Ely holds off Boyd Anderson for first win
LAUDERDALE LAKES — On a night when the scoreboard did not work, Blanche Ely provided an electric start as the Tigers used a trick play to complete a 73-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. Later, the Tigers’ defense kept host Boyd Anderson out of the end zone in the second half to win 12-8.
On the first play, Blanche Ely (1-2) lined up two quarterbacks, both Yanez Rogers and James Wallace, in the backfield as the Tigers snapped the ball to Rogers, who pitched the football to Wallace, who rolled to his left before firing a bomb to a wide open Dennis Pete covering 73 yards giving the Tigers the opening score and the 6-0 lead.
Boyd Anderson (1-2) answered on its opening possession as sophomore quarterback Hansy Colas connected with Johnny King on a 15-yard touchdown pass to tie it at 6 on the final play of the first quarter.
The turning point was early in the fourth quarter with the score still tied at 6. The Cobras faced a fourth down and a punt situation at their own 41. Blanche Ely took advantage of a huge special teams mistake by Boyd Anderson as the Cobras center snapped the ball over the punter’s head and the Tigers tackled the Boyd Anderson punter back at the Cobras’ 14.
Three plays later, Rogers kept alive a third-down play for the Tigers by rolling to his right, then firing back across his body to Pete in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass to make it 12-6.
Trailing by six with less than four minutes to play, Boyd Anderson drove to the Tigers’ 16 and faced a fourth-and-1. However, Jimpson Jean was stopped short of the first down by the Tigers defense.
Junior quarterback Gio Richardson passed for two touchdowns and also rushed for two as ThunderWolves cruised past the Cowboys in West Palm Beach.
Despite a lightning delay 42 seconds into the game and playing through heavy rain in the first half, the ThunderWolves (2-1) remained focused as they jumped out to a 33-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
On the first play of the game, Antavious Lane stepped in front of a pass and had a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown for the ThunderWolves.
On the ensuing the Cowboys (0-3) kickoff, muffed the catch and the ThunderWolves recovered the fumble.
The ThunderWolves capitalized on their first offensive possession. Richardson tossed a 34-yard touchdown pass to Luis Gonzalez to extend the lead to 13-0.
After forcing a punt, the ThunderWolves offense quickly struck again. Richardson took off and broke free as he raced up the middle of the field for a 57-yard touchdown run to make it 19-0 with 8:07 left in the first quarter.
The ThunderWolves special teams also contributed to the scoring in the first quarter. V’Lique Carter reversed the field and avoided defenders as he raced down the right sideline for an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown. James Meeks rushed into the end zone for a 2-point conversion to extend the lead to 27-0.
Richardson connected with De’John King for a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it 33-0.
In the third quarter, the Cowboys scored their lone touchdown as senior quarterback Michael Dilielo fired a touchdown pass to Mark Brent.
WESTERN 43, FLANAGAN 0: Behind the tough running of Keshaun Clarke and a brickwall defense, the Wildcats (3-0) shut out the Falcons (1-2) in Davie.
Clarke ran for 79 yards and punched in three touchdowns, doubling his season total to six in the process.
“I got goosebumps getting to suit up again,” Clarke said. “I just kept rising. I was never going to stop tonight.”
The Wildcats opened the scoring halfway through the first quarter when Harrison Story lifted the roof off of the defense, finding a diving Jordan Smith 29 yards downfield to give Western an 8-0 lead.
Clarke then took over in the second quarter, scoring from 2 and 3 yards respectively.
At halftime, the Wildcats held a 22-0 lead.
Western came storming out of the halftime break, returning the opening kickoff 60 yards. Three plays later, Story slipped a screen to Steffen Fernand, who took it 40 yards down the sideline, and Clarke notched his third TD in quick succession.
A stout defense led by Oliver Ambroise and Jakai Linwood preserved the shutout and only allowed the Falcons to cross midfield once throughout the entire game.
Wildcats quarterback Story completed 11 of 28 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown.