Deerfield Beach wins shortened kickoff classic St. Thomas Aquinas cruises in kickoff classic with Dillard
DEERFIELD BEACH — Deerfield Beach came away with the win, but it didn’t really feel like it.
In Thursday night’s kickoff classic versus Chaminade-Madonna, the Bucks overcame a 7-3 halftime deficit to top the Class 3A state-runner up 10-7, but it was the visiting Lions who were celebrating after the contest.
Chaminade-Madonna pulled its starters in the second half and the teams played two six-minute running-clock quarters to finish the game. Deerfield Beach coach Jevon Glenn said the teams agreed to the shortened second half before the game due to the Lions dealing with some injuries.
“[It was] kind of a waste of time,” said Glenn. “[Chaminade coach] Dameon’s [Jones] my guy, but I’m not doing that again. I’ve got 70 kids who don’t get to play. It was a pretty good practice for both teams, but it wasn’t really a game.”
Deerfield Beach scored the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter as Tyron Herring hit Jaycob Williams for a 40-yard touchdown. Despite the win, Glenn wasn’t pleased, saying there was “nothing” he liked about his team’s performance.
“We came out being undisciplined and unfocused from the get-go,” said Glenn, whose Bucks finished 10-3 last season and reached the Class 8A state semifinals. “We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got lofty goals and we can’t have time to waste days.”
Chaminade’s Jones was more pleased despite the deceptive loss. The Lions defense was stout throughout the first half and the team’s offense came through with big plays when they needed it.
“I’m proud of what we accomplished tonight. We’ve got some stuff to work on, but that’s a good football team and we held our own.”
After some early hiccups, Chaminade struck first. Backed up on its own 5-yard line, Chaminade put together a 95-yard touchdown drive behind some impressive throws from new starting quarterback Daelen Menard. The junior, taking over for Utah State freshman Henry Colombi, hit Alabama commit Xavier Williams on a 45-yard gain deep ball to kick off the drive.
Later in the series, Menard went back to the air, this time connecting with Akeem Hayes for 40 yards to set the Lions up deep inside Bucks territory. Auburn commit Shaun Shivers, the Sun Sentinel’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, finished off the drive with a run to up 7-0.
In the second quarter, the Bucks finally found some offensive rhythm behind a pair of big Cornelius McCoy catches. Deerfield Beach drove to the Lions’ 5, but three consecutive Herring incompletions forced the Bucks to settle for 23-yard field goal from Liden Rivera.
Prior to the game, Deerfield Beach held a moment of silence to recognize former Bucks football player T.J. Bradley, who was killed on May 28 in a prom-night car accident that injured teammate Demetirus Palmer.
Chaminade-Madonna will open up the regular season on Thursday at Miami Central, while Deerfield Beach will travel to defending 6A state champ Carol City next Friday. 5-yard touchdown put the Lions
FORT LAUDERDALE — Bring on St. John Bosco.
St. Thomas Aquinas, ranked fifth in the nation by MaxPreps, had its tuneup before the regular-season opener and national clash with the fourth-ranked California powerhouse in a 39-0 preseason kickoff classic victory over Dillard at Aquinas on Thursday night.
Leading by two scores at halftime, it wasn’t the same beatdown the Raiders put on the Panthers same time last year, but the defense was stout. The offense, while shaky at times, exhibited explosiveness.
Take Aquinas’ opening offensive possession, for example. The Raiders fumbled three times, recovering all — twice on snap exchanges between junior quarterback Curt Casteel and his center — they were able to keep the drive alive and Casteel connected with Virginia commit Tavares Kelly for a 43-yard touchdown down the right sideline.
In the second quarter, Casteel hit Georgia commit Elijah Moore, wide open deep, for a 70-yard touchdown strike. Although the pass was slightly underthrown, the Dillard defensive back misread it, and Moore was able to basketcatch it and stroll easily into the end zone.
Casteel went 9-for-16 for 179 yards and three touchdowns, capping his night with a 15-yard touchdown to Teriq Phillips.
Only trailing by two touchdowns at halftime, Dillard tried a squib kick to open the second half, but junior receiver Donald McCarthy picked it up and exploited an open hole through the middle to score.
The defense shut out Dillard. Nik Bonitto had a pair of sacks, Grayson Crozier recorded one and Louisville safety commit Trenell Troutman combined with Miami commit Al Blades Jr. for a pass breakup near the goal line before the end of the half.
The second unit came in after halftime, and juniors Jason Munoz and Jordan Battle made plays. Marcus Rosemy caught a touchdown from backup quarterback Kyle Engel and Samuel Durkee ran another one in late.
Dillard was able to control the clock offensively. Running back Keyondre White, an Akron commit and Chaminade transfer, ran hard and was around 50 yards. Senior quarterback Moise Francois threw for more than 100 yards, 31 of them on one deep pass to new Kentucky cornerback commit Stanley Garner, playing offense. He was hit hard by Troutman, his future Bluegrass State rival, but held on.
Last season, in the same preseason exhibition between the Fort Lauderdale schools — except at Dillard — the Raiders won 51-0.
Aquinas, looking to win its fourth consecutive state title this season, hosts Bosco to open the regular season at 7 p.m. on Aug. 25. Thursday’s other scores Cypress Bay 21, Monarch
Wednesday’s scores University School Nova 0; Cooper City 10,
35, Flanagan