Southridge stuns Homestead to win district title
At first, Pierre Senatus just shook his head while the ice-cold water dripped down his shoulders and off the edges of his Southridge polo shirt. It didn’t take long, though, for a smile to creep up face while the final seconds ticked away on the Spartans’ stunning 20-8 upset of Homestead at Southridge Park.
The first-year coach wanted the Spartans to play it cool, but how could they not get excited? For the first time since 2018, they were district champions.
“On the marquee, you see the state championships in all the sports,” Senatus said, pointing to the banners hanging on the side of neighboring Miami Southridge Senior High School. “The talent is immense down here. ... It’s a first-class program. It always has been and always will be.”
On Friday, the Spartans (4-3) played like a team ready to return to its old perch as the top team in the southernmost part of Miami-Dade County.
Southridge scored twice in the first 5:03 — on its first nine offensive plays — and took a 20-0 lead into halftime in Miami. Its offense got more than 200 passing yards from Spartans quarterback Damari Charlton, who went 17 of 27 for 225 yards and two touchdowns, put up more than 300 total yards. Its defense didn’t give up a single point, with the Broncos only scoring with 5:33 left when they recovered a bad snap on a field goal and ran it all the way back for a touchdown.
Homestead (6-2) was the presumed powerhouse in District 16-3M after winning 11 games and a district title last year, and hanging with nationally ranked Columbus last Friday despite a rash of injuries. Instead, Southridge jumped ahead early and the Broncos, with quarterback Joshua Townsend sidelined with a foot injury, could never recover.
Dillard 42, Plantation 6: Most of the time Fort Lauderdale Dillard’s Christopher Johnson steps on a high school football field these days, he leaves little doubt as to who is the most skilled player in the game.
Johnson did that immediately on Friday night when he took the opening kickoff at his own 8-yard line, weaved his way through Plantation’s coverage team and sped off to the end zone for a touchdown.
Unfortunately for Dillard, an illegal block nullified the result of the highlight-reel play.
The next three touchdowns Johnson scored, however, counted and led the Panthers to a needed bounce-back victory at the PAL Athletic Complex in Plantation.
Johnson finished with 96 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries.
Dillard quarterback Jorge Tabora completed 7 of 10 passes for 127 yards and one 8-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Striggles just before halftime.
Jace Williams led the Panthers defense with an 11-yard interception return for a touchdown, Tarrell Greene recovered a key fumble and Tre’Vaughn Martinez had one of Dillard’s three sacks in the first half.
Columbus 35, Doral Academy 7: Alberto Mendoza threw four touchdown passes and Ahmere
Foster returned an interception for a touchdown to lead Columbus (8-0, 2-0) in a key District 15-4M matchup.
Mendoza threw two touchdowns to junior Jose Leon in the second quarter and one apiece to JJ Gomez in the first quarter and Darriel Harper in the third, with Harper’s 55yard catch-and-run on the second play of the second half putting Columbus up 35-0 and starting the running clock.
Foster’s pick-six put Columbus up 21-0 and was part of a three-touchdown second quarter for the Explorers.
Doral scored its only points on a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jorge Rodriguez at the end of the third quarter to cap an eight-play, 25-yard drive that followed a long kickoff return from Tobias Gonzalez. That was the only time Doral (5-3) made it into Columbus territory.
Central 53, Norland 7: The Rockets (7-0, 3-0 District 13-2M), ranked
No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps, clinched the district title — a routine accomplishment for a program seeking bigger trophies like its fourth consecutive state title and a national championship.
“Here on 95th street, it’s good to have a district championship, but that’s not the standard here,” Central coach Jube Joseph said. “When we get into summer and we get into our spring workouts, we know what the standard is.
And we know what the brand means. And we know what we’re going for every year.”
Senior wide receiver Lamar Seymore recorded three of Central’s eight touchdowns. He bookended the Rockets’ win, having caught the first, second and final scoring passes of the evening.
Anjuan Coleman came in just behind Seymore with two touchdowns. The first came off an 18-yard pass by Dylan Tulloch, or quarterback “1B,” as coach Joseph referred to him.
The second was a 35-yard Tulloch-Coleman connection.