A chain 48 links long hangs in Archbishop McCarthy's locker room, each link representing a player on the roster the team cannot succeed without.

That chain was never tested this season as much as it was Thursday night against Fort Lauderdale, when three of the team's top players left the game because of injuries.

McCarthy responded when other players filled in the gaps, leading to a 38-19 victory at Lockhart Stadium and the first district title in the program's 11-year history.

``Guys stepped up that you don't see normally playing,'' McCarthy coach John Timmins said. ``We had guys go down with injuries, and I tell you, this was a complete team effort.''

Running back Jamal Dowels was taken off the sideline on a stretcher after sustaining a rib injury in the second quarter.

Kicker Marshall Morgan was hit low on his left leg and limped off the field after a successful extra-point attempt in the third quarter.

And running back T.J. Marshall -- who had three touchdowns and 138 rushing yards before getting hurt -- sustained a sprained right ankle that Timmins said is ``real bad.''

Timmins did not know whether any of the three would miss playing time. When Marshall was injured, McCarthy was leading 31-19 with about five minutes left in the game.

Juwan King then took four minutes off the clock to seal the game with six carries for 47 yards.

``I knew I had to step up and be a team player,'' said King, who scored on an untouched sprint up the middle for 39 yards two drives earlier.

``[Marshall is] our leader, but someone has to step up when someone goes down.''

Danny Salgado replaced Morgan -- who made a school-record 53-yard field goal in the second quarter -- and made two extra points.

After the game, McCarthy posed on the 15-yard line for a picture to commemorate the District 14-3A championship.

``It's a special group of guys,'' Timmins said. ``No one cares who gets the credit. They just come in when they're called on and do what they're asked.''

Fort Lauderdale put up a fight in the second half, getting 253 receiving yards and two touchdowns from Tesfa Samuels, but it wasn't enough. Fort Lauderdale (4-4, 1-2) was eliminated from playoff contention. It has three more victories than it did last season.

``We'll build on it,'' Fort Lauderdale coach Bob Wood said. ``That's all we can do, build on what we did and see if we can get better.''

• Taravella 28, Cypress Bay 14: By staying on the ground the second half, Taravella was able to grind out a victory over host Cypress Bay in a nondistrict game. Despite the loss, Cypress Bay (5-3) can win the District 11-6A title with a victory over Everglades next week.

Two time-consuming touchdown drives of 77 and 37 yards in the third quarter broke open a game that was tied at 14. With 4:51 left in the quarter, Jordan Polite ran 32 yards up the middle for touchdown. With 13 seconds left in the quarter, Devon Wright got his third touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run.

``I told the kids that the first drive of the third quarter was going to be important, and they rose to the occasion,'' said Taravella coach Dan Marguriet, whose team is 3-5. ``We wanted to take the air out of the ball the second half and we did.''

-- BUTCH STALLINGS

• Hollywood Hills 22, Hallandale 18: Hollywood Hills ran on 17 consecutive plays to open the second half. When it finally attempted a pass, on fourth-and-5 with 6:03 remaining, Tony Grimes threw a 28-yard halfback option pass to a diving Jamal Cook in the right corner of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

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