Durant’s two long TDs lift Wellington
BOYNTON BEACH — Ina game defined by squandered opportunities for Wellington and Park Vista, Wellington’s Jadien Durant made the most of two chances.
Both times, Durant had the ball with no Cobras defenders between him and the end zone. Both times he scored, and it was enough to lift the Wolverines (2-1) over the Cobras (1-2) 14-8 Friday night.
Durant scored his first touchdown on the first offensive play. He ran past defenders on a streak route and caught a 78-yard pass from freshman quarterback Blake Kendall. It was an early high point for the Wellington offense, which struggled the rest of the game.
Kendall, who finished 8 for 25 for 138 yards, threw two passes that Cole Polnasek intercepted. The second interception came right after the Wellington defense had recovered a Park Vista fumble in the third quarter.
But after both interceptions, the Wellington defense kept Park Vista out of the end zone. The effort included a goal-line stand that ended when Tyler Thomas was tackled on a fourth-down quarterback draw.
“There was a bunch of times I thought they were going to score on us,” Wellington coach Tom Abel said. “Our defense bent, but they didn’t, you know, break.”
Special teams mistakes were a recurring problem for the Wolverines. The Cobras blocked two Durant punts. After the first, the ball trickled out the back of the end zone for a safety. Park Vista’s Marion Johnson recovered the other, and Thomas threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to a falling Aydin Henningham.
Despite a two-point conversion attempt that failed, the Cobras gained the lead with 10:55 left.
Then Durant took over once more. With less than six minutes on the clock, Durant took a handoff from Mark-Antony Richards, hopped over a defender and sprinted along the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown run.
“On that run, I knew we had to do something because it was coming down late to the fourth (quarter),” said Durant, who finished with eight carries for 95 yards. “I just felt like, all right, I’ve got to get this ball and I’ve got to run.”
Park Vista’s defense held Richards, a Super 11 selection, to minus-9 yards on six carries. But Abel and Durant credited Richards with holding the ball long enough to take the defensive pressure off Durant on his long touchdown run. Durant said Richards executed it “perfectly.”