Story
Dwyer-Glades Central Labor Day game on ESPN brings national spotlight
Saturday, August 20, 2011
by
Jeff Greer
High school football fanatics in Palm Beach County already were excited about the Labor Day matchup between local powers Dwyer and Glades Central.
But when ESPN officially announced last week it would broadcast the game - the first ever nationally televised high school game in county history - the buzz turned to a fever pitch.
Glades Central senior linebacker Dominique Gibson was on his computer Wednesday when he spotted a reporter's Twitter post about ESPN picking up the game.
Moments later, teammate Tanner Redish, the starting quarterback, was calling him.
"He was going crazy, he was excited," Gibson said. "We can't wait to play."
In previous years, the county's most hyped game is usually the annual Muck Bowl, played between perennial powers Glades Central and Pahokee (12 state titles among them and boasting countless current and former NFL players), at the end of the regular season.
But with Pahokee struggling of late, and the fact that Dwyer and Glades Central have been among the best teams in the area recently, many consider this 'The Game of the Year.'
Dwyer Athletic Director Tom Pagley said he can't imagine what kind of planning is being done for the game, to be played at 4 p.m. on Sept. 5 at Glades Central's Effie Grear Stadium .
"Any high school football game is like putting on a wedding," he said. "This is like putting on a wedding for (Donald) Trump."
Glades Central Athletic Director Edwin James expects the game to be similar to the Muck Bowl in terms of preparation.
"We're treating it like we would treat (the Muck Bowl)," he said. "We anticipate similar crowds and a similar security setup."
James said Glades Central is considering adding extra bleachers to its stadium, which he said seats between 6,000 and 7,000.
He said the school received $1,000 from ESPN's marketing partner Paragon Marketing Group for hosting the game. Rashid Ghazi of Paragon, a Chicago-based company that negotiates contracts with schools on behalf of ESPN, said his company chose this game because "we wanted to show viewers the aura of the muck. We had not pursued that story angle yet."
Ghazi said his company looks for schools that have a lot of Division I talent and returning starters, both of which Dwyer and Glades Central possess. Both schools were among the top 25 in Sports Illustrated's pre-season national rankings, with Dwyer 11th and Central 22nd.
"It's going to be crazy," Florida Gators receiver Deonte Thompson, a former Glades Central Raider, said. "It's going to be wild, very wild."
Thompson said he and Florida's Dwyer products - Jacoby Brissett, Gerald Christian, Robert Clark and Matt Elam - will probably get together to watch the game.
Expect there to be lots of trash talk if they do.
"Clark's from Belle Glade," Thompson said. "He pretty much is a Raider. He just moved over (to Dwyer) when he was in high school. But he grew up with me. He's a Glades Central Raider. It's in his heart."
When informed of Thompson's comments, Dwyer coach Jack Daniels texted Clark. Not a chance, Clark replied.
"I'd disown his (behind)," Daniels said.
ESPN asked both schools to compile books of biographical information on coaches and players for the broadcasters. That, plus other paperwork, must be completed by Monday, Pagley said.
ESPN will have an on-site production truck and six cameras around the field. An ESPN spokesperson confirmed that former college quarterback Tom Luginbill will be providing color commentary for the game, though the play-by-play man hasn't been picked yet.
Staff writers Jason Lieser and Matt Porter contributed to this report.
.
User Comments:
Summertime commented on August 21, 2011 at 12:15 p.m.: report abuse
Just wondering who's going to be blocking Malik Brown. I mean have you seen that guy, he is explosive, he competes at a really high level, and at all cost he will try to make a way to win. He should be one of the most highlighted players in this game. I mean its seems like everyone is so hyped about Glades Central. Not to be a shocker because everyone knows , but Dwyer will come come strong and hard. Im not even from West Palm and i can see the talent and the hard work that these boys put in to their craft. Dont Sleep On Them.Or Brown because they will show up and show out.
Mike Terry commented on August 21, 2011 at 12:23 p.m.: report abuse
Yes I have seen him. Only problem I have with summertimes comment is that I dont know who is going to block him. I mean your excactly right about this kid he can go. But you also forgot about his IQ of the game. He is very talented and if you sleepm on him as summertime says you will be very upset because he will come very hard. Hard work beats talent any day, Only problem is these Dwyer kids work hard and are very talented
glades central beats dwyer by 14 or 7 commented on August 21, 2011 at 4:47 p.m.: report abuse
who going to stop jaime wilson arron baker dominque gibson donkevious johnson crevon lebranc jatavis brown william likely leon king john brockmen tavious bridges our linemens since you wanna talk about one player were going to crush dwyer and trust me well have somebody to stop em............................................ well who's going to stop our defense cause were loaded you know we have defense 07 we shut you down to 7 points 08 we shut you down to zero points in three overtimes and in 09 we shut you down to 7 points so i hope yall have a better offense who can put up points if you wanna stick in the game. dont worry our offense will come to play we can run and throw the only player on offense dwyer has is they transfer qb and they one receiver but trust me that qb hasn't seen muck speed he's from new york and we have the linebackers in the state coming back from last year team and they all fast donkevious johnson jatavis brown dominque gibson so i dont see their qb scambling all night on gc. they better have a good offensive scheme and defense to stop the deep ball and the run in order to beat us or its going to get ugly on espn for dwyer. GO RAIDERS and trust in belle glade we going to show up hope yall dont get scared when ya cross that green bridge you know yall never came to belle glade before but we will send yall to palm beach back with a lost on labor day on national tv and shw the country why we have 6 state tittles and how we run palm beach county and dwyer o what will this make up 4-0 against yeah that's right so dwyer fans don't get your hopes up too high for a upset cause it aint happening....................................................... see ya labor day on espn go raiders
Blaze commented on August 21, 2011 at 5:32 p.m.: report abuse
After reading this, I totally understand why the county wants to take over the local government out there?
SportsFan commented on August 21, 2011 at 7:42 p.m.: report abuse
From" EAST to WEST THE RAIDERS ARE THE BEST
Cain T. Standeshaur commented on August 22, 2011 at 3:49 a.m.: report abuse
inlet grove is the best in pbc
@cain commented on August 22, 2011 at 1:23 p.m.: report abuse
Dude, stop smoking funny stuff at 4 in the morning.
GC CHEERLEADER commented on August 24, 2011 at 2:06 p.m.: report abuse
I have faith in my boys!! I have been a cheerleader for 4years straight. I know and feel that when the RAIDERS come they come hard. So Dwyer if you think for one time you coming to our school and your going to beat us on our field you have another thing coming BOO BOO!!!! LETS GO CLASSMATES C/0 2012
NELL Out
AllDatJahz commented on August 29, 2011 at 9:28 a.m.: report abuse
OMG! This is a game I will not miss. ~ Go Raiders! Class of '81
RAIDER4LYFE!! commented on September 1, 2011 at 3:28 p.m.: report abuse
This is great publicity for both teams..This will a great game on both sides of the ball but I bleed MAROON AND GOLD...Let's Go Raiders!!! Raider Alum..Class of '96
Raiders4Life commented on September 1, 2011 at 11:28 p.m.: report abuse
Glades Central - vs- Dwyer is the GAME OF THE YEAR! No doubt about it. I'm glad that it will be on ESPN for the entire country to see two great Palm Beach County teams go at it and hard. However, I'm a Raider and you know when we bring it, it's hard. Remember, we don't rebuild, we reload.
Go Raiders!!!
Sylvia commented on September 4, 2011 at 1:04 a.m.: report abuse
Where is the "HYPE" from the Palm Beach Post?? Anyway, I am SO PROUD of the Glades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I look forward to going to this game!!!
Blankety blank commented on September 4, 2011 at 2:55 p.m.: report abuse
It's going to be a tough game for Dwyer, if we beat GC tomorrow, we'll probably win state this year.
Gregory Goforth commented on September 5, 2011 at 4:31 p.m.: report abuse
Go Raiders ! CLASS OF 85
Blankety blank commented on September 5, 2011 at 7:12 p.m.: report abuse
Okay that sucked
Jeannie commented on January 12, 2012 at 12:42 p.m.: report abuse
That's not even 10 mineuts well spent!
buy oem software commented on February 12, 2012 at 3:45 a.m.: report abuse
8SaByy Post brought me to think, went to mull over!!...
esalerugs.com commented on February 13, 2012 at 11:04 a.m.: report abuse
Excellent! Got a real pleasure..!!
cheapoair promo code commented on February 13, 2012 at 11:27 a.m.: report abuse
Sometimes I also see something like this, but earlier I didn`t pay much attention to this!....
followers exchanege commented on February 13, 2012 at 11:50 a.m.: report abuse
Thank you, a very interesting note!!....
viagra commented on February 13, 2012 at 12:12 p.m.: report abuse
I subscribed to RSS, but for some reason, the messages are written in the form of some hieroglyph (How can it be corrected?!....
Voorhees NJ personal trainer commented on February 13, 2012 at 12:35 p.m.: report abuse
I read online (computer problems) positive feedback about your resource. Didnt even believe it, and now saw myself. It turned out that I was not fooled!....
Bristol Airport Hotels commented on April 19, 2012 at 10:26 a.m.: report abuse
LedORH Im obliged for the blog article.Much thanks again. Great.
bookmarking submission commented on October 20, 2012 at 12:34 a.m.: report abuse
eGsKBC Very informative post.Really thank you! Will read on...
bookmarking service commented on November 4, 2012 at 6:10 a.m.: report abuse
hrR7pZ I really liked your post.Really thank you! Want more.
weight loss pills commented on February 2, 2013 at 12:10 a.m.: report abuse
PnY5vn Awesome article post.Really thank you! Will read on...
Clomiphene 50 mg commented on February 28, 2013 at 12:43 a.m.: report abuse
mAppGB Thanks again for the blog.Much thanks again. Awesome.
camera buying guide commented on May 13, 2013 at 8:26 p.m.: report abuse
Rs5YXv I appreciate you sharing this blog.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
Add Your Comment:
We'd like your thoughts on this topic. I appreciate your willingness to share them. We want to avoid comments that are obscene, hateful, racist or otherwise inappropriate. If you post offensive comments, we will delete them as soon as we can. If you see such comments, please flag them to notify us. -- Tim Burke, Publisher and Executive Editor, The Palm Beach Post