While many have been consumed with the national spotlight that has filled our community with St. Thomas Aquinas winning the battle of the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams, the local action has been heating up in a major way.

While it may be a smaller headline, the race for a playoff spot, in the division in which the Raiders are a huge favorite, will hit a boiling point this Friday night when a pair of unbeaten teams try and earn a coveted post season ticket.

It will be the battle of Hollywood. It’s Mike Zarra’s 4-0 Mustangs of McArthur traveling across town to test Allen Held’s 4-0 Bulldogs in a game that usually means everything, and this year, this meeting will truly be the game of the week in BCAA.

What the outcome of this contest means is a potential playoff position with both teams still having to clash with St. Thomas down the road this year.

How big is this game to both programs?

“This is what we have spent the summer preparing for,” said Zarra, who has watched his team win impressively the past two weeks against Flanagan and Pines Charter. “This game is huge and will be a test of two exceptional football programs.”

While this game pits to city foes, it also brings together two coaches who have faced off against each other in another arena over the years. Held, one of the top wrestling coaches in the state, has gone against Zarra in the past in crucial wrestling meets. Zarra was a longtime coach with the Mustangs, but has opted to concentrate on football.

Held knows that this is going to be a huge test with his young running back Kevin Grooms going against a defense that has shutdown some impressive players already this season. The defense is led by Travion Bailey, who has been dominating at times.

“We have so much respect for what McArthur has done over the past two years to get better,” said Held. “We have watched them do well in the summer and prepare for games like this. But we have also worked extremely hard and this coaching staff and our players deserve to be 4-0.”

While Grooms will test the Mustangs’ defense, McArthur quarterback Jovan Smith and running back Bazario Hanna will have to penetrate a solid Bulldogs’ defense that includes defensive ends Dwany Mera and Trevaughn Faircloth.

Here are some other games featuring BCAA teams this week:

THURSDAY
Monarch at Ely
Coral Springs at Coconut Creek (Pompano Beach)
Fort Lauderdale at Cooper City
Hollywood Hills at Piper

FRIDAY
St. Andrew’s at Cardinal Gibbons (4 p.m.)
Cypress Bay at Flanagan
Deerfield Beach at Northeast
West Broward at Everglades
Pines Charter at Hallandale
South Plantation at Miramar
St. Thomas Aquinas at Nova
Western at Plantation (PAL)
American Heritage at Pompano Beach
Taravella at Douglas
W. Palm Beach Forest Hill at Stanching (Lockhart)

SATURDAY
Boyd Anderson at Dillard (Lockhart)

NEXT WEEK: We start the 2009 season as plenty of local teams have high hopes for the season ahead!

You can reach Larry Blustein via e-mail at FloridaKids1@hotmail.com. He can also be heard every Thursday night (9-10) on the Miami Dolphins High School Gridiron Report on WQAM (560 AM).