By Dave Brousseau
FORT LAUDERDALE – The Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood Hills high football programs each have one thing in common that no Broward County football program can duplicate.
In 1966 the Fort Lauderdale Flying L’s, under coach Loren Maltby, became the first team to play for a state championship before losing to Melbourne 31-12.
Seven years later the Hollywood Hills Spartans and coach Dick Saltrick defeated Jacksonville Raines 22-9 on the rain-soaked field at Lochart Stadium.
Though both teams remained competitive for several decades, much has changed.
In the first meeting since 2014 between the once proud football programs, Fort Lauderdale comfortably handled Hollywood Hills 34-8 at Lockhart Park on Thursday.
Senior quarterback Marquise Russ threw three touchdown passes, one each to Antwan Jackson, Primes Jest and another to Jamarion Mabson to lead the Flying L’s (3-0).
The Flying L’s will host Forest Hill next week with an opportunity to extend the season opening winning streak to four.
The last time Lauderdale opened the season undefeated through four games was in 2022 with consecutive victories over Deerfield Beach, Hallandale, Tallahassee Leon and Boyd Anderson.
“We’re 3-0 but still not playing good football,” said Fort Lauderdale coach Richard Dunbar. “That comes with having a young roster and a lot of first year players playing key roles.
That’s still no excuse with four weeks into the season technically.’
The Spartans (0-3) managed a lone scored on their first drive of the second half as junior quarterback completed a four-yard scoring pass to senior Elijah Joseph with 8:45 left in the third quarter.
The Flying L’s have outscored their first three opponents 98-40.
“I thought the offensive line attacked that we harped on all week,” said Dunbar. “We wanted to make sure they finished each play. If we want to be 4-0, there’s still a lot to clean up.”
Spartans’ quarterbacks Cassius Enriquez and Ja’siah Pierce combined fo 175 yard passing and a touchdown.
Dave Brousseau is a veteran journalist who worked at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a longtime BCAA Correspondent. Need to reach out to him? Contact him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.