Defense wins championships and the Armwood Hawks are who we thought they were. If you want to crown their butts, then crown ‘em. Dennis Green gave us the instructions folks, so go ahead do it. You may crown the Armwood Hawks the 6A State Champions of Florida after their 40-31 victory over Miami Central capping off an undefeated season and running their record to 29-1 the last two seasons.

We waited all season to see this matchup and quite frankly it’s the game you would expect from the two best teams in the state among all the classifications. There’s plenty to break down and dissect and it’s not all positive, but the one thing that no amount of criticism is going to change and that’s the final score.

By this point if you’re not convinced that Armwood’s Defense is the reason why they are now the kings of the 6A Classification, then you should have your head examined. It doesn’t suck to have the option of swapping out your QB and your RB every other play if you choose and be just as effective if not more, but it’s the big nasty, dirty 11 that got the deal done for the Hawks and you can direct deposit that in the bank. No paper confirmation needed.

If you think about the games in which Armwood “struggled” it was the defense that became their best offense. The Hawks won the total yardage battle against Central, but total yardage doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if the Hawks don’t score not only once, but twice on defense courtesy of the Mc’s Leon (McQuay) and Jarvis (McCall.) Eric Striker’s 12 tackles puts his performance statistically in the top 10 among all players over the past two weekends.

There was some concern about the two-headed rushing monster of Joe Yearby and Dalvin Cook, but if you think about beating the Hawks solely on the run, then you might as well line up against a brick wall. Guys like Sheldon Lewinson and Allen Covington wreaked havoc on Austin Stock forcing some absolutely wretched decisions from the pocket. On top of his 32yd pick-six, L3 had 7 tackles, Antonio McCullough and Warren Williams each added six. Keionne Baines, Kyle Gibson and Lewinson each averaged 4 tackles. It may not show up like much the box score, but that front seven in addition to the secondary was flying around even by their own standards.

So let’s get it out of the way. Bold statement time. Actually it’s more like a hot-button topic for discussion. Is this the best Armwood Defense from a talent and statistical standpoint this county has ever seen? Or is it the defense with Davis, Smith and Giddens from a few years past? Now we get to have a real debate. This crop has rings and they’ll be quick to point to that and ONLY that and it’s hard to argue with that right? Right?!

Alas the Hawks have finished the mission for this season set forth the milliseconds following last year’s loss in the finals. It wasn’t flawless by any stretch of the imagination, but like Bill Parcells said you are what record says you are. Well, 15-0 is technically flawless. Just like the defense is technically flawless. Then again, most diamonds have flaws. Guess the Hawks will have to check that out for themselves when they get their rings.

And save your remarks regarding the “future” of Armwood Football and their “recognized” achievements. You watch the game today? Even if you didn’t a lot of people did. Seems to me unless you’ve got one of those memory eraser sticks from “Men In Black” then you’d have a hard time complaining about what happened or denying the existence of an earned on the field championship. Just remember, there’s schools that would break every rule in the book just to get to .500 every season, so I make sure you carefully clean up the shards of glass from the houses in which you reside. Be careful what you wish for. This county is home to champions yet again. Don’t player hate. Congratulate. The Armwood Hawks are your 6A State Champions.