COCONUT CREEK – To kick off the Class 4M state semifinals last night (Dec. 1), the Monarch Knights took on the Mandarin Mustangs for a shot to play in the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) 4M state championship in Tallahassee.
To start the game, Monarch was able to march down the field and run the ball in for the touchdown and the extra point to make it 7-0 in its favor.
The Mustangs soon followed with a drive of their own to also put them on the scoreboard. The two-point try was no good, which allowed the Knights to keep their slight one-point lead at 7-6.
After a few scoreless drives, the Mustangs field goal unit was able to secure an additional three points for them, making the score at 9-7 in their favor.
In the final minutes of the first half, it was the two defenses that really came into action.
Monarch was able to force another Mandarin punt, but Mandarin junior safety Drake Stubbs was able to come in clutch with an interception.
In the second half, Monarch would soon be the next to score with a big drive from junior athlete Samari Reed.
On this drive, Reed had a big 30+ yard reception which put Monarch into Mandarin territory. He would later cap it off by securing a touchdown to help Monarch retake lead at 13-9.
With a missed extra point, the score would stay at 13-9.
On the next drive, the Mustangs answered very quickly with a touchdown from Jamie French, who was able to take a slant 50+ yard to the house. This gave Mandarin the lead, 16-13.
On the very next drive, sophomore receiver Jabari Brady scored quickly after taking a short pass from senior quarterback AJ Hairston all the way to the end zone.
The Knights would make the two-point conversion and take the lead at 21-16.
After going up 21-16, Monarch was able to force a punt from the Mustangs. But on the second play of the drive, Stubbs was able to come up with his second interception of the day, which would give the Mustangs the ball in the red zone.
Mandarin was able to find the end zone and get a two-point conversion, which put the score in its favor at 24-21 right before the end of the third quarter.
After the Mustangs kicked off, they forced the Knights to go three-and-out and got the ball back with plenty of time left to play in the fourth quarter.
With the ball back, the Mustangs started to lean on its running game. Their physical offensive line created lanes and their running backs were able to exploit those gaps, which would later led to a touchdown for the road team.
Mandarin went for the extra point and converted on it to increase the point differential from 24-21 to 31-21.
After the kickoff, the Mustangs forced another turnover as the Knights threw an interception on the first play of the drive.
With the ball back in their hands, it did not take the Mustangs a long time to score. Senior running back Tiant Wyche bounced off of a few defenders and took the ball up the middle and broke a few more tackle attempts for a long touchdown run.
Wyche’s rushing score helped to increase the Mustangs lead to 38-21.
On the ensuing kickoff, Mandarin senior punter Ben Hipp recovered his own kickoff on a short sky kick.
The game got out of hand in the fourth quarter.
At the start it was Mandarin with a small lead, 24-21. However, by the end of the game, the winning team scored a whopping 27 points in just the fourth quarter alone.
The final score was 51-21 in favor of Mandarin.
For Monarch (11-3 final record; No. 2 overall seed), this would go down as the end of a memorable season in which it reached the state semifinal round for the first time in school history.
CLASS 4M STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Mandarin (11-3; No. 3 overall seed) vs. Columbus (Miami) (12-2; No. 1 overall seed) – Friday, Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. in Tallahassee (Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium – Florida A&M)
PHOTO CREDITS: Fenthon Aristhomene/Top Shot Files
