Cardinal Gibbons remains unbeaten following familiar result against Gulliver Prep
The regular season rematch of the last two Region 4-4A championship games yielded familiar results: Cardinal Gibbons win, Gulliver Prep loss.
The Chiefs defeated the Raiders 31-14 on Friday night at Dr. Bud Tight Field on Cardinal Gibbons’ campus and moving its record to 3-0.
“We’ve had such good games with them the last two years in Miami both times,” Chiefs coach Matt DuBuc said. “We didn’t expect it to be really any different tonight.”
Cardinal Gibbons defeated Gulliver 29-7 in the regional championship in 2020 and 36-33 in 2021, the latter featuring a 19-point comeback by the Chiefs. Each year Cardinal Gibbons went on to win the state title as part of its quest to three championships in four years (2018, 2020 and 2021). And each year Gulliver, ranked in the top 100 by MaxPreps, went home.
Friday’s game provided the only opportunity for the Raiders to get revenge until at least the state semifinals after both schools were reclassified into different regions of Florida’s Class 2M bracket. Instead Gulliver walked away with an 0-2 record.
Heading into Friday night, Cardinal Gibbons outscored its two previous opponents 44-6, so the Raiders did seem to offer the Chiefs their greatest challenge to date. After a quiet first quarter that only saw Cardinal Gibbons score seven points, the Chiefs jumped out to a 21-0 lead, with defensive back Tre’Mone Drisdom scoring their third touchdown after recovering a blocked field goal attempt by Gulliver.
But just a few minutes later, the Cardinal Gibbons’ defense would gift the Raiders their first points of the night. Lined up for another Gulliver field goal attempt, the Chiefs committed a false start, which the Raiders turned into a touchdown. Quarterback Davi Belfort ran into the end zone to trim the Chiefs’ lead to 21-7.
“We kept them in the game when it could have been out of hand,” DuBuc said. “So it’s unfortunate, but it’s part of the deal.”
Gulliver’s other touchdown came from a long reception by Jalen Brown with 10:52 left in the third quarter. One of Cardinal Gibbons’ main goals Friday night was to shut down Brown, the top ranked Class of 2023 player in Miami-Dade County, according to 247Sports, DuBuc said.
The remainder of the third quarter, and much of the fourth, saw the Chiefs and Raiders caught in a stalemate. Gulliver would pin Cardinal Gibbons deep in its own territory, keeping the reigning state champs from extending their lead to an insurmountable number. And the Raiders would manage a short field thanks to short punts and key plays by the likes of Brown, who brought Gulliver to its own 45-yard line to begin a drive early in the fourth quarter down one score.
Despite Brown’s and Belfort’s rushing heroics, the Raiders were never able to put together another scoring drive. With 2:54 remaining in the game, Gulliver opted to go for it on 4th and 11 on their own 19. Likely its last chance at tying the game, Belfort threw a pass intended for Brown, which didn’t get to him. The junior quarterback threw his helmet to the ground in frustration.
With 56.7 seconds left, the Chiefs kicked a field goal to go up 24-14. Then a pick 6 by Guy Edmond Jr. added insult to injury (or “icing on the cake,” as articulated over the PA system), putting the Chiefs up 31-14 after the successful PAT.
“We need to play better on offense,” DuBuc said, reflecting on the win. “Defense, played great, made plays all night long. Kicking game was eh, but we had a nice field goal to end the night, so that kind of iced the game.”
Cardinal Gibbons hosts St. Petersburg Northeast (2-1) next Friday while Gulliver hosts Palm Beach Benjamin on Thursday afternoon.
This story was originally published September 10, 2022 at 12:28 AM.