may not have much left of Montijo or Casimir, but these guys are some outstanding players. They were the bookends of this team tonight.
Despite the tough loss, the American Patriots are still headed to the playoffs. They put in a good effort tonight and never gave in to this upset-minded Charger squad. They also have a dose of young talent that should be back next year in the elusive QB Villaman, the frame of Fowles at receiver, and the elasticity of Campbell on both offense and defense. They certainly have the goods to compete in the playoffs, but that’s on the shoulders of their offense having sustained success. A really fun game. This is South Florida football at its best.
FINAL SCORE:
North Miami Beach beats Hialeah American 24-18
About Josh Zedner:
Joshua Zedner is a beat writer covering high school football for Florida Man Sports. A native of Miami Beach, he attended Florida International University before finishing his undergraduate Business Administration degree at the University of Florida. Josh is an avid Miami sports fan, and he also writes a music review blog as a passion project under the @AlbumAnalysisWithZ handle on Instagram.
