BOYD ANDERSON 13, ELY 0
Ely can't solve Boyd Anderson defense
BY RUDY RODRIGUEZ-CHOMAT
Miami Herald Writer
It was a battle of old friends as Boyd Anderson coach Mark James and Ely coach Lawal McCray led their respective squads in the season opener.
But it was James' squad that came away with the ugly 13-0 win in front of about 2,500 fans at Ely on Friday night.
However, it was McCray who came away proud of the way his young defense played, because the scoreboard didn't indicate the tempo and flow of the game. The Cobras controlled the game from start to finish, but McCray's defense was able to keep Boyd Anderson out of the end zone with the exception of the Cobras' opening possession.
''Honestly, the way we played offensively was horrendous,'' McCray said. ``I am so proud of the defense. To lose like we did, it could have been a blowout. The defense did a good job of holding them. We had missed opportunities, but we didn't deserve to win this game the way we played.''
Boyd Anderson didn't look much better converting its many opportunities following a 34-yard touchdown pass from Jackie Wilson to a wide-open Linworth Lennon in the end zone, which gave the Cobras a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
The touchdown was set up by a fake punt on fourth and five one play earlier when Wilson, lined up as the up back in the punt formation, took the snap and found Seymour Dikembe for a 9-yard gain and a first down at the Ely 34-yard line.
The rest of the half belonged to Boyd Anderson wide receiver Travis Reynolds, who finished with seven catches for 82 yards, all in the first half, as he found creases throughout the Ely defense.
''Coach just told us to run off the ball and they'd back up, so I just sat down and made a couple plays. There were a couple of plays I missed, but I'll come back and make those,'' Reynolds said.
But Reynolds wishes he had one back when he was wide open on a fly pattern in the second quarter, but was just overthrown by Wilson.
''There was no safety, so I thought Jackie Wilson was going to hit me right there, but he ended up floating it and I took off too late, so I missed the play,'' Reynolds said.
The rest of the scoring was done by kicker Presley Wright, who made two of his five field-goal attempts. After hooking a 32-yarder and a 27-yarder left in the first half, Wright drilled a 40-yarder and a 43-yarder for the final margin. He left a 47-yard attempt short late in the game.
ELSEWHERE
Douglas 29, Coral Glades 8: After a sluggish first half, the Eagles scored 22 points in the second half, and the defense did not give up a point, giving new coach Al Lang a happy birthday.
''The first half was our kickoff classic,'' said Lang, before his players celebrated by singing the birthday song. ``We graduated 11 guys on defense, but I expected our defense to play well because of the way they've been practicing.''
The defense -- anchored by Bryan Horsford, Garth Jobb, Thomas Thorogood and Jake Zalka -- gave up 51 yards rushing and 40 yards passing. Coral Glades scored on an 80-yard kickoff return by Tim Donald midway through the fourth quarter.
Following a partially blocked punt in the second quarter, Douglas moved 40 yards on four plays. Alex Crew gained 34 of his 86 yards on the series, including a 20-yard burst through the middle off a key block by Bryan Paull to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead.
The Jaguars defense gave up 59 yards rushing and zero yards passing in the first half. Joe Mendez of Coral Glades recovered two fumbles in the first quarter. On the first four possessions, the teams combined for three fumbles. Each team missed a field goal.
Douglas regrouped, driving 71 yards on 14 plays to open the second half. Dalton Baker had a key block on a big screen play, and Dwayne Wilson scored the first of his two touchdowns to cap the long drive.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles' Kenneth Terry took a short pass from Brandon Corona and scored, covering 55 yards. The Douglas defense also recorded a safety in the third quarter off a mishandled punt attempt from the end zone.
-- JIM VARSALLONE
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