U-School routs Columbus, ranked 9th in 8A

Sharks smell blood after two early Explorers’ miscues

University School converted a pair of early miscues by visiting Columbus into 14 quick points and the Sharks never looked back as they blanked the Explorers 35-0 in Davie on Friday night.

After U-School’s Brandon Inniss intercepted a Columbus pass on the game’s opening drive, the Sharks drove 65 yards for the opening score as Jayvant Brown capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.

On the next possession, Columbus (4-3) had a botched punt snap, resulting in U-School taking possession at the Explorers’ 2-yard line. The Sharks capitalized on the next play as Brown ran for his second score in the first five minutes to make it 14-0.

U-School (6-1) stopped Columbus on a fourth-and-1 at the Sharks’ 12 early in the second quarter to setup the third touchdown of the half. Nick Vattiato tossed the first of his two touchdown passes to Inniss, the first one covering 63 yards for a 21-0 lead.

Vattiato’s 26-yard touchdown scramble with 12 seconds remaining in the first half pushed the Sharks ahead 28-0.

“It felt amazing for our team,” Inniss said. “Last week, we felt like we could’ve put up 50 but coming back strong versus Columbus and putting up 35-0 on a high-powered offense, it’s amazing for us.” Outler, Palm Beach Lakes get hot late: Palm Beach Lakes junior running back Antonio Outler rushed for two touchdowns in the second half and the Rams remained unbeaten with a 23-3 victory against host Seminole Ridge in a District 12-7A contest in Loxahatchee.

Palm Beach Lakes (6-0), the Sun Sentinel’s No. 1-ranked team in Palm Beach County, was locked in a 3-3 tie at halftime before taking control by scoring touchdowns on all three possessions in the third quarter.

“We made adjustments at halftime and were able to speed the tempo up on offense,” Palm Beach Lakes coach Al Shipman said. “We responded and our defense stepped up and made big plays.”

Junior quarterback Tre’Von Taylor connected with senior receiver Jalen Jones on a fourth-down pass to the Hawks 31-yard line to extend the opening drive of the third. Outler rushed for a 1-yard score to give the Rams a 10-3 lead.

Outler, capped the next drive with a 2-yard touchdown to make it 17-3.

“Antonio is a great competitor and he was very resilient and played at a high level,” Shipman said.

Seminole Ridge (4-2) had an opportunity to rally in the third, but failed to convert on a fourth-and-2 at the Rams’ 5-yard line.

On the ensuing possession, the Rams scored in two plays as Taylor fired a 73-yard touchdown pass to Jones down the left sideline to extend the lead to 23-3. Chaminade’s Franklin runs wild at Pahokee: Chaminade-Madonna’s Thaddius Franklin ran for 264 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions to a 43-7 victory against the host Pahokee Blue Devils.

Pahokee actually led 7-6 at the break.

In the second half, the Lions (6-1) came to life and scored touchdowns on five of their first six possession. Pahokee (1-5) had no response.

On the opening drive of the second half, the Lions marched 40 yards for a touchdown. Franklin accounted for all 40 yards on the ground, capping off the drive with a 12-yard TD run at the 10:49 mark of the third.

On Pahokee’s next possession, Lions’ Quadric Bullard picked off a pass by Pahokee’s Jermaine Roberson at the Lions’ 2-yard line. On the next play, Franklin burst through the line and sprinted 93 yards before stepping out of bounds at Pahokee’s 5. Two plays later, Franklin scored from the 1, making it 20-7 Lions. Joseph, Heritage rally by Stranahan: Pressed into every-down duty, Carlson Joseph rushed for 93 yards with a pair of touchdowns as American Heritage defeated Stranahan 27-6 on Friday night at Dillard in Fort Lauderdale to take control of the District 15-5A race.

The Patriots (6-1, 2-0), the top-ranked team in Class 5A by the Associated Press, earned the win despite having two key pieces of their offense sidelined with ankle sprains. Quarterback Edwin Rhodes and running back Mark Fletcher did not dress for the contest.

Stranahan (4-3, 1-1) jumped out to the early lead as quarterback Lavonshea Wright connected with Amaryun Knighten on an 11-yard scoring pass near the end of the opening quarter. The scoring drive was a result of the Mighty Dragons capitalizing on good field position as the Patriots offense struggled.

However, Heritage found its footing, literally, in the second quarter.

The Patriots first score came on a seven-play drive, all on the ground, converted on a 4-yard run by Joseph. The scoring drive was sandwiched around a pair of field goals by Chris Maron.

Up 13-6 after the three quarters, the Patriots removed all hopes for a Stranahan upset on the first play of the fourth quarter as Blake Murphy connected with Zacchaeus Byrd on a 45-yard touchdown pass. Cardinal Gibbons defense paves way for victory against McArthur: Cardinal Gibbons used three big first-half defensive stops and converted them into touchdowns en route to a 38-14 win over McArthur in Fort Lauderdale.

With a 3-0 lead, Dave Williams intercepted a pass in the end zone to halt the Mustangs’ 17-play drive.

Six plays later, Coleman Bennett scored on a 3-yard run that was set up by Troy Stellato’s 64-yard reception from Brody Palhegyi.

On McArthur’s next series the Mustangs (3-3) went for it on fourth down at midfield but Vamir Cadet was sacked by Jack O’Keeffe.

Four plays later, Dasani Gordon hauled in a 12-yard reception from Palhegyi to give Gibbons (5-2) a 17-0 lead. Belk vaults Douglas to school’s best six-game start: Senior Ryan Belk blocked two punts and caught an 18-yard TD pass to lift Stoneman Douglas to a 36-0 non-district victory over West Broward in Parkland.

Belk’s blocked punts led to a field goal and a safety and his scoring pass from junior quarterback Matt O’Dowd gave the Eagles a 26-0 lead at the intermission and carried Stoneman Douglas to the best start in school history at 6-0. Stoneman Douglas got off to a 5-1 start in 2001 as it lost the first game of the season to Cardinal Gibbons and finished the year at 10-2.

“This is huge,” said firstyear Stoneman Douglas coach Quentin Short, who is hoping to lead them back to the postseason for the first time in 12 years. “The guys are gaining confidence. We are trying to take it one game at a time. I know that is a cliché, but that’s what we are talking about. We are trying to be better than the last time we set foot on the field.”

Douglas (6-0) seized a 3-0 lead on Mason Hall’s 24-yard field goal after it capitalized on a blocked punt by Belk and recovered on the West Broward 34-yard line. The drive stalled and Hall converted the kick.

On the ensuing series, the Eagles’ Christian Higgins returned a punt 68 yards for a 10-0 lead with 11:45 remaining in the second quarter.

Douglas moved 49 yards in seven plays following a short punt and scored on a 1-yard run by Alex Rodriguez with 3:22 left in the half. Belk blocked his second punt of the first half with less than two minutes remaining in the half to extend the lead to 19-0.

Belk did it on offense too as he hauled in an 18-yard scoring toss from Matt O’Dowd for a 26-0 lead with 20 seconds left in first half.

“Coach always tells us special teams is a one-ply series and we have to go all out,” Belk said. “There is going to be a game where offense and defense is going to be the same and you have to make the difference on special teams…we practice it and we were able to make a difference tonight.”

Mike May

Tim Dwyer

J. Darin Darst

Gary Curreri