Western tops Plantation as Broward football returns
Adam Ratkevich, the entire Western roster and, really, all of Broward County waited months for a day like Friday. More than 11 months after the last Broward County public school finished 2019 season, a full calendar of high school football returned to the county Friday, and Ratkevich knew his Wildcats’ matchup with Plantation could be the perfect way to usher in the start of this long-delayed 2020 season.
Western entered the weekend as the No. 3 public school team in Broward, according to the MaxPreps rankings. The Colonels entered as the No. 2 public school team in the county. Both sides expected it to be a heavyweight clash in and it lived up to the billing as the Wildcats won a 55-41 shootout in Plantation.
“It was just nice to be out here playing football again,” Ratkevich said. “We knew that this could be a highscoring affair.”
The final numbers were staggering, even though the game ended 4:43 early because of lightning in the area. Both quarterbacks threw for more than 240 yards. Both teams scored at least seven touchdown and each scored one on defense. The two sides combined to punt just three times across a marathon evening, which included a nearly two-hour lightning delay following the opening kickoff at the PAL Football Stadium Complex.
Western quarterback Collin Hurst went 19 of 28 for 243 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and added 32 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Colonels quarterback Cedquan Smith went 30 of 44 for 267, three touchdowns and an interception, and ran for 31 yards on 12 carries.
Wildcats running back Joey Vega ran for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, and added a 37-yard catch. Plantation wide receiver Jacolby George, who is orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes, played through an injury and caught nine passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, and ran for a touchdown on an 8-yard reverse.
Western (1-0) totaled 564 yards. The Colonels (0-1) totaled 461. The Wildcats kept Plantation at bay with a series of timely fourth-down conversions and one important onside kick.
“It was key to have that type of confidence in your offense to know in clutch situations like that,” Ratkevich said.
After the long delay in the first quarter, Western raced down the field for a fiveplay, 47-yard touchdown drive, capped with an 8-yard run by Vega. The Colonels answered, though, with a 13-play, 65-yard drive, with Smith finding running back Carlington Armstrong for a 6-yard touchdown to put Plantation ahead 7-6.
After the Wildcats’ only punt of the game, the Colonels pushed the lead up to 14-6 on a touchdown run by George. With a chance to create even more of a cushion, Plantation couldn’t get Western off the field. The Wildcats marched to the Colonels’ 22-yard line and faced a fourth-and-13, but a miscommunication in Plantation’s secondary left wide receiver Jullian Lewis wide open in the end zone and Hurst found him to cut the Colonels’ lead to 14-13.
Western opened the game 3 of 3 on fourth downs. Two of the fourth-down attempts resulted in touchdowns. On the third, the Wildcats ran for a touchdown on the very next play.
The second came on Western’s next drive, when Hurst found wide receiver Fred Killings for a 10-yard gain on fourth-and-6 to set up Vega’s second touchdown and put the Wildcats ahead for good at 20-14. They followed it up with an onside kick and Hurst led a six-play, 57-yard drive to push the lead up to 27-14 on his 2-yard touchdown run.
Western took a 27-20 lead into halftime and Plantation never pulled any closer. Every time the Colonels cut the Wildcats’ lead to a single score, Western answered with a touchdown. Every time the Wildcats stretched the lead to two touchdowns, Plantation put together an answer.
The Colonels’ best chance came with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter. Plantation had just committed a turnover on downs and Western, holding a twoscore lead, was ready to seal the victory. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Colonels edge rusher Josh Glaze picked off Hurst and ran it back for a touchdown to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 48-41.
Vega quickly dashed
Western’s hopes at a comeback. On the first play of the Wildcats’ next drive, Vega burst up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown run, putting the final touches on the 55-41 win.
“I could’ve fit a bus through that hole. It was fantastic — no linebacker, no safety in sight,” said Vega, who finished second in the fastest man competition at Miami’s Paradise Camp in 2019. “Blocking was just really key tonight.”
• American Heritage 23, Cardinal Gibbons 17: Safety and Miami Hurricanes’ commit James Williams blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown early in the second half, kicker/punter Chris Maron made three field goals and made a couple game-changing punts, and American Heritage’s defense made a pair of big stops in the game’s final minutes.
“Great win for us,” Patriots coach Patrick Surtain said. “If we would have lost this game, it would have been really upsetting because it shouldn’t have been this close. It shouldn’t have been this close. Just too many mental errors. ... But we hung in there. Like I tell the kids, football is a comedy of errors. They’re 15- to 18-year-old kids. They’re gonna make mistakes. As long as you keep fighting until there are zeroes on the clock - win, lose or draw - I’m proud of these guys.”
A back-and-forth first half that ended with American Heritage holding a
13-7 lead before the Patriots took command of the game.
American Heritage (5-1) went up 20-10 less than three minutes into the second half after Williams blocked a 22-yard field goal attempt from Cardinal Gibbons kicker Chris Silverstien, scooped up the ball and charged 90 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
They added a field goal one drive later after a Daemon Fagan interception set them up with a short field. Cardinal Gibbons had the field goal attempt after getting a short field following defensive back Isaiah Farris’ interception two plays into the third quarter. Farris had two interceptions for the Chiefs. Cardinal Gibbons (3-1), however, took advantage of a botched punt later in the quarter that allowed them to start a drive in the red zone.
It ended with sophomore running back Torrence Miller scoring a 6-yard rushing touchdown with 25 seconds left in the third quarter to bring the score to 23-17.
American Heritage closes its regular season at St. Thomas Aquinas on Nov. 6. Cardinal Gibbons hosts Archbishop McCarthy.
• St. Thomas Aquinas 31, DeLand 7: Anthony Hankerson rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns as the defending 7A champions rolled to the victory.
• St. Brendan (4-1) 13, Florida Christian 0: Damari Charlton threw 7 for 11 for 89 yards and 2 touchdowns; Isaac 13 carries, 57 yards, 2 receptions for 40 yards, and 1 interception for 30 yards; Richard Dandridge 12-yard touchdown; Christian Lowry 10 tackles; Jose Magarin 5 tackles 1, interception for 23 yards; Eric Rangel 5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 14-yard touchdown catch.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Belen won its 17th consecutive district championship (District 16-3A) held at the Archbishop McCarthy High School campus on Saturday morning. The win marks the 39th overall district title for Belen Jesuit. The team scored a perfect 15 points in a field that included four teams.
The team was led by Nicolas Hidalgo, who finished first for the 5K muddy course in a time of 16:54.
The course had some directional issues that caused several lead runners to veer off course for a few hundred yards.
The Wolverines run next Saturday at South Fork High School Archbishop for the regional championship.