Irvin Jr. scores two touchdowns to lead Gulliver
It’s been 11 months and Earl Sims says it still haunts him.
The Gulliver coach speaks of his football team’s regional semifinal showdown last November against Booker T. Washington.
In what might have been the best high school game of the year in Miami-Dade County, Gulliver and BTW put on a show of all shows, a back-and-forth shootout not decided until there were less than 30 seconds left.
That’s when Sims and his Raider players, after a dream season that saw them go a perfect 10-0 and earn a No. 1 seed in the region, got their hearts broken.
That when the Tornadoes, trailing 31-26, scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left to pull out a 34-31 thriller at Tropical Park.
The loss was devastating for the Raiders, especially since they then had to watch BTW roll through the next three rounds and go on to win the Class 4A state title in Daytona Beach.
“I don’t think I had a good night’s sleep for the next week after that,” admitted Sims, who has been at the helm of the Gulliver program since 2006 and led the Raiders to a state final appearance in 2008. “We worked so hard all season to see everything come together and then to come so close and have it ripped away was tough on everybody, especially for our seniors who weren’t going to get another chance. One of the toughest losses I’ve ever had.”
Fortunately for Sims, the core of that talented roster were underclassmen. Flash forward 11 months and the Raiders, with 14 starters returning, are back on the field and ready to roll.
Despite the disruption of the start of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gulliver, when the Sept. 18 deadline arrived to either opt-in or opt-out of the FHSAA state series, chose to opt in.
The Raiders finally got their 2020 campaign under way last week and did it in style with a 42-7 rout of Belen Jesuit. On Friday afternoon, they took on upstart Somerset Homestead Academy in their home opener.
In a game the Raiders were supposed to score very early and very often, the Raiders did exactly that as Jalen Brown took the opening kickoff 88 yards for a score and Gulliver never slowed down, routing an outmanned and outgunned Somerset team 78-0.
Gulliver was led by sophomore running back Sedrick Irvin Jr. who, in just barely over one quarter of work, rang up 124 yards on six carries and two scores before taking the last twoand-a-half quarters off as the Raiders led 51-0 just four minutes into the second quarter.
Also with an abbreviated day was junior quarterback Carson Haggard. Thanks to the kickoff return, Irvin’s scores and three defensive touchdowns, Haggard hardly threw the ball, completing three of his four throws for 102 yards and a pair of 45-yard scores to Brown.
A Palmer Trinity 49, Palm Glades Prep 7: In the season opener, the host Falcons were led by senior Kyndal Royal, who had seven carries for 86 yards and also had a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown. Sophomore Santana Wooten had six carries for 49 yards along with eight total tackles, two tackles for loss and one fumble recovery. Senior J.C. Corbo reeled in a 75-yard touchdown pass.
A St. Brendan 20, La Salle 16: The fourth-quarter comeback victory was led by Isaac Brown, who had 12 carries for 128 yards two TDs and one reception for 21 yards. Josh Reyes returned a kickoff for a 75yard touchdown. Micheal Caldwell had five tackles and one sack. Christian
Lowry had five tackles and one forced fumble. Jose Magarin had four tackles and one interception.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Undefeated Belen won its sixth consecutive major meet at the Viking Invite held at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers on Saturday morning. The team held out its top five runners to give them rest for the postseason. The team scored 51 points in the varsity division in a field that included 34 teams, one of the largest meets to date. The team was led by Christian Fernandez, who finished sixth with a time of 15:21.
GOLF