Buccaneers rally for rare win over Explorers
It had been “a long time coming,” in the words of Nate Hudson, and it took nearly all 48 minutes, but South Dade finally took down Columbus on Friday.
For the first time since 2013, the Buccaneers beat their Class 8A rival, winning a 21-14 defensive struggle at Tropical Park in Miami.
South Dade shut out the Explorers for the final
35:41 and held star running back Henry Parrish to just 22 yards in the second half. The explosive tailback, who is orally committed to the Pittsburgh Panthers, only ripped off one run longer than 15 yards.
The Buccaneers fell behind 14-0 early when Parrish ran in a second touchdown just 19 seconds into the second quarter after a blocked punt let Columbus start at South Dade’s 35-yard line. The Buccaneers rally began on the next drive.
South Dade began at its own 18 and marched 82 yards in about eight minutes, scoring on a fourthand-goal play from the 1-yard line when quarterback Kelvin Durham evaded a sack and found Jermaine Hawkins for a touchdown.
The Buccaneers went into the half down 14-7 and began the third quarter with the ball.
South Dade needed only 2:18 to knot the score. Hawkins got the drive moving with a 42-yard scramble, then found wide receiver Trevon Sanders for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game.
It was a defensive struggle from there and Columbus only managed three first downs the rest of the game.
With 7:25, Hawkins delivered an effective dagger. With the ball near midfield, the quarterback floated a perfect deep ball to Sanders for a 47-yard touchdown over the top of the defense.
The Buccaneers needed two more stops and the first was halted by a rash of Explorer penalties.
The last drive ended in Buccaneers territory before Parrish was dropped by junior outside linebacker Tyler Johnson, who is orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes, for an 8-yard loss on third down.
A play later, South Dade forced an incompletion and could kneel away the final seconds.