MIAMI – The kings of the Northside went south and were humbled by a gold and white juggernaut from South Florida on Saturday in the final game of the Florida high school football season. 

Raines’ resplendent season ended in the FHSAA Class 3A state final. Miami Northwestern beat the Vikings 41-0 to end Raines’ quest for a fourth state football championship in school history.

Rain fell on Raines (13-1) and Miami Northwestern (12-2) as the final seconds ticked away in a contest that was highly anticipated by students, alumni and supporters of the most well-known historically Black and predominantly Black high schools from Jacksonville and Miami.

“It was a bittersweet moment. Our goal was to go to state and win state,” said Raines senior linebacker Micah Merritt. “We accomplished one of the goals, but we fell short of the other.”

Nevertheless, the Vikings went undefeated for the rest of the season – something they have not accomplished in 27 years.

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The 1997 team went all the way. The ‘97 Vikings and the 1958 Gilbert Panthers were the only Duval County public school programs that won every game they played – and brought home state championships.

Miami Northwestern has enjoyed undefeated seasons in its storied history. This year’s teams will never be held above the 2006 and 2007 squads who seemingly ran through the entire peninsula. However, Saturday’s celebration may have been more jubilant.

After Northwestern lost six games last year, head Coach Teddy Bridgewater left an NFL contract to lead the football program at his alma mater. He immediately led the Bulls to an eighth state championship.

The 12,000 people who watched Raines and Northwestern compete at Florida International University’s Pitbull Stadium was nearly equal to the combined attendance watching the contests between the four largest high school classifications in the state.

Israel Stallings was among those in the stands cheering on Raines. He’s a Ribault graduate, but Northside pride trumped school allegiances. He also wanted to support his cousin, Raines assistant coach Kevin Stallings.

“It’s a family. We support each other. We love each other. I support Raines, through and through. It’s Duval,” Stallings said before kickoff.

Stallings says he knew the game was going to be an atmosphere that would bring families together for food, tailgate parties and more.

While supporters from both schools were getting jokes off on social media, the consensus was the game was about the children who represented both schools.

That may have been most evident when entertainer and comedian Lil Duval beamed on the Raines sideline as the Marching Vikings strolled off the field at halftime. Lil Duval, who was once a trumpeter in the Marching Vikings before graduating from First Coast High, donated to help the Marching Vikings make the five-hour trip south.

The game may not have been competitive, but the Marching Vikings and Mighty Marching Bulls matched each other sousaphone for sousaphone. Both schools are directed by Bethune-Cookman alumni, which ensured fans on both sides of the stands were on their feet during halftime.

Even state lawmakers got in on the fun. Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, and Rep. Ashley Gantt, D-Miami, were giving each other good-natured grief, and trying to energize their half of the stadium, in the moments before the teams entered the field.

Once the game started, it was quickly apparent that Northwestern was the superior team. The Bulls were bigger, faster and more explosive. Raines went three-and-out on its first drive and struggled to run the football for most of the evening. Meanwhile, Northwestern quarterback Leon Strawder threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns. He ran through the exhausted Vikings defense with four minutes remaining for a 1-yard touchdown run to put an exclamation on the contest.

“We gotta just get better,” said Raines head Coach Donovan Masline afterward. “We gotta learn how to finish, finish the mission. We didn’t come out and play our best tonight. I feel like the kids were prepared all week. …They came out, they were the better team tonight. It happens.”

That may happen next year. But, Merritt won’t be there. Saturday was his last time suiting up for Raines. His mother and grandmother graduated from Raines and he was proud to uphold the family tradition.

“Even though we fell short today, we actually put in the hard work,” Merritt says. “The balance wasn’t on our side and we fell short today.”