South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Patriots win ugly tune-up
To describe Friday’s preseason matchup between Miramar and Miami Edison as an unpolished product would be an understatement. At times it was downright difficult to watch, filled with penalties, turnovers and costly errors, but at the end of the night it was the Patriots who managed to take the 7-0 win at home.
For the first 59 minutes and 11 seconds of the game, neither team managed to get on the scoreboard, despite multiple trips to the red zone. That was until Miramar’s senior running back Nathaniel Henry plunged into the end zone for the game’s only touchdown with 49 second remaining.
Miramar’s previous three trips inside the twenty came up empty handed with two turnover on downs and an interception by junior quarterback Kael Alexander.
Coach AJ Scott said he loved how his team showed him its perseverance and heart, but he knows that there’s a lot that needs cleaning up ahead of the regular-season opener against Plantation next Friday.
“We got a lot of work to do on both sides actually,” Scott said postgame. “That’s why I love the game, you don’t know what’s going to happen. You can look great on paper all day, but that doesn’t mean anything to Edison or anybody else. Offensively, we got to go back to the lab and figure out why we didn’t punch those [red zone trips] in. I think we had about five red zone opportunities that we didn’t punch in and we got a lot of work to do. So, that’s what we’ll be doing the next couple of weeks.”
Despite losing the turnover battle 3-2, Miramar’s defense did a good job of containing an explosive Edison offense, that has multiple talented weapons. UM commit wide receiver Nathaniel Joseph was Edison’s biggest threat for most of the game, but aside from a few splashy plays, was kept relatively quiet.
The Red Raiders had two red-zone trips and came away with nothing, which included an interception at the end of the first half. The latter one came late in the fourth quarter as they reached the three-yard line but they just couldn’t cash it. Notably, the ball didn’t go to Joseph on any play inside the 10.
“Honestly, that’s what we talked about pretty much all summer, the challenge playing against [Joseph],” Scott said. “I’m a fan of the kid. As a high school coach, sometimes I track certain kids and I love the kid. So, I was looking forward to the challenge. I think we did a decent job, he still got off some, he still scared the heck out of us, but we made tackles when we needed to. So, I’m proud of my defense.”
Although it was a tough at times for the Patriots offense, Henry was a bright spot for much of the night.
The Miami Central transfer put on a show in the backfield and out wide playing as a receiver, he had two receptions 20-plus yards, most of which came after a catch, and he seemingly always had a timely first-down run whenever Miramar needed it.
Set to be the workhorse for his team this year, Henry, a senior, is looking forward to his moment to shine.
“It feels great,” Henry said. “Like any high school kid would want to be the main attraction of the offense. But it feels great knowing that the team relies on to make a play like this touchdown I made, feels great.”
As for Alexander, he had a bit of an up-and-down performance in his first game for Miramar since transferring in from Cypress Bay in June. The junior signal-caller sprayed the ball around to a lot of different Patriots receivers but had a couple of overthrows in the red zone and had two lost fumbles, one a bad snap, in addition to his interception.
However, it was his 35-yard pass to receiver Tre’ Rigby down the stretch that set up Henry’s winning score.
All in all, he was just pumped to get his first taste of Broward-Dade high school football and feels that this move will only up his game.
“It’s definitely gonna be different and the competition level is just gonna make me rise to another level,” Alexander said. “It is my first game, I am a little disappointed on how I performed. I could have done some things better, but there’s also good things to take away here. We came up with the win and we’re still learning how to gel together as a team. But, just overall, I love the competition, I took some big hits today from great hitters. I think just playing [Edison] is gonna make me rise to another level.”