FORT LAUDERDALE – This year’s Class 4A state title game literally could have gone either way.
Cardinal Gibbons knew that for sure and played yet another complete team game to stop Cocoa in the final minutes for a 21-19 win last night (Dec. 16).
Just when it appeared that Cocoa would tie the game up with 1:57 left, Cardinal Gibbons made a timely tackle near the goal line to preserve the two-point win.
This was a two-point conversion attempt made possible by a wildly accurate and long touchdown pass by Cocoa senior quarterback Davin Wydney, who cut the Gibbons lead from 21-13 to 21-19.
Cocoa attempted to recover an onside kick shortly thereafter and even had the game’s final possession. With two more chances to pull off the win, Cardinal Gibbons shut that notion down.
As a result of this, the Chiefs (11-2) are your repeat Class 4A state champions.
“We found some matchups,” Cardinal Gibbons head coach Matt DuBuc said. “The matchups were there. They played a great game. You saw it. I saw it.”
Cardinal Gibbons has won state titles in three of the past four years, with the first one coming in 2018 (Class 5A) and the second one coming last year in 2020 (Class 4A).
DuBuc spoke on the program’s first back-to-back state title run.
“It’s great for our program,” DuBuc said. “It’s great for our school and these kids. We persevered through the death of one of our coaches…Kamari [Moulton] lost his mom. These kids have gone through a lot. I’m just proud of how they fought through it.”
Speaking of Moulton, the junior running back carried the team on his back for much of the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 173 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the final frame.
Moulton’s first one would be a 14-yard touchdown run at the 10:41 mark. An extra point by senior kicker Adrien Alfieri gave Gibbons a 14-7 lead over Cocoa (11-2).
The scoring drive for Gibbons was eight plays for 65 yards. It took three minutes and eleven seconds off the clock.
“My team said they had my back,” Moulton said. “I just wanted to give them all I had.”
Gibbons overcame a Cocoa rally that could have resulted in a momentum shifter.
With 7:25 left in fourth, Wydner got himself a 1-yard touchdown on a third-and-goal play to cut the Gibbons lead to 14-13.
But a timely stop on a Cocoa two-point conversion run attempt preserved the one-point lead for Gibbons.
Both defenses played well for most of the fourth quarter, as they kept each other out of the end zone.
Toward the end, it was the Gibbons defense that forced a turnover on downs at the Cocoa 20-yard with 3:52 left.
Gibbons went on to get two 5-yard runs by Moulton, followed by a 3-yard keeper run from junior quarterback Dylan Rizk.
The very next play would be a 7-yard touchdown run by Moulton with 2:22 left in the fourth. Another extra point by Alfieri – his third of the night – gave Gibbons a 21-13 lead that held until the end.
“I know my o-line, the defense, they all wanted to win,” Moulton said. “It was all a game plan. We planned it to happen, and the Lord blessed us to be in this position. We did it. I just thank God we’re here. We made it.”
The first FHSAA high school football state title game at DRV PNK Stadium was a tight one throughout, but particularly in the first half.
There were only two total end zone appearances – both of which came in the first quarter.
Cardinal Gibbons struck first, as Rizk found junior wide receiver Jesse Anderson for a 15-yard touchdown pass at the 8:07 mark. The first of three extra points by Alfieri gave the “home” team a 7-0 lead over Cocoa.
But the “road” team made sure to answer back before the first frame ended.
With just 28 seconds left, Cocoa senior running back OJ Ross got into the end zone on a 4-yard run. An extra point enabled the Tigers to tie the game up 7-7 with the Chiefs.
Both defenses played well throughout the entire second quarter, as Cocoa forced at least one turnover and Gibbons had a key sack to end the first half.
To close out the first half, Gibbons junior defensive tackle Broc Weaver delivered a powerful hit that would prevent Cocoa from another end zone appearance. This may go down as the best play in tonight’s Class 4A state title game.
“We’ve been in this situation plenty of times,” Rizk said. “We just knew to come out here and execute.”
The third quarter was much of the same for both teams, as neither one got to the end zone. But Weaver reached four sacks after three quarters.
The fourth quarter belonged mainly to Moulton, who led his team to the 4A summit.
“We really depended on Kamari,” Rizk said. “We just told Kamari, “We’re going to give you the ball.” They we’re playing a certain defense that was covering the passes. They weren’t worried about the run much because we’re an Air Raid offense. We just gave the ball to him and kept trusting him with it…He made it happen.”
The real heroes for the state title game and throughout the season were the offensive linemen. They created the holes for Moulton to run through and allowed Rizk time to make his proper reads and throws when necessary.
“We kept bouncing out, so it just kept working,” Cardinal Gibbons offensive lineman and FIU signee John Bock II said. “We just kept going with it until we kept going hurry up and working with it.”
Fellow senior offensive lineman Vinny Colasacco summed it all up for the offensive line and his team.
“We really came together with our o-line coach,” Colasacco said. “As a front five, I truly don’t think there’s a better one in the state. We’re state champions. You can’t say nothing about us now.”
“Back to back,” Gibbons offensive lineman Jackson Crozier added to help close it out.
“Yessir,” Colasacco said as the linemen went on to celebrate their state title win with the team.
PHOTO CREDITS: Kenly Napoleon/PMO Sports
