Vote: South Florida high school football Player of the Week (8/19/2024)

Cast your vote to decide who had the best performance during Kickoff Classic weekend

Noah Sidan has moved from Miami Norland to become the placekicker Chaminade-Madonna and he had a big game on his first night in a Lions' uniform in their Kickoff Classic romp over Archbishop Carroll. / Joe Frisaro

South Florida football teams played tune-up games this past weekend, with a full slate of preseason contests scheduled throughout the area. While these games don’t count in the standings, they did give some glimpses of how these schools may stack up heading into the regular season. 

Reminder, many teams weren't showing too much. So final scores aren't always accurate indicators. 

Still, the preseason did show skill and talent levels. And, as usual, Miami-Dade and Broward Counties teams are once again loaded.

In South Florida, the main event for the launching of the regular season comes later this week with the Broward County National Football Showcase, being hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas. 

Before we look ahead, SBLive Florida is recognizing some of the top performers from the preseason games.

Reminder, our polls are intended to be fun while providing recognition to the players and their respective schools. 

Each week, we encourage players and schools to send to @JoeFrisaro on X the players they believe are deserving of being nominated.

SBLive voting polls are intended to be a fun way to create fan engagement and express support for your favorite high school athletes and teams. Unless expressly noted, there are no awards for winning the voting. Our primary focus is to highlight the abilities and accomplishments of all the athletes and teams included in our poll. You can vote as often as you wish and are encouraged to share our polls with others. The use of voting bots and other forms of automated voting are not allowed. Individuals will be removed from the poll if any form of automated voting can be verified. - SBLive Sports

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25th. The winner will be announced in the following week's poll. Here are this week's nominees:

Dia Bell, QB, American Heritage Plantation: A Texas commit, Bell was 14-for-19 for 282 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 61 yards and a score. All his yardage came in the first half in a 37-26 win against Blanche Ely.

Sterling Joseph, RB, Miami Edison: Edison suffered a heartbreaking, 36-28, overtime loss to Miramar. In the game, Edison running back Sterling Joseph rushed for three touchdowns.

Koby Howard, WR, Chaminade-Madonna: The tradition of elite receivers continues at national power Chaminade-Madonna. Howard made his presence felt immediately, turning in a 40-plus yard touchdown pass from Tyler Chance on the Lions’ first play from scrimmage. Howard added a 10-yard TD catch from Zach Katz.

Lavon Moss, DB, Miramar: In overtime, Moss clinched Miramar’s 36-28 win over Miami Edison with a fourth-down tackle of quarterback Randolph Jones in the backfield on fourth-down.

Bekkem Kritza, QB, Miami Central: The Rockets made a statement in their Miami Super Showdown Classic contest against Ocala Vanguard. In the 32-0 shutout, Kritza threw a pair of touchdown passes.

Jayvin Smart, QB, Miramar: At the Miami Super Showdown Classic at Traz Powell Stadium, Miramar pulled off a dramatic comeback, 36-28, victory over Miami Edison. Smith threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another. 

Noah Sidan, PK, Chaminade-Madonna: A year ago, Sidan was making big kicks for Miami Norland. Now with the Lions, Sidan connected on all eight of his PAT attempts in the Lions’ 56-0 rout of Archbishop Carroll. Most of his kickoffs also went for touchbacks. 

Andrew Indorf, QB, St. Thomas Aquinas: The Raiders prepared for their Saturday showcase contest with Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) by easily handling a talented Fort Myers Bishop Verot team, 37-14. Indorf led the offense with at least one touchdown pass, and he ran for a score. St. Thomas threw for 306 yards in the first half.

Antwaun Parham, WR, Monarch: You never know what to expect in rivalry games, even in the preseason. We do know Monarch stepped up and handled rival Coconut Creek, 34-12. Parham had a touchdown reception early in the game that got out of hand in the second half. A Tulane commit, Parham’s scoring play came on a nifty one-handed catch on a pass thrown by quarterback Jack Spaeder.

Jayden Elder, WR, West Boca Raton: In a lopsided win against Jupiter, Elder corralled a long touchdown pass from Trey Moran.

Angelo Smith, DB, Chaminade-Madonna: In all phases, the Lions dominated Archbishop Carroll. In the first half, Smith returned a fumble recovery about 40 yards for a touchdown. Worth noting, the Lions added another TD with linebacker Jaiden Roper scoring on a fumble return.·        

Jaleel Walters, DB, Monarch: The senior had six tackles and a pass broken up in the Knights’ win.

Joshua Rivera, RB, Archbishop Carroll: The Bulldogs had a rough day, getting blanked 56-0 at Chaminade-Madonna. Even though they didn’t score, Rivera was the Bulldogs top rusher.