2003 6A football state championship

2003 Class 6A Football State Championship

The 2003 Florida High School Athletic Association Class 6A Football State Championship was played on the evening of Saturday, December 13, 2003, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. The game was the final contest of the 2003 FHSAA championship weekend. The Miami Carol City Chiefs defeated the [[Orlando Edgewater Eagles]] 13-0 to claim the program's third state football title and Walt Frazier Jr.'s third championship as head coach.

The game was Carol City's fourth state football final appearance overall. The Chiefs entered at 14-1. Edgewater entered at 11-4.

Background

Carol City had won back-to-back Class 6A titles in [[1996 Class 6A Football State Championship|1996]] and 1997 under Frazier. The 2003 run marked the program's return to the state final for the first time since that stretch.

Edgewater came in having lost the previous year's large-classification state final to a Miami-Dade County program as well. Their starting quarterback, junior Mike Dunn, had passed for more than 1,700 yards during the regular season and was central to their offense.

One of the more closely watched figures heading into the game was Carol City outside linebacker Willie Williams, a 6-foot-2, 228-pound prospect who had drawn recruiting interest from programs nationwide. Williams had begun the 2003 season ineligible. He had played the two prior seasons at Miami Monsignor Pace, a school located approximately five miles away in northwest Miami-Dade County. The Florida High School Athletic Association granted Williams a fifth year of eligibility in September 2003, citing an automobile accident that had forced him to miss his ninth-grade football season and much of that school year. He returned to the Carol City lineup four games into the season.

While Williams drew the most national attention that fall, the Carol City roster also included two juniors who would emerge as among the most recruited players in the country the following year. Free safety Kenny Phillips, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior from Opa Locka, was rated the number one safety prospect in the country and the number one overall prospect in Florida for the class of 2005 by the Orlando Sentinel. Defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois, also from Opa Locka, was ranked third in Florida and 46th nationally in the class of 2005 according to composite recruiting services. During his junior season in 2003, Jean-Francois recorded 87 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and eight forced fumbles. He also set the Florida high school record for sacks in a single game with 6.5.

Game Summary

Williams made his impact felt early. On Edgewater's second offensive series, 10 minutes and 31 seconds into the game, Williams sacked Dunn and drove him to the ground. Dunn suffered a broken right arm on the play and was helped off the field by trainers, then removed from the stadium in a wheelchair and transported to Shands Hospital in Gainesville for evaluation.

Backup quarterback Bobby Patterson, who had thrown only four passes prior to that night, stepped in. He finished 1-for-7 passing. The Eagles managed 93 yards of total offense for the game and 69 rushing yards on 28 carries.

Carol City took a 10-0 lead into halftime. Edgewater's best scoring opportunities in the second half came from field position. After forcing a fumble just after halftime, the Eagles took possession at the Carol City 40 yard line. Williams chased down Edgewater tailback Mike King and forced a fumble. Eight minutes later, following a 20-yard punt that gave Edgewater the ball at the Chiefs' 41, Williams came through a block and sacked Patterson for a 7-yard loss. Both drives ended without points.

Carol City fullback Chris Strothers, listed at 5-foot-7 and 160 pounds, carried the ball for 121 yards behind the Chiefs' offensive line. Carol City finished 0-for-2 passing and averaged 3.5 yards per play.

Williams recorded 11 tackles, four behind the line of scrimmage, and was named the state final Most Valuable Player.

Edgewater head coach Bill Gierke credited the Chiefs directly after the game. "On a night like this, you commend Carol City High School," Gierke said.

Final Score

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Miami Carol City	0	10	0	3	13
Orlando Edgewater	0	0	0	0	0

Scoring Summary

[UNVERIFIED] Specific scoring plays, including the touchdown scorer(s), extra point attempts, and field goal details, are not documented in available sources. Editors with game programs, broadcast recordings, or firsthand knowledge are encouraged to fill in this section.

Context

The Carol City victory was part of a larger run by Miami-Dade County programs at the state level. Teams from Miami-Dade had won 10 football championships since 1991 and 15 since the FHSAA playoffs began in 1963. On the same day, Miami Monsignor Pace won the Class 3A state title.

For Frazier, the win was his third state championship at Carol City, making him one of the most decorated coaches in the program's history.

The championship class sent three players to major programs in the months that followed. Williams signed with the University of Miami on February 4, 2004, in a press conference held inside the Carol City High library, choosing the Hurricanes over offers from programs across the country. He was rated the number one outside linebacker in the 2004 recruiting class by Rivals.com.

The following February, Phillips signed with the University of Miami on February 4, 2005, after being named the USA Today High School Defensive Player of the Year for 2004. Jean-Francois signed with Louisiana State University on February 2, 2005, choosing LSU over offers from Tennessee, Auburn, and Florida, among others. Jean-Francois went on to win Defensive MVP honors in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Phillips was selected 31st overall by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft and won Super Bowl XLVI with the team.

For Williams, the championship capped a season that had begun with questions about his eligibility. His teammates called him the "Killer," a reference to his style of play rather than his disposition off the field. In his own words after the game: "I feel like I'm a predator on the field. Once I go, I can't be stopped. I'm a big train on the track."