American Heritage had a big Friday night planned. It was Senior Night and Homecoming, and the final district game of the season. It was supposed to be a sort of coronation evening, with the Stallions expected to romp past Fort Lauderdale-Calvary Christian.
Greg Bryant and American Heritage were already district champs, but now they've got an extra bye week.
“It’s a little frustrating,” American Heritage coach Stacy Sizemore said. “We’ve only had two home games. Obviously we don’t want anyone to get hurt, but this was our homecoming game. It affects our school. It was Senior Night and Homecoming.”
American Heritage, now 9-0 with the forfeit, is one of the nation’s top high school football teams and, in its three games against other District 7-3A opponents, has won by an average of 54 points. The Stallions scored 60 against Pahokee, 59 against King’s Academy and 49 against Cardinal Newman, which was ranked fifth in the state in Class 3A ahead of its loss to Heritage. Calvary Christian is in last place in District 7-3A, having lost its first three district games by 28.6 points per contest.
The Stallions have several Division I-level prospects on their roster, including All-American running back Greg Bryant, BCS-bound lineman Roderick Johnson and uber-athletic quarterback Marcus Davis, who will pick between West Virginia and Wake Forest for his college ball. Their defense is just as good, if not better. Now American Heritage has an extra bye week ahead of its much-anticipated game against Dwyer on Thursday, Nov. 8.
“We’re trying to scramble and find something else to help our student body out,” said Sizemore, who is also Heritage’s athletic director. “They just called us (Tuesday). We’ll try to do something for the kids.”