Stephen Morris leads Pace to win over Cardinal Gibbons!
At 3pm ESS went over to Cardinal Gibbons to watch them face Miami Pace. Early on it looked like Gibbons would run away with the game. They took an early 7-0 lead. On the following possession they were knocking on the door again before a fumble near the end-zone was returned all the way back for touchdown by Normando Harris. It went from a possible 14-0 lead to a tied game. After that turnover it was all Miami Pace as they scored on two more defensive touchdowns and won the game 48-13. In our second game of the Double header ESS went down to South Broward and watched them face Piper. This was a game between a Piper team who was 3-6 going against South Broward would was one win away from their best season in a decade at 8-1. On the first play from scrimmage by South Broward’s offense it was Kevin Grooms who got them on the score board quickly with a 63 yard touchdown. South Broward scored three more times to win the game going away 28-0. ESS will break down both games and tell you what to look for the next few weeks.
In game 1, Gibbons was coming off a disappointing loss to American Heritage Plantation. The loss cost them the district crown. In this game they just seemed to be going through the motions. Outside of them being up 7-0 and ready to put the game away early it was all Miami Pace. The Spartans missed the playoffs for the first time in 19 years so you would expect them to be kind of flat. For Gibbons, you would have expected they would have tried to bounce back and win a game before going into the playoffs. Now Gibbons must go on the road and play a Glades Central team that has not lost this season. They play Pahokee today in the annual Muck Bowl so it will be interested to see how much emotion they put into this game and can Gibbons catch them flat. If not what once looked like a promising season for Gibbons will go down the drain.
How does Gibbons regroup heading into the Glades Central matchup? They need to go back to the basics and run the football. Daryeon Chance is their best option at this point. He had a ton of success last season against Glades Central. He should be able to do so again. Off a successful rushing attack the passing game will open up. Gibbons has a ton of success throwing the ball to Shawn Corker and their fullback Eric McLamore out of the backfield. If they can get both of them involved early look for Gibbons to have some success. The key to this game between Glades Central and them is realizing that it is a new season now. What happened the past two weeks will have no impact going into their first round game against Glades Central.
In game 2 South Broward was just finishing out what was a very successful season for them. The Bulldogs head coach Allen Held should be up for coach of the year in Broward County after his team finished off 9-1 and earning a playoff birth. Coach Held and his staff have done a great job of keeping this team focused every week. They also found a secret weapon with running back Kevin Grooms. When you have the ability to score anywhere on the field it makes it much easier for your team to win. Grooms scored early in the game and finished it up with two other touchdowns. Grooms also scored touchdowns of 77 yards and 25 yards. Grooms finished with 177 yards on 11 carries. He is a game breaker and that’s what Grooms did, broke the game open on his first carry. South Broward defense deserves credit for the way they played as well. They were led by Djwany Mere and Trevaughn Fairclough. The two defensive ends lived in the Piper backfield. They accounted for 6 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 15 tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. When these two are on, South Broward defensive line is tough to stop. The other star of the game was the South Broward offensive line which opened up holes for the South Broward rushing attack.
What does South Broward look forward to? They will get Coconut Creek in round one of the playoffs before a potential rematch with Saint Thomas. If it gets that far there is not much advice we can give the Bulldogs. Here is to coach Held and his staff for a job well done this year.
Final Thoughts: While Cardinal Gibbons has not played well the past two weeks it is a new season once the playoffs start. They have enough weapons on both sides of the football to make the game with Glades Central competitive. The question is can they forget about the past two weeks and realize that everything can change quickly with a win over the Raiders. Win that game and you could be looking at a nice run for the Cardinal Gibbons football team. Coach Morrill has his work cut out getting his team refocused and convincing them that a win over Glades is possible. We feel that they will give them a good game but come up short.
For South Broward as long as #26 is in the backfield they have a very good shot at winning a game. They should get by a very tough Coconut Creek team before succumbing to Saint Thomas once again. If they get by Creek and are fortunate to play Saint Thomas again the Bulldogs have nothing to be ashamed about as they have had a wonderful season.
