In the second round of the FHSAA Playoffs on Saturday night, the American Heritage (Plantation) Patriots took on the King’s Academy Lions.
From the get-go, the Patriots offense dominated, and they never took their foot off the gas.
Led by Dia Bell’s five touchdowns, American Heritage defeated King’s Academy 49-7.
Bell, the son of NBA legend Raja Bell, completed 12-of-13 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore did just as much damage on the ground, rushing for two touchdowns on just two carries, including a nasty juke. Bell has offers from Florida, Miami, Auburn, Penn State, among others.
“It was a great win, great team win,” Bell said postgame. “Onto the next. Coach Mario Perez was putting us in a great position to score and we did so. We’ve been doing this all season. The chemistry has only gotten better as the season went on. Tonight it showed.”
Wide receiver Malachi Toney, who is committed to Miami, had five catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. Toney has been showcasing his elite talent all season, hence, he had an insane 39 yard catch against King’s Academy.
“Just to be explosive, sharpen up my game,” Toney said postgame about what’s been clicking for him this season. “I already knew we were going to go out there and dominate. It was a good team win.”
Wide receiver Brandon Bennett also had 101 yards receiving, but on just two catches. The sophomore caught a 52 yard touchdown on the very first play of the second half.
The American Heritage running back room was terrific Saturday night as the team had 169 total rushing yards on just 16 carries (8.9 yards per carry).
Four-star running back Deandre Desinor had four carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns. He could have had a third touchdown, but Desinor’s punt return touchdown got called back due to a holding. The 5-9, 170-pound running back recently released his top 10. He is down to Texas, FSU, Penn State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Miami, UNC, West Virginia, and Ole Miss.
Linebacker Omar Thornton was the star on defense for the Patriots. The 6-0, 195-pound senior, who has offers from Jacksonville State and Louisiana-Monroe, had 12 total tackles and two sacks.
American Heritage will play Cardinal Gibbons on Black Friday. Bell is confident that the Patriots won’t just win Friday night, but they will win the state championship.
“We need to keep on working. Keep on working everyday, keep on pushing to be the best we can be, and that’s going to take us as far as we want to go.”
Desinor also spoke on how the Patriots can win a state championship.
“Just keep executing. Keep dominating. Study and watch film. And just play American Heritage football. That’s all. We’ll do something special.”
There must be a tight-knit culture at American Heritage because Toney said something similar as well.
“Just grind everyday at practice. The team we have… they push me everyday to be the best version of me. I just need to keep going out there and making plays. Keep playing American Heritage ball. That’s all we need to do. Focus on ourself.”
Meanwhile, King’s Academy’s season is now over after going 8-2 in the regular season. The Lions were just completely outmatched and outpowered on Saturday night. Their lone touchdown was a 60 yard touchdown run by quarterback Joe Dailey.
