South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Western fends off Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek’s defense entered Friday night’s game not allowing a score all season, but it was the Western “black shirt” defense that made a statement of their own as the visiting Wildcats prevailed 10-3 late Friday night in the Kansas tiebreaker.
On the third play in the overtime session, Western senior quarterback Collin Hurst found sophomore running back Chance Washington in the flat and he walked into the end zone untouched from 15 yards out to give Western (2-0) the game’s lone touchdown.
Western’s defense then held the host Cougars (2-1) on four plays from the 10, the final one coming on a 4-yard scamper by senior Asante Daniel who was knocked out of bounds by junior OLB Omar Thornton at the
2-yard line to end the game. “That was just the hard work from the school,” Thornton said. “We just came out and fought tonight, all four quarters. We played five tonight.”
Hurst was just 2 of 9 in the first half for 15 yards and finished the night going 9 for 20 for 125 yards and the winning score. Hurst, who also ran for 54 yards, was hampered throughout the evening by botched exchanges with his centers from the shotgun.
There were six exchanges muffed with one being recovered by Coconut Creek’s Travis Thompson on the Western
14-yard line. An unsportsmanlike penalty moved the ball back to the 29 and the Cougars’ drive eventually stalled on the 12 where Jeffrey Hernandez attempted a
35-yard field goal. Western’s Jordan Jean, who had blocked a punt earlier in the game, broke through to block the field goal attempt. An offside penalty against the Wildcats gave Hernandez another shot, and once again, Jean broke through to block a 30-yard field goal attempt with 1:36 remaining in the first half.
Western squandered three opportunities inside the red zone as Coconut Creek extended its scoreless streak to 11 quarters. Coconut Creek entered the contest having outscored its opposition 86-0 in its two wins.
“We were able to overcome adversity,” Hurst said. “It was a team effort, and the defense really picked us up today. We mishandled the ball a lot tonight and I had a couple of fumbles. We have to work on a lot of things. At the
beginning of the year everybody was rah, rah about our offense, but our defense really showed up today.”
The first scoring chance of the game came with 11:07 remaining in the first half when Jean blocked a punt by the Cougars’ Godson Sinelien. The Wildcats got the ball on the Coconut Creek
20 and marched to the 1-yard line, where on fourth-and-goal, Hurst overthrew Ben Sherota in the corner of the end zone and turned the ball over on downs.
Western capitalized on a short punt and got the ball on the Coconut Creek 35 with 8:04 remaining in the half. Matthew Wilson ran for 5 yards and a personal foul penalty against the Cougars gave the Wildcats the ball on the
15-yard line.
Western, which had trouble the first half with the center and quarterback exchange, fumbling the ball three times, then lost the ball when Martin Montero from Coconut Creek recovered on the Cougars’ 17.
Western took a 3-0 lead with
10:55 left in the game on a 23-yard field goal by Kristian Hobbs and Coconut Creek managed to tie the game at 3-3 on a 23-yard field goal by Hernandez with 5:44 remaining in the game as it took the ensuing kickoff and marched from their own 39 to the Western
1 before the drive stalled on four successive goal line stands.
Western coach Adam Ratkevich said don’t “sleep” on his defense.
“Obviously we couldn’t have played worse on offense,” Ratkevich said. “At the end of the day, since we’ve been here, our blackshirt defense has been our brand. The last time we went to regionals we shut out seven of the 10 teams we played during the regular season that year. We have a lot of players on defense that are underrated, and champions find a way to win. The six bad snaps ruined drives. As frustrating as it was, at the end of the game we found a way to win.”
Coconut Creek coach Johnnie Sloan felt his team found the end zone on three plays.
“We had our back against the wall the whole game really, but our defense hung in there, but we just couldn’t capitalize on offense,” Sloan said. “They called back three touchdowns on us, so we were playing under adversity. Next week is another week and we just move on to our next opponent. We just must watch film and clean up what we saw tonight.”
The game was delayed for an hour in the first quarter due to lightning.
Week 3 scoreboard
Saturday Chaminade-Madonna 42, Miami Northwestern 14
Friday
Western 10, Coconut Creek 3 OT St. Thomas Aquinas 42, Cocoa Beach 14
St. Andrew’s 42, West Boca 7 Martin County 28, Jupiter 0 Inlet Grove 56, BridgePrep Academy 0
Palm Beach Central 42,
Park Vista 7
Palm Beach Gardens 17, Dwyer 6 Dillard 35, Miramar 7 American Heritage 56, Glades Central 0
Coral Springs Charter 26, Archbishop McCarthy 14 Seminole Ridge 9, Forest Hill 7 Cardinal Gibbons 31, Gulliver Prep 14
Lake Placid 21, Nova 16 Pahokee 40, Palm Beach Lakes 0 Jensen Beach 17, Wellington 14 OT Everglades 27, Cooper City 0 Somerset Academy 60, Ransom Everglades 21 McCallie (Tennessee) 62, West Broward 27
King’s Academy 16, Somerset Academy-Canyons 8 Cypress Bay 31, Flanagan 8
Thursday
Plantation 40, Stoneman Douglas 26 North Miami Beach 30, Atlantic 28 OT
Glades Day 30,
Jupiter Christian 21 Santaluces 42, Olympic Heights 6 John I. Leonard 21, Spanish River 13 Monarch 6, Hallandale 0