Western offense finally explodes in rout of Plantation — just in time for the playoffs
For the last time in the regular season, Adam Ratkevich gathered his players in one end zone of the field at Western High School, said a few words and got a response back in unison.
“Winning,” they said, “feels better than losing.”
It was never more true for Western than Friday. After a frustrating few months, the Wildcats — who began the year with state-championship aspirations, only to find their once-prolific offense suddenly missing — finally broke out to rout Plantation, 49-22, in Davie.
Next up are the Region 4-Class 4M playoffs and Western (6-3) has hit its stride at just the right time.
“Tonight,” star quarterback Collin Hurst said, “was a great night to pop off.”
Last year, the Wildcats averaged 35.3 points per game. The year before, they averaged 36.8 and they averaged a whopping 41.4 points per game the year before that.
Hurst, a senior, was at the helm for all three seasons — he was the Miami Herald’s Class 8A-6A Offensive Player of the Year for Broward County last year — and so Western naturally expected this one would be similar.
Instead, the Wildcats finished the regular season averaging just 28.9 points per game and they were stuck down at 21.1 before exploding for 112 points in the last two weeks.
“It’s been a frustrating year,” Ratkevich said. “This is, to be honest with you, more of what we expected.”
Until this week, it never materialized. Western only topped 33 points three times in the entire regular season, and the previous two instances came against Taravella and Coral Glades, who finished their seasons with just four combined wins. The Colonels (7-3) are miles and miles better — they’re headed to the postseason after winning District 12-Class 3M — and the Wildcats triggered a running clock in the third quarter by building a 49-14 lead.
Western struck quickly and struck often. The Wildcats scored their first touchdown in the first minute and went up 14-0 in the first six.
In the first half, Western scored on 4 of 5 drives — it also got a defensive touchdown on a scoop and score by Wildcats linebacker Thomas Gorecki — and went into halftime with a 35-14 lead, then pushed their lead to 42-14 on their second offensive play of the third quarter.
The Wildcats never punted and the only Hurst-led drive not to end in a touchdown came when he lost a fumble on a sack.
Otherwise, the senior was virtually flawless. Hurst went 15 of 16 for 231 yards, and two touchdowns to Western wide receiver British Mitchell Jr. and Wildcats running back Nelson Walker.
Mitchell caught two passes for 41 yards and Walker had two catches for 44.
In some ways, growing pains were expected. All five of Western’s starting skill players are newcomers and the Wildcats felt the loss of Juju Lewis, who’s now a wide receiver for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. In the last few weeks, Hurst has finally felt comfortable with the timing and chemistry necessary in Western’s spread offense.
“Every year in high school is a little different. It’s not like the NFL, where we’re drafting guys, or even in college, where you’re recruiting the exact guys you want,” Ratkevich said. “When guys leave, sometimes you’ve got to put the pieces together a little bit different.”
Part of the change meant leaning more heavily on the rushing attack, and the Wildcats’ running backs delivered there, too. Senior Matthew Wilson ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries — he ripped off a 51-yard touchdown run in the first quarter — and sophomore Chance Washington added six carries for 21 yards and two more touchdowns as a short-yardage back.
By the end of the game, even Western’s defense was shutting down a prolific Plantation offense. Wildcats outside linebacker Julian Mendez sacked Amer Ellis three times and Western cornerback Nathan Jean picked off the Colonels’ quarterback in the second half.
Ellis still finished 17 of 22 for 183 yards and a touchdown, plus ran for 28 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while Plantation wide receiver Jamari Haynes caught eight passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.
“We talked about how important this was to build on going into the state playoffs against a quality opponent,” Ratkevich said. “We’re peaking at the right time.”
MORE SCORES
No. 11 Miramar 55, South Broward 7; Miami Edison 35, No. 16 Doral Academy 14; No. 19 Miami Southridge 49, Homestead South Dade 21; Boca Raton St. Andrew’s 39, Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest 28; Coconut Creek Monarch 18, Deerfield Beach 7; Coral Springs 21, Coconut Creek Taravella 8; Fort Lauderdale 22, Fort Lauderdale Stranahan 15 (OT); Hialeah Goleman 51, Hialeah-Miami Lakes 0; Hollywood McArthur 40, Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson 14; Lakeland Lake Gibson 55, Miami Beach 0; Miami Archbishop Carroll 20, Miami Ransom Everglades 14; Miami Belen 16, Miami La Salle 0; Miami Coral Reef 48, Hialeah Gardens 0; Miami Jackson 46, Miami High 0; Miami Monsignor Pace 34, Hollywood Avant Garde Academy 28; North Miami Beach 48, Hialeah American 6; Parkland Stoneman Douglas 42, Coral Glades 7; Pembroke Pines Charter 33, Pompano Beach 0; Pembroke Pines Flanagan 8, Hallandale 0; Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy 19, Somerset Prep 14; West Broward 36, Miramar Everglades 0; Weston Cypress Bay 48, South Plantation 0.
This story was originally published November 4, 2022 at 11:34 PM.