Columbus prevails over Homestead in battle of unbeaten teams, plus Friday’s scores
The Columbus Explorers took down the Homestead Broncos 21-6 in a battle of unbeaten teams at Harris Field Park Friday night.
It was a strong defensive showing from both teams, but Columbus’ ability to keep the Broncos from scoring in the second half proved the difference. Heading into Friday night, the Broncos had allowed just 34 points through six games. Columbus had averaged 37 points per game before facing Homestead.
So Columbus coach Dave Dunn said he anticipated a tough matchup.
“We knew points were gonna be a premium on both sides, so we just thought that we could do a good job of capitalizing in the red zone,” Dunn said after the game. “We did a just good enough job.”
The Explorers turned the ball over six times against Homestead, four of those coming in the first half from two fumbles and two unsuccessful fourth down conversions. Tough stands by Homestead’s defense kept the game from escalating too quickly.
The Broncos were only able to capitalize on one of Columbus’ six turnovers: The first one. A fumbled fair-catch punt by Columbus inside the 30 yielded Homestead a touchdown, its sole score of the night. Wide receiver Richard Dandridge caught the ball in the end zone on third and goal with just under 8 minutes to go in the first quarter.
“We haven’t really turned the ball over much this year, so it was kind of uncharacteristic of ourselves,” Dunn said. “And we said, ‘Hey, we could have been up 28-0, 21-0 at the half.’ We dug ourselves a hole. Now the good thing is we battled back and found a way to win it. That was definitely the most penalties and the most turnovers we’ve had all year, so a lot of things we can clean up. But, you know, every once in a while you’re gonna have to win a game like that, and we did. So I’m happy for our guys.”
Columbus’ defense caused three turnovers on downs in the second half, which also kept Homestead from making a comeback.
The Broncos played with multiple quarterbacks Friday night, with starter Joshua Townsend not seeing much action later in the game after coming out in the first quarter grabbing his knee. David Jester and Kymani Corbet saw time under center but were unable to lead a scoring drive.
Columbus’ scoring plays came off one of Homestead’s two first half turnovers, and two touchdown passes tossed by quarterback Alberto Mendoza.
A Townsend sack in the second quarter took his helmet off and caused a fumble, which Columbus recovered. A 30-plus-yard reception by AJ Arellano got Explorers inside the 10, and a short rush by Sedrick Irvin got them in the end zone with nine minutes and three seconds left in the first half.
The second touchdown came with 34 seconds left in the second quarter when Jose Leon caught a pass from Mendoza on third down to stretch Columbus’ lead to 14-6.
The last score of the night came in the third quarter after the Explorers were blessed with a short field, beginning the drive at their own 49. A 15-yard touchdown reception by Arellano put the game away.
The Explorers next travel to Doral Academy for a pivotal district showdown against the 5-2 Firebirds at 7 next Friday. Homestead also faces a key district matchup when it plays at Southridge next Friday at 7:30.
Monsignor Pace 30, Krop 0: Having lost three games in a row, something good was bound to happen for Monsignor Pace, and it did Friday night. Led by the return of starting quarterback Aidan Karsh, who was out the past four games due to injury, the Spartans (3-4) broke a three-game losing streak.
Karsh finished with close to 250 yards passing, and after four squandered trips to the red zone, led his offense down the field on a long drive to open the second half resulting in a Roger Adam 8-yard touchdown run for a 13-0 lead and then tossed a 12-yard strike to Za’ron Collins on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 20-0.
Led by defensive end Dimitry Nicolas (two sacks), the Spartans had Krop quarterback Jamaal Haggins running all game, sacking him eight times, and held the Lightning to less than 100 yards of total offense.
“It’s been a rough stretch for us these last few weeks so we definitely needed something good to happen to get this team headed back in the right direction,” Pace coach Anthony Walker Sr. said.
MORE SCORES
No. 1 Central 42, No. 8 Northwestern 7
No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas 24, No. 10 Dillard 6
No. 5 American Heritage 42, No. 12 Western 18
No. 14 Plantation 41, Nova 32
No. 17 Coconut Creek 42, Fort Lauderdale 7
Lake Mary 36, No. 18 North Miami Beach 16
St. Pete Lakewood 28, No. 20 Southridge 22
Archbishop Carroll 30, Somerset Charter Homestead 0
Boca Raton St. Andrews 62, North Broward Prep 35
Calvary Christian 47, Somerset Academy 21
Cooper City 15, Archbishop McCarthy 13
Coral Glades 27, Coral Springs 0
Coral Springs Charter 60, Northeast 27
Cypress Bay 47, Taravella 0
Deerfield Beach 35, Boyd Anderson 0
Goleman 42, Hialeah Gardens 7
Gulliver 41, Somerset Silver Palms 0
Hallandale 8, Hialeah 6
Hollywood Hills 7, Pompano Beach 0
Jacksonville Bolles 42, TRU Prep 12
La Salle 28, Somerset Canyons 18
Miami Country Day 14, West Palm Beach SLAM 8
Miami High 26, Coral Gables 22
Monarch 42, McArthur 13
Naples St. John Neumann 45, Somerset Key 0
NSU University School 52, BridgePrep 0
Palmer Trinity 40, Palm Glades Prep 12
Ransom Everglades 20, Mater Academy 17
St. Brendan 35, Dade Christian 0
South Broward 30, West Broward 26
South Dade 42, Southwest 0
South Miami 47, Miami Springs 6
Stuart Martin County 21, Stranahan 11
Stoneman Douglas 32, Jupiter 0
Tavernier Coral Shores 33, Marathon 6
Westminster Academy 35, Bishop Snyder 6
Westminster Christian 68, Florida Christian 0
This story was originally published October 8, 2022 at 12:26 AM.