PLANTATION – No. 1 seed American Heritage (Plantation) had a tougher-than-expected time with No. 2 seed Cardinal Gibbons in last night’s (Nov. 25) Class 2M-Region 3 title game.
In what turned out to be a 31-20 home win for the Patriots (12-1) over the Chiefs (11-2 final record), they had to rely on their running game to get it done.
“We knew they couldn’t stop our front seven,” Patriots senior wide receiver and Ohio State verbal commit Brandon Inniss said. “They couldn’t stop our offense. They just wanted to keep our offense off the field. We know what we could do. If the runs work, why stop?”
Down 10-0 in the second quarter, American Heritage needed to get some key stops on defense in order to position itself for a score.
It happened around 10:00 left in the first half, when the Patriots got a key third down stop and forced the Chiefs to punt. And from there, Inniss returned a punt that gave his team decent field position.
The Patriots ate up some time on the clock until senior running back Mark Fletcher found an opening and gashed the Chiefs offense for a touchdown run of 30+ yards with 7:28 left in the half.
“Best back in the nation,” Inniss said of Fletcher. “He can do so many things for you. He makes it easy for me because defensive coordinators have to focus on him. It makes my job so much easier. He’s the best running back in the nation to me.”
An extra point by senior kicker Wiley Shaw (4-for-4 in extra point attempts) cut the Chiefs lead to 10-7.
And later in the first half, the Patriots secondary came through with an interception that set up another scoring opportunity for them.
The home team marched down the field until sophomore running back Byron Louis punched it in for a 4-yard touchdown run at the 2:53 mark.
“He’s young,” Inniss said. “When he first got here in the eighth grade, I seen him do things against our senior group last year on their defense. From that, I knew he was going to be special.”
Shaw’s second extra point gave the Patriots a 14-10 lead they would not relinquish from that point on.
“It’s everything we talked about all year,” American Heritage head coach Mike White said. “Just staying focused on the moment. We knew we were going to get their best effort. That’s a state championship football team, so it was just staying focused in the moment and not panicking, staying level, and just continuing to grind it out.”
The third quarter featured the kicking game from both teams.
Shaw connected on a field goal with 6:08 left in the third quarter to extend American Heritage’s lead to 17-10.
“Wiley, he’s sick right now,” Inniss said. “He had a flu game. I think he hit every kickoff in the back of the end zone here. I texted Wiley last night (Thursday) and said, ‘We need you’. I was kicking field goals in practice yesterday (Thursday) and was like, ‘Wiley, we need you. I can’t do this.’”
But Gibbons would not go away, as senior quarterback and UCF commit Dylan Rizk combined a few runs and passes to get his team in the Heritage red zone.
From there, Gibbons senior kicker Robert Hammond III made a short field goal at the :53 mark of the third quarter.
Hammond’s field goal cut the Heritage lead to 17-13 at that point.
The fourth quarter was mostly about Heritage’s running game, which was both methodical and purposeful in that first downs took place to wear down the Gibbons defense.
The tight game was no longer as Fletcher reached the end zone on a short third-and-goal run to the end zone.
“It’s that o-line,” Fletcher said. “They don’t always get the love they deserve. Without them, there’s no me.”
Shaw’s third extra point with 6:57 left extended the Patriots lead to 24-13.
And to definitively ice this game out, Heritage’s defense got a four-and-out, which led to the offense eventually getting a short touchdown run from Louis with 4:04 left.
“That’s our identity,” White said. “It’s been our identity over 10 years. We run the football here. We have the ability to do both, but we just feel like it’s an attitude. We take pride in our run game here.”
Shaw’s fourth and final extra point gave the Patriots a 31-13 lead over the Chiefs.
“It’s always hard to play against your biggest rival,” Shaw said. “It’s hard to beat a team twice in a year. We just do our best to do our jobs.”
The final score was made possible by a late touchdown run from Chiefs senior and Iowa verbal commit Kamari Moulton (two rushing scores in the game) and an extra point by Hammond with 3:05 left.
Photo credits: Chuck Bethel
With the win, American Heritage (Plantation) will move onward and face off against Bolles (Jacksonville) (9-4) in the Class 2M state semifinal round next Friday night (Dec. 2).
“We gotta eliminate hope,” Shaw said. “We know we’re the best team out here. We have the players. We just gotta execute.”
The kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at American Heritage School in Plantation.
PHOTO CREDITS: Chuck Bethel
VIDEO CREDITS: Kenly Napoleon/PMO Sports
