PALM BEACH GARDENS – Four days, three different attempts at playing and 72 hours from the opening kickoff, the FHSAA District 5-1M game between Cardinal Newman and Benjamin finally had a solution.
Yes, you read all of that correctly.
Due to multiple weather delays, it took Cardinal Newman four days to defeat Benjamin, 36-14.
On Friday, Sept. 9 at approximately 7 p.m., the game first kicked off. But with just under two minutes remaining in the first half, the game was delayed due to weather and was scheduled to be completed the next day (Sept. 10).
Both teams got some more of the game completed before another weather delay stopped the game with about four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
On Monday (Sept. 12), both teams were able to finish the game and put an ending to what might be the weirdest game in Palm Beach County history.
For Cardinal Newman, it meant three separate trips on a bus to Benjamin.
“Quiet and focused,” Cardinal Newman head coach Jack Daniels said of the team’s final bus trip to Benjamin. “We made them keep all of their stuff back at the school to focus on the game. Try to get here as late as possible to get out of the head. So, it was a good bus ride.”
When the game finally resumed, it was clear enough that that bus ride was indeed good as Cardinal Newman got off to a hot start.
After converting on a two-point conversion to start the resumption of play, Cardinal Newman cornerback Dallas Desouza intercepted a pass and took it back to the end zone for a 98-yard touchdown return, making the score 22-7.
“They tried to run a bomb, then I saw the drag coming across the middle. The quarterback started scrambling out. … My [defensive end] forced him to throw it out, it came out as a little flappy bird,” Desouza said about the play. “My teammate came and bumped in to me and after that, my vision’s blurred. But all I see is green grass ahead of me.”
In some ways, opportunity forced Desouza into that situation.
Normally, Josh Philostein would be in that spot. But a hip injury forced him out of action and thrust Desouza, who is normally the team’s third cornerback, into extended action.
“If you ask any coach over there who their favorite kid on the team is,” Daniels said, motioning towards Cardinal Newman’s sidelines. “It’s Dallas because he works so hard. He’s just tiny and he goes so hard, he gets hurt.”
Desouza wasn’t the only Newman player to provide a major boost for the Crusaders on Monday’s completion, though.
Cardinal Newman senior wide receiver Chris Presto hauled in a touchdown catch from quarterback Luke Warnock in Monday’s completion of the game – one of his three touchdowns in four days.
Presto’s first score was the only thing to separate the two sides on Friday, hauling in a pass from Warnock by following a nice adjustment to open up the scoring.
“You just have to see him practice every day. He’s on the field an hour and a half before the game, running, getting ready,” Daniels said of Presto. “He’s so intense, but he’s such a good football player.”
Daniels continued.
“Somebody should get on him because he’s going to be a heck of a college player too,” Daniels said.
For Cardinal Newman, its victory over Benjamin was also a chance to get some revenge for last season, where the Crusaders fell 17-7 on their home turf.
“Last year really hurt, it was tough,” Presto said. “We used that as fuel this year. We didn’t want that to happen again.”
The victory pushes Cardinal Newman to 3-0 on the season, as it has outscored its opponents by a 118-26 margin.
With the loss, Benjamin falls to 0-3 on the season.
PHOTO CREDITS: Christian Proscia
