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DILLARD 45, SOUTH BROWARD 12

Dillard cruises past South Broward

bemanuel@MiamiHerald.com

A week after Dillard's fourth-quarter mistakes contributed to a 15-point loss at Cypress Bay, the Panthers came out determined to make a statement Thursday night.

Dillard scored 23 first-quarter points and rolled to a 45-12 victory over visiting South Broward. The win coincided with a nearly 40-minute halftime ceremony to dedicate Dillard's home field to former coach Otis Gray, who passed away last fall.

''We were a little sluggish,'' Panthers coach Keith Franklin said. ``We didn't practice two days. We didn't practice Monday and Tuesday because we had [a hurricane] alert from the county. We watched a lot of film. We made a couple of mistakes at the end of the Cypress Bay game. The guys wanted to come out and do a little something. We had a pretty good first quarter.''

Talmadge McCloud scored on a 3-yard run to open the scoring just 1:05 into the game. Otis Wright scored on a 20-yard run less than two minutes later, and Joshua Shannon scored on a 17-yard pass from Craig Weaver with 5:07 to play in the quarter.

The Panthers (1-1) increased their lead to 21-0 on a 10-yard run by Trabis Ward to open the second quarter. Ward led all players with 133 yards on 13 carries.

''Trabis is Trabis,'' Franklin said. ``He still has to get his legs ready. The line did a great job for him.''

Jamar Brown scored two touchdowns for South Broward (0-2) in the second quarter.

But Dillard scored twice in the second half -- a 16-yard pass from Weaver to James Pinkney and an 11-yard run by reserve quarterback Akeem Parks.

Even with the victory, the night still belonged to Otis Gray. The school renamed the stadium Otis Gray Jr. Memorial Stadium. Gray won state titles in 1986 and 1989 during his 13 seasons at the school.

''It's really an honor and a pleasure to be able to come back for such an occasion,'' Gray's son Quinn, who was a backup quarterback with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. ``I would have loved for him to be here to be able to accept it himself.

''Under the circumstances, it's just great to be able to come back home,'' said Gray, who played college ball at FAMU. ``They showed the respect to my dad for the respect the school and the love he had for the school.

``It's a great honor.''

• Coral Springs 29, Monarch 0: The Colts rebounded from an awful season opener as they moved the ball with ease against Monarch at Lockhart Stadium.

The Colts (1-1) took advantage of a short field early after forcing a fumble at the Monarch 31-yard line, which led to an eight-play, 31-yard drive capped by a John Harris 5-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead.

The Knights (0-2) didn't pose much of a threat throughout, crossing the 50-yard line only once in the fourth quarter. But a lateral pass was scooped up by Harris who returned it 45 yards for a touchdown, giving Coral Springs a 20-0 lead with 8:50 to play.

The other scoring on the night belonged to kicker Carlos Romero, who drilled a 28-yard field goal in the second giving Coral Springs a 10-0 lead. He also hit a 51-yard field goal right before the half ended.

Romero also nailed a 35-yard field goal attempt in the fourth with just over six minutes to play.

Harris led Coral Springs with 18 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns along with the fumble return for touchdown, while Steven Garity was 7 for 12 for 116 yards.

The Colts defense was strong throughout, limiting Monarch to 79 yards of total offense while recovering five fumbles, two of which came on kickoffs that were poorly fielded by Monarch.

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