Central advances to 6A title game; Aquinas makes 7A final, eyes record
There’s never a question about whether Miami Central is going to be able to run the ball. When the season began, Central knew it would be a state championship contender no matter what the passing attack looked like. The Rockets have one of the best running backs in the state and a defense loaded with blue-chip talent.
Roland Smith knew there was another dimension waiting, though. Keyone Jenkins transferred to Central from Carol City ahead of the season and the coach envisioned a future where his sophomore quarterback felt comfortable in the Rockets’ offense. He finally saw it come together Friday in a 47-20 win against Palmetto.
“As soon as he picked up this offense,” Smith said. “the sky’s the limit.”
Just in time for the Class 6A championship, “the future has arrived.”
Jenkins picked apart the Tigers in the 6A semifinals at Traz Powell Stadium to send Central back to the state title game for the second straight year. The quarterback went 16 of 22 for 366 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 24 yards and a touchdown on five carries, and ran in a two-point conversion.
With Jenkins now in command, the Rockets (7-1) will face Lake Minneola in the 6A championship next Friday in Tallahassee. Central is one win away from repeating as the 6A champion.
“It’s my first time,” Jenkins said. “I’m so excited, but the mission’s not over.”
With the Tigers (9-4) setting out to stop star running back Amari Daniels, Jenkins took the lead for the first time as a Rocket.
Although Daniels finished with 111 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, 51 of those yards came on a long touchdown late in the third quarter and the senior was a non-factor in the first. Daniels, who’s orally committed to the Texas A&M Aggies, had just 13 yards on nine carries at halftime and at one point he had 11 carries for 9 yards.
“We thought we were going to run it down their throats,” Jenkins said.
Still, Central took a 27-7 lead into halftime in Miami, with Jenkins accounting for all four touchdowns.
Palmetto scored first midway through the first quarter after the Rockets’ opening drive lasted just four plays and ended with a botched snap on a punt. Tigers wide receiver Jacquez Hughes took a jet sweep 12 yards into the end zone with the short field and Palmetto took an early 7-0 lead.
It lasted mere seconds. On the first play of the Rockets’ next drive, Jenkins heaved a deep ball to Yulkeith Brown and the star athlete pulled in a 74-yard touchdown.
“That turned us up,” Jenkins said.
Central scored on four of its last five drives to end the half. On their next drive, the Rockets faced third-and-goal from the
10, and Jenkins faked a handoff to Daniels and powered into the end zone while nearly the entire Palmetto defense followed the tailback. On the next, Jenkins connected for another deep ball, this time hitting wide receiver Robert McMinn for a 54yard touchdown after he burned a defensive back. Just before halftime, Jenkins added another touchdown, firing a 10-yard touchdown pass to McMinn on a slant.
McMinn finished with three catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns, but Brown was the consistent No. 1 threat. The Texas A&M commit finished with eight catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns.
“We feel like we’ve got the best receivers in the state, in the nation,” Smith said, “and we’re going to go to the 1-on-1 matchups.”
Said Jenkins: “If they’re going to stack the box, we’re going to throw the ball.”
At halftime, Jenkins was 11 of 12 for 248 yards and three touchdowns, and he started off 13 of 16 for 334 yards before he finally had consecutive incomplete passes.
The Tigers actually shut out Central for nearly the entire third quarter and cut the Rockets’ lead to 27-14 with 4:22 left in the quarter, then Palmetto forced a punt.
Central’s defense made a stand, though, and forced a three-and-out. The inevitable Daniels explosion came two plays later and he raced for a 51-yard touchdown with 17.8 seconds left in the quarter, pushing the Rockets’ lead back to 33-14. In the fourth quarter, Jenkins threw two more touchdowns to ice the win.
ST. THOMAS WINS
A new record is in sight. St. Thomas Aquinas is once again a win away from a state championship.
The Raiders pulled away from Valrico Bloomingdale in the second of the Class 7A semifinals Friday to win 37-14 in Valrico and reach the state title game for the third year in a row.
St. Thomas (7-1) will face Orlando Edgewater next Saturday in Tallahassee in a rematch of the 2019 7A championship. With a win, the Raiders could set a new Florida High School Athletic Association record with 12 state championships. Jacksonville Bolles will also play for its 12th title Thursday when it faces Cardinal Gibbons in the Class 4A championship at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Star running back Anthony Hankerson ran for three touchdowns and the St. Thomas Aquinas defense forced Bloomingdale quarterback Tre Simmons into four turnovers, including a costly fumble near the goal line early in the second half.
Star quarterback Zion Turner and running back Corey Reddick also scored touchdowns for the Raiders, who will try to repeat as 7A champions after they pulled out a narrow win in 2019.
Last year, Edgewater had a chance to win on the final play of the game in Daytona Beach, heaving a pass into the end zone as time expired, but former wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, who’s now playing for the Georgia Bulldogs, intercepted the desperation pass.