3 takeaways from Plantation American Heritage's thrilling win over Jones for Class 4A state title

Patriots' stars Malachi Toney and Byron Louis led the way for the program's sixth state championship

Robson Lopes

MIAMI, FLORIDA- With the Nat Moore Trophy, South Florida's prestigous award, in hand and out of the way for Malachi toney, there was one more thing he wanted to do before going off to college.

That was win Plantation American Heritage head coach Mike Smith a state championship.

Consider that mission accomplished for Toney (15-of-17, 188 yards), as the senior led the Patriots to a thrilling 40-31 victory over Jones for the Class 4A state championship at Pitbull Stadium on Friday night.

High School On SI was on hand for the game and give you three takeaways from the contest:

1. Mike Smith wins the coveted state championship he's been chasing

Robson Lope

The last time Plantation American Heritage won a state championship was back in 2020 under former head coach Patrick Surtain. Under Mike Smith, the only time the Patriots reached the state title game under his watch, they fell to Miami Central in the Class 2M championship in 2022. Players wanting to win one for Smith was evident by their play and effort throughout the night. With the game on the line, Toney and Byron Louis (Florida signee) played like the stars they are en route to the program's sixth state championship. Louis' effort was another incredible one, rushing for 221 yards on the night and it helped give Smith his first title as a head coach.

2. Inability to force turnovers put tremendous pressure on offense to produce for Jones

Throughout the season, Jones' defense has been good for a turnover or two every game. Against Plantation American Heritage, they just couldn't find the takeaway they needed in order to change the momentum of the contest. With Toney (more down below) having himself a superb night at quarterback, Elijah Williams' defensive unit couldn't get off the field and thus, put an enormous amount of pressure on his offense to play in a track meet kinda game. Now you would think would the Tigers having players like Coleman, Vernell Brown, Larry Miles, Jaquail Smith on offense, getting points would be no problem. Thing is, American Heritage had the athletes to play coverage against Jones' talented wide receivers. The Tigers needed to flip the feeling that the Patriots could just move the ball at will, but never found the game-altering-play in order to do so. It overshadowed a terrific game for Coleman (110 yards rushing), who scored three rushing touchdowns.

3. Malachi Toney could've been a quarterback his entire high school career

Robson Lopes

My belief after this game and probably shared by many others after watching Toney, a Miami (FL) signee at wide receiver, could absolutely have played quarterback all throughout his high school career. But his height, though, you may say. So what? The senior can play signal caller and showed it all night long from his poise in the pocket, ability to feel pressure/escape and even showing off a little sidearm action on some throws. Toney began the game on a tear, completing all 10 of his first half passes for over 120 yards and a touchdown. He also in today's game would be lethal in any zone-read scheme as a runner. Durability issues may be the only thing anyone might have concerns about because of his size, but there's no doubt Toney could've been a quarterback going into college. Who's to say he couldn't be the emergency guy for Mario Cristobal at Miami?

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FHSAA 2024 1A-7A PREDICTIONS/PREVIEWS

2024 FHSAA high football state championship projections

Predicting the winner of the 2024 Florida high school football 2A state championship

Predicting the winner of the 2024 Florida high school football 3A state championship

Predicting the winner of the 2024 Florida high school football 4A state championship

Predicting the winner of the 2024 Florida high school football 5A state championship

Predicting the winner of the 2024 Florida high school football 6A state championship

Predicting the winner of the 2024 Florida high school football 7A state championship

FHSAA 2024 CHAMPIONSHIPS BRACKETS

2024 CLASS 7A CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

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2024 CLASS 1A CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi