St. Brendan gets close win for its first district title
Queen’s “We Are The Champions” played on the PA system. The student section swayed as it sang along to the iconic chorus.
Then DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” started up, and the students began bobbing up and down to the song in celebration of their classmates.
Rounding out the winning playlist was Post Malone’s “Congratulations.”
Then fireworks erupted from behind the end zone.
St. Brendan quarterback Julian Fresen took the snap and pressed his knee into the turf of his home field. Sabres 14, Westland Hialeah Wildcats 12.
And with that, St. Brendan (5-2) became the District 15-2M champion
Friday night, securing its first district title in the program’s second year as an FHSAA member program and fifth overall.
“To me it brings the whole school together.” coach Steve Smith said while players were greeted by a swarm of fans outside the locker room.
“The spirit of the school, the camaraderie of the school. ... This just helps tighten bonds.”
Smith, who previously coached at Killian and Coral Park, joined the Sabres’ staff last year. He said he started with nine players and now has 57 on the roster. The squad finished 2-8 last year, and Friday night it made history.
“It’s a big thing for this program and for these kids,” he said. “The work that they’ve put in. I love that they were able to reap the reward.”
Turnovers made the difference in the game. Both TDs by St. Brendan came off interceptions – one by two-way player
Luis Lugo (ending a 22minute scoring drought to open the game) and another by Pablo Peña when the Wildcats tried to throw on third and six from their own 7-yard line.
Yet another interception was critical. After the Wildcats scored their first touchdown (a 26-yard run by Antron Williams), St. Brendan’s Kevin White intercepted a two-point attempt that would have given Westland Hialeah (4-3) the lead.
The Sabres also stopped a crucial two-point conversion attempt on one of the last drives of the game, proving instrumental to Westland’s two-point loss.
“They just played hard every play,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t just one thing. The kids kept battling and battling.”
The win and district title were another encouraging sign that boys sports at St. Brendan are on the rise. The boys soccer team won a state title this spring – just the second in any sport in school history (the first coming from the 1983 baseball team). About a fourth of the school’s 1,200 students are boys.