Chiefs roll, led by opportunistic defense

FORT LAUDERDALE — Cardinal Gibbons recovered four firsthalf fumbles, converting three of them into touchdowns as the Chiefs held on to beat Calvary Christian Academy 35-21 in a game that saw a 90-minute lightning delay.

Komani Beneby rushed for 79 yards on 10 carries, scoring three times on runs of 23, 31 and 1 yard for Cardinal Gibbons (4-0)

Calvary fought hard in the second half behind the running of Reggie Heyward (173 yards rushing and a touchdown) and the receiving of Eric Trowbridge (114 yards receiving and a score) to make it close, but Brady Kelly was sacked on fourth down with 1:24 remaining to seal the game for the Chiefs.

With Gibbons leading 14-0 in the second quarter, junior Greg Otten recovered a fumble in the end zone after an Ahmad Moten sack, giving the Chiefs a threescore lead.

On Calvary’s next possession,

Heyward raced 68 yards down the sideline on what looked like a apparent touchdown, but Tre’Mone Drisdom stripped the ball at the 5 yard line, which was recovered by Isaiah Farris.

“We practice extremely hard and we preach about all 11 men to the football on defense, every play and every day,” said Cardinal Gibbons coach Matt DuBuc. “That’s just an example of good things happen to people that hustle.”

With less than three minutes remaining before halftime, Jesse

Anderson recovered a fumble on a punt return and four plays later Beneby scored from 1-yard out to give Gibbons a 28-0 halftime lead.

Dylan Rizk didn’t play the second half after going 17 of 26 for 129 yards, while Luke Warnock was 7 of 10 for 41 yards and touchdown in the second half.

“We didn’t play a clean game, but have to give credit to the kids,” said DuBuc. “We had an hour-and-half rain delay and they could have mailed it in on both sides.”