Booker T. dominates Norland
Booker T. Washington gave another demonstration of how far it has come in less than a year as it dominated previously unbeaten Miami Norland 41-23 at Traz Powell Stadium.
The victory put Booker T. (6-1) in position to clinch the District 14-2M championship if it can beat Miami Northwestern next Saturday night at Traz.
“We go back to our training in the spring and the summer and what we put our kids through when we play games like this,” Booker T. coach Tim
“Ice” Harris said. “We wanted to assemble a team like this that knew how to handle games like this and that’s why we didn’t shy away from this kind of schedule this year. …We just continue to take our steps every day and you could tell this team is headed to be pretty good in the future.”
Booker T.’s offensive line helped establish its running game, which rushed for more than 200 yards and built a 27-2 lead late in the first half.
Senior wide receiver Xavier Irvin made the biggest impact, however, and did so on defense.
Irvin intercepted two passes and secured a fumble by Norland quarterback Ennio Yapoor in the red zone. Despite Irvin then being tackled in the end zone during the fumble return for the Vikings’ first two points, the takeaways set the tone for the Tornadoes.
Columbus 21, Homestead
A 6: It was a strong defensive showing from both teams, but Columbus’ ability to keep the Broncos from scoring in the second half proved the difference Friday at Harris Field.
Heading into the game, Homestead had allowed just 34 points through six games. Columbus had averaged 37 points per game before facing Homestead.
The Explorers turned the ball over six times against Homestead, four of those coming in the first half from two fumbles and two unsuccessful fourth-down conversions. Tough stands by Homestead’s defense kept the game from escalating too quickly.
The Broncos were able to capitalize on only one of Columbus’ six turnovers: the first one. A fumbled fair-catch punt by Columbus inside the 30 yielded Homestead a touchdown, its sole score of the night. Wide receiver Richard Dandridge caught the ball in the end zone on third-and-goal with just under 8 minutes to go in the first quarter.
Columbus’ defense caused three turnovers on downs in the second half, which also kept Homestead from making a comeback.
The Broncos played with multiple quarterbacks Friday night, with starter Joshua Townsend not seeing much action later in the game after coming out in the first quarter grabbing his knee. David Jester and Kymani Corbet saw time under center but were unable to lead a scoring drive.
Columbus’ scoring plays came off one of Homestead’s two first-half turnovers, and two touchdown passes tossed by quarterback Alberto Mendoza.
— PAYTON TITUS
St. Thomas Aquinas
A 24, Dillard 6: The Raiders and Panthers share District 11-3M, and both sides know their game Friday might just be the first of two. Both are top-100 teams in the country, according to MaxPreps, and one of the two Fort Lauderdale powerhouses will be the favorite to at least get to the Class 3M championship.
With the win at Dillard, St. Thomas Aquinas proved it’s still the team to beat.
It wasn’t just the victory, but also how St. Thomas Aquinas (6-0) did it. The No. 5 Raiders ran for 272 yards on 35 carries, and had two running backs run for at least 100 yards. They also scored 24 unanswered points to end the game after star running back Christopher Johnson scored a touchdown for the Panthers (2-3) on their opening drive.
Plantation American
A Heritage 42, Western
18: Mark Fletcher made sure not to let any potential frustration boil over. Heritage’s star running back and Ohio State commit twice found the end zone on the same drive early in the second quarter only for the play to be negated by a penalty.
Finally, Fletcher ripped off a 23-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to all but seal American Heritage’s home win.
Quarterback and Louisiana-Monroe commit Blake Murphy had three touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. Carol City 18, Westland Hialeah 12:
A Carol City returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the first half and broke a seven-quarter offensive drought with a late touchdown run by Mekhi Horne to hold off Westland Hialeah at Traz Powell Stadium.
The Chiefs (3-3) had a rare stretch of four consecutive scores created by their defense.
After throwing an interception themselves on the game’s first play, senior James Dorsey picked off a Westland
Hialeah pass moments later and ran 96 yards to put Carol City ahead early.
Later in the half, senior Mister Clark picked off the other pass to give the Chiefs the lead again at 12-6 after the Wildcats (4-2) tied it up.
Palmetto 35, Edison 7: Bobby
A Washington was involved in all three sacks and he helped keep Edison’s offense out of the end zone entirely to get Palmetto (3-4) the sort of marquee win it had lacked so far this season.
The Red Raiders’ only points came on a scoop-and-score in the last minute of the first quarter, tying the score at 7. From there, the Panthers ran away with 28 consecutive points to blow out Edison
(2-4) in Miami.
On defense, Washington was the focal point, tormenting the Red Raiders off the edge. On offense, star wide receiver Robby Washington hauled in five catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
— DAVID WILSON
Monsignor Pace 30, Krop 0: Having lost three games in a row, something good was bound to happen for Monsignor Pace, and it did Friday night. Led by the return of starting quarterback Aidan Karsh, who was out the past four games due to injury, the Spartans (3-4) broke a three-game losing streak.
Karsh finished with close to 250 yards passing, and after four squandered trips to the red zone, led his offense down the field on a long drive to open the second half resulting in a Roger Adam 8-yard touchdown run for a 13-0 lead and then tossed a 12-yard strike to Za’ron Collins on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 20-0.
Led by defensive end Dimitry Nicolas (two sacks), the Spartans had Krop quarterback Jamaal Haggins running all game, sacking him eight times, and held the Lightning to less than 100 yards of total offense.
— BILL DALEY
MORE SCORES
Friday: No. 1 Central 42, No. 8 Northwestern 7; No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas 24, No. 10 Dillard 6; No. 5 American Heritage 42, No. 12 Western 18; No. 14 Plantation 41, Nova 32; No. 17 Coconut Creek 42, Fort Lauderdale 7; Lake Mary 36, No. 18 North Miami Beach 16; No. 20 Southridge 62, St. Pete Lakewood 21; Archbishop Carroll 30, Somerset Charter Homestead 0; Boca Raton St. Andrews 62, North Broward Prep 35; Calvary Christian 47, Somerset Academy 21; Cooper City 15, Archbishop McCarthy 13; Coral Glades 27, Coral Springs 0; Coral Springs Charter 60, Northeast 27; Cypress Bay 47, Taravella 0; Deerfield Beach 35, Boyd Anderson 0; Goleman 42, Hialeah Gardens 7; Hallandale 8, Hialeah 6; Hollywood Hills 7, Pompano Beach 0; Jacksonville Bolles 42, TRU Prep 12; La Salle 28, Somerset Canyons 18; Miami Country Day 14, West Palm Beach SLAM 8; Miami High 26, Coral Gables 22; Monarch 42, McArthur 13; Naples St. John Neumann 45, Somerset Key 0; NSU University School 52, BridgePrep 0; Palmer Trinity 40, Palm Glades Prep 12; Ransom Everglades 20, Mater Academy 17; St. Brendan 35, Dade Christian 0; South Broward 30, West Broward 26; South Dade 42, Southwest 0; South Miami 47, Miami Springs 6; Stuart Martin County 21, Stranahan 11; Stoneman Douglas 32, Jupiter 0; Tavernier Coral Shores 33, Marathon 6; Westminster Academy 35, Bishop Snyder 6; Westminster Christian
68, Florida Christian 0.
Thursday: No. 7 Cardinal Gibbons 38, Belen 0; No. 9 Booker T. 41, No. 11 Norland 23; No. 13 Miramar 53, Pembroke Pines Charter 0; No. 16 Doral 48, North Miami 21; No. 19 Carol City 18, Westland Hialeah 12; Avant Garde Academy 38,
Palm Beach Christian Prep 6; Braddock 48, Coral Park 7; Coral Reef 35, Reagan 14; Everglades 12, Flanagan 0; Ferguson 42, Hialeah-Miami Lakes 14; Miami Beach 20, American 0; Mourning 14, Varela 8; Palmetto 35, Edison 7; Piper 38, South Plantation 20.