Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Seminole Ridge overpowers Piper, 26-0
LOXAHATCHEE — Senior Emily Higgins passed for 201 yards and four touchdowns as host Seminole Ridge rolled to a 26-0 regional championship victory over Piper on Tuesday night.
The state’s third-ranked team jumped out to a 20-0 halftime cushion as Higgins found senior Kristi Kemper on scoring tosses of 58, 10 and 14 yards. Kemper finished the night with seven receptions for 151 yards and added two punt returns totaling 55 yards.
“We’ve had a couple of close games the last two weeks, so it was nice to finally put it together,” said Kemper, who has 20 TD receptions this season. Seminole Ridge edged Jupiter and Park Vista by identical 7-6 scores in the district and regional semifinal games.
Higgins connected with junior Ayanna Witshire on a 5-yard scoring toss with 1:09 remaining in the third period. Higgins has thrown for 47 TDs in her first year as a starting signal caller.
“We are pretty good,” Higgins said. “I am pretty positive we can win state. It is going to take teamwork, dedication and wanting it.”
Seminole Ridge (16-0) will face Cooper City (15-1) in the state semifinal on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Citizens Field in Gainesville. The Hawks are gunning for their sixth state championship in eight years and third in a row. Ridge won titles in 2010, 2012-2013, and the past two years.
Piper (14-2), which saw its 12-game winning streak end, played the game without its starting quarterback. Emily Townsend was rushed to the hospital earlier in the day. The team had her No. 13 jersey on the bench.
Bengals coach Jerry Jones said Townsend was suffering from “some type of white blood cell problem.
“We tried to put it aside, but it affected them.”
Piper was limited to 111 total yards and had three interceptions.