Cardinal Gibbons rallies to top Gulliver Prep
For two and a half quarters Friday, Gulliver Prep looked exactly like the team that was a preseason favorite to win the Class 4A title. Gulliver dominated the first half of its showdown with defending-champion Cardinal Gibbons, but forgot one thing.
“We didn’t close the gate,” Raiders coach Earl Sims said.
A 19-point third-quarter lead slipped away. The Chiefs rallied all the way back for a 36-33 win in the Region 4-4A championship at Tropical Park in Miami. Gulliver was a quarter and a half of decent football away from returning to the state semifinals for the first time in 13 years, and couldn’t finish.
Cardinal Gibbons quarterback Dylan Rizk threw two fourth-quarter interceptions, then became the hero anyway when he scrambled for an 8-yard, game-winning touchdown with 1:16 left to send the Chiefs (9-2) to the 4A semifinals, where they’ll host St. Petersburg Lakewood next Friday with a chance to clinch a return to the state championship.
“There’s no quit in these kids, and that was pretty obvious out there tonight,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Matt DuBuc said. “Gulliver’s a great team. They were built to win this year. They were built to win the state championship, but they played the defending 4A champs, and when you play the defending 4A state champs, you’ve got to play four quarters. We’ve still got a lot of corrections to make because we certainly didn’t play well for the first two and a half quarters, but to be moving on next week is really something after the hole we had dug ourselves.”
Despite three interceptions, Rizk still enjoyed quite a night through the air, completing 24 of 33 passes for 255 yards and one touchdown, but it was his feet that came through in two clutch moments.
First, he turned a routine scramble into a 67yard sprint down the sideline for Gibbons’ first touchdown of the second half. At the end of the game, he ran in the decisive 8-yard score, shooting up the middle after dropping back to throw.
The Chiefs started their winning drive at their own 46-yard line with 4:40 left and didn’t throw a single pass to get into the end zone. Karmari Moulton and Willie Reed traded carries on the eight-play drive before Rizk took it the last 8 yards.
But perhaps the unsung heroes for Gibbons in the second half were the defensive players.
Gulliver quarterback Carson Haggard, who’s orally committed to Tulane, lit up the Chiefs in the first half, completing 14 of 20 passes for 163 yards and four touchdowns, three of those to C.J. Donaldson from 26, 10 and 11 yards as the Raiders (8-2) took a commanding 27-7 lead at halftime.
But the Chiefs’ defenders — led by defensive end Mason Thomas, who had two sacks — were relentless.
Against constant pressure in the second half, Haggard wound up completing only 5 of 14 passes for 32 yards as the Raiders offense managed just two first downs.
Columbus 22, Palmetto 14: Columbus and Palmetto set a standard
Athis year for what a meeting between the two district rivals should look like. They played twice in the regular season and each team won once, with the two games decided by a total of seven points.
On Friday, the rivalry almost made Miami-Dade County history: The Explorers and Panthers met for a third time in the Region 4-Class 8A championship. No one can remember two teams playing three times in the same season and certainly not with a trip to the state semifinals on the line, but what better way to figure out who would represent South Florida in the 8A semifinals than a rubber match in Homestead?
The third meeting played out a lot like those first two. Points were hard to come by, turnovers played a massive role, and one second-half play ultimately helped decide a one-possession game. For the second straight meeting, Columbus came through late to beat Palmetto, 22-14, at Orange Bowl Field at Harris Field Park.
“We knew they were a good team,” running back Denim Edwards said. “We just knew we had to punch them in the mouth.”
Edwards scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:02 left in the third quarter to put Columbus (9-3) ahead 19-14, and the Explorers never trailed again. Edwards punched in a 1-yard touchdown after running five times for 68 yards on the drive, including a 28-yard run on third-and-14, and then the Panthers (9-3) went threeand-out two times with one interception and one turnover on downs on their final five drives.
After getting beaten for two long touchdowns in the first half, Columbus held Palmetto to just 38 yards in the second half and rode Edwards, who finished with 28 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown, to victory.
The Explorers are now just two wins away from winning a second state title in three years and will go on the road to face Venice next Friday. Last year, they didn’t compete in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s state series because of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead playing in the tri-county tournament and winning.
“We’re a dynasty,” Edwards said. “We’ve got to keep punching it for the alumni.”
Columbus was still down 14-12 when it faced a third-and-14 at the Panthers’ 39-yard line in the second quarter. The Explorers hadn’t done much on offense since marching down the field with a 14-play, 78-yard touchdown drive on the first possession, and this was their first time across midfield in the second half. Columbus coach Dave Dunn figured he had two chances to pick up the first down.
Edwards, as Dunn put, “made me look smart.”
The senior ran up the middle and into a mess of Panthers. Somehow, he slipped out of a tackle and dragged defenders down to the 11. Two plays later, Edwards ran in the goahead score.
Columbus then forced Palmetto into a three-andout, blocked a punt for the second time to get a short field and stretched the lead to 22-14 on a chipshot field goal with 57
seconds left in the third.
St. Thomas 56, Homestead 7: St. Thomas Aquinas is heading back to the state semifinals and making a run toward their third consecutive state title. Senior running back Anthony Hankerson rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns and senior quarterback Zion Turner accounted for three scores as the host Raiders cruised past Homestead 56-7 in a Class 7A regional final on Friday night.
Turner finished 7-of-7 for 142 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for another score. Senior wide receiver Jaylan Sanchez had three catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Gemari Sands had 97 total yards from scrimmage and a touchdown catch.
St. Thomas Aquinas (12-1) led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter and pulled away in the second for a 28-7 advantage at halftime. The Raiders scored touchdowns on their first four possessions on offense.
“We were just on a mission today,” St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Roger Harriott said. “We start fast and want to finish strong.”
The Raiders extended their streak to 48 consecutive home playoff victories.
“It’s impressive, and the tradition has been established here,” Harriott said. “Coach Smith has done a great job of instilling tradition and excellence in us.”
Hankerson rushed for 86 yards in the first half and finished with 103 total yards from scrimmage.
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