Chiefs clinch second state title in three years
Brody Palhegyi kept glancing up at the big screen at Doak Campbell Stadium. In massive letters, it told the simple story of Fort Lauderdale’s Cardinal Gibbons.
Once again, Cardinal Gibbons was the state champion after a 35-21 win over Jacksonville
Bolles; the Chiefs’ logo peered over the emptying stadium in Tallahassee. It was a familiar sight for the quarterback — he guided Cardinal Gibbons to its first state title in 2018 — but it wasn’t getting old. This season was all about reminding Florida of the program the Chiefs have put together.
“We’re getting on the map,” Palhegyi said.
On Thursday, Cardinal Gibbons (8-1) put together a no-doubt powerhouse performance against one of the Florida High School Athletic Association’s gold standards for championship pedigree. The Chiefs’ offense unloaded for 494 yards, and their defense held Bolles (10-3) to just
165 — and 70 of those came on the first two plays of the game. Cardinal Gibbons led 35-7 with less than three minutes to go before Bolles scored a pair of garbagetime touchdowns.
The Chiefs didn’t just join elite South Florida company with a second state title. They did it emphatically.
The Bulldogs’ 11 state championships are tied for the most in history. Cardinal Gibbons’ second makes the Chiefs the eighth team from Miami-Dade County or Broward County to win multiple state championships since 2012, joining Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, Plantation American Heritage, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna, Miami Central, Miami Booker T. Washington, Miami Northwestern and Hialeah Champagnat Catholic.
“We should’ve been in it
last year,” Palhegyi said. “We are a perennial state powerhouse, and we are a nationally ranked program, which you see, and that’s what Cardinal Gibbons is.”
The Chiefs secured one of the biggest wins in program history when they upset St. Thomas Aquinas in October. Their only loss came to American Heritage, which will play for the Class 5A title Friday. In each of its seven wins on the way to
the championship game, Gibbons held its opponent to 15 points or fewer. The Chiefs put together a national resume, which landed them at No. 25 in the MaxPreps rankings.
In the 4A championship, they took the first blow. On the second play of the game, Bolles running back Kade Frew ripped off a 60-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs ahead 7-0 and Cardinal Gibbons followed it with a turnover on downs.
The Chiefs responded by forcing a turnover on downs, and Bolles quickly was out of answers.
“They posed a few problems that we don’t typically see,” coach Matt DuBuc said. “We’ve done a good job stopping the run. We’ve done a good job stopping the pass.”
Palhegyi threw for two touchdowns in the first half to give Cardinal Gibbons a 14-7 lead at halftime, then threw for two more in the second half. The senior finished 29 of 33 for 358 yards and four touchdowns, and added 66 yards on 12 carries. The only blemishes were a sack on fourth down on the first drive of the game and a fumble he lost deep in Bolles territory just before halftime.
Two of those touchdowns passes went to star wide receiver Troy Stellato, who signed a national letter of intent with the Clemson Tigers onWednesday and caught six passes for 69 yards, and one apiece went to running back Kamari Moulton and wide receiver Jesse Anderson.
Moulton, who caught four passes for 51 yards, also ran for 55 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
“We came out a little shaky, obviously. We wanted to punch it in and set the tone,” Stellato said. “Us being down, it really put us in the right direction.”
Stellato’s second touchdown came with 2:25 remaining and sent the Chiefs’ sideline into a frenzy. They were up 28 in the final minutes of a championship game against one of the historic powerhouses they like to judge themselves against.
It might not even be a matter of getting onto the map for Cardinal Gibbons now. The Chiefs have found their way there.
“They couldn’t stop us on offense,” Stellato said. “We’re hard to stop on any given night.”