South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Off and running— fast start allows Eagles to win in rout
21 points in opening quarter help secure 7A Tri-County Gold title
MIAMI— Atlantic struck early and often to take a 21-0 first-quarter lead and coasted to the Class7ATri-CountyGold-levelchampionship over Plantation on Friday night.
Atlantic senior quarterback Guenson Alexis, who entered the game accounting for 18 touchdowns in the team’s five games this season, scored on a 35-yard run just 20 seconds into thegameandaddedtwotouchdown throws to stun the Colonels (4-2) en route to the 44-6 victory.
“I started the year slow, but I just got better,” said Alexis, who finished the year with 1,046 yards and 12TDsand ran for 210 yards and nine scores. He hasn’t committed to a college yet but is hoping schools will notice his gaudy stats.
“We won a championship and that is No. 1. I am hoping that college coaches will acknowledge me. I have had a chip on my shoulder since last year because I wasn’t doing really good, but nowthey knowand I just dominated on the field.
“It was just me understanding the game and coming out and dominating. It’s a great statement and a goodway to go out…a great way to endmy high school career.”
Alexis’ TD run came following a fumble recovery on a pooch kick on the game’s opening kickoff.
Hethen continuedwiththe passing prowess that he has shown all season with TD throws of 33 yards to Trey Burke and 45 yards to Rashawn Faustine to extend the Eagles’leadto21-0with2minutes, 5seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Alexiswas efficientin the first half, going6 of 7 for 151 yardsandtwoscoresandfinished the game 7-for-14 for 171 yards.
“Getting that big lead was huge,” Atlantic coach T.J. Jackson said. “Our offensive coaches and coordinators have done a great job for the last coupleof yearsandit showed tonight.
Atlantic (5-1) then drove 64 yards in nine plays, capped by a 1-yard run by Omari Mitchell topushthe advantage to28-0 with eightminutes remaining in the first half.
TheColonels finally gotonthe scoreboard
with4:35 left in the half as they ensuing kickoff and marched 80 yards in 11 plays. UM commit Jacolby George caught an 18-yard scoring toss fromCedquanSmithtotrim the led to 28-6. George had three catches for 34 yards and aTDin the first half.
Alexis added to his touchdown tallies as he scoredona 6-yardrun with 8:03 remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles took the second half kickoff and drove 60 yards in nine plays for the 35-6 lead.
CarsonWilt connected on a 32-yard field to extend the lead to 38-6 with 2:42 remaining in the third, and the Eagles forced a running clock on a 1-yard run byMontahj Joseph tomake it44-6inthefourthquarter.
TheEaglesfinished8-4last season, falling to the eventual state champion St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class7Aregional final. Their defense this yearwas solid ledby senior linebackerNygil Shannon.
“This was really huge for us because we didn’t even know if we were going to have a season because of the whole coronavirus thing,” Shannon said.
“We fought hardthis seasonanddidwhat we had to do.
“I lovemy boys. We play asoneunit. Being in high school on a team like Atlantic, you alwayswant to go to a state championship.
“Being able to come out here and play for a championship is a blessing, especially putting up 44 points against a good Plantation team. I thought it would be a closer game, butwe exceeded our limits.”
Atlantic outscored the opposition 283-79 this season. After opening the season with a 14-0 win overWest Boca Raton, it dropped a 33-10 decision to TRU Prep Academy but then rolled past Boca Raton (47-12), Palm BeachLakes (68-0), NorthMiami(54-7) and Miramar (46-12).
“I think this is great for our seniors, especially with our season being short,” Jackson said. “It is great for the community to see the kids come out and play and have fun. It was a blessing.”
After finishing last year 9-2 with a loss to St. Thomas in the Class 7A regional semifinal, Plantation had outscored the opposition this year 225-103 entering the contest. After opening the seasonwith a 55-41 loss to Western, the Colonels topped Piper (43-0), South Plantation (55-13), American (45-8) andDwyer (41-27).
Plantation coachSteveDavis saidcoming back fromthe slowstartwas difficult.
“You can’t dig out of the hole we had in the beginning, not when you are playing a great team like they are,” Davis said. “I told our kids the deeper you get in the playoffs, the margin for error gets somuchsmaller.
“We didn’tcomeout readytoplayandthat has tofallonme. Our guys are going to learn thenext timewe are inthis situationwehave to do things differently.”
Even with the loss, to be able tomake it to a title gamewasn’t lost onDavis.
“Tomake it toachampionshipgamegoing through all of this COVID stuff was big,” Davis said. “We have to replace some key pieces, butwe will be back.”