Miami Northwestern thumps Coconut Creek in Teddy Bridgewater’s high school coaching debut

Leon Strawder tosses four first half touchdown passes and Bulls' defense pitches a shutout

From the opening coin toss to the final whistle, Miami Northwestern dominated Coconut Creek in winning it's season opener, 45-0, in the high school coaching debut of recently retired NFL quarterback and South Florida football legend Teddy Bridgewater. / KAILA JONES/TCPALM / USA TODAY NETWORK

Host Coconut Creek entered Thursday night's Broward County National Football Showcase brimming with confidence, but the Cougars were dominated at every turn by visiting Miami Northwestern. The Bulls built a commanding first half lead behind four touchdown passes from quarterback Leon Strawder and cruised to a 45-0 victory in the 2024 Florida high school football season opener for both teams.

• FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD

Not only was it the first win of 2024 by Northwestern, it was the first high school coaching victory for the new head coach Teddy Bridgewater. Of course, Bridgewater has known nothing but success on the football field, first as a high school star at Northwestern, before a standout college career at Louisville, and then as a 10-year NFL quarterback. Bridgewater was a first round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, before playing for the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions. Following Detroit's loss in last year's NFC Championship Game, Bridgewater announced his retirement from the NFL and was named the head coach of his alma mater shortly thereafter.

Strawder, a junior, appears to be taking to the tutelage of his new coach, as he made the most of limited throwing opportunities to produce the four touchdowns. In the first quarter, following a turnover, Strawder lofted a high pass to 6-foot-3 Nicsaint Joseph Jr. who out-leapt the defenders for an easy 7-yard score to put the Bulls on the board.

He followed up with a 41-yard TD strike to Calvin Russell, later in the opening quarter, before hitting Russell again midway through the second quarter with a 15-yard catch and run for a touchdown. In between the two Russell touchdowns, Ethan Silva added a 22-yard field goal and the Bulls led 24-0.

Just before halftime, Strawder connected with sophomore Nicholas Lennear for a short touchdown pass and the Bulls went to the half with a 31-0 advantage, as Strawder earned the rest of the evening off. Senior King Davis capped the scoring with pair of second half rushing touchdowns and a majority of the final two quarters was played under a running clock.

It was an impressive showing by Bridgewater's Bulls who will remain on the road next week as they travel to Venice. Coconut Creek will look to regroup as it goes on the road to Tennessee to face the Baylor Red Raiders.