Archbishop Carroll powers past Ransom to win conference title, braces for playoff run
It’s been a while since hoisting trophies was a regular occurrence for the Archbishop Carroll football team.
Two weeks after winning the school’s first district championship since 2008, the Bulldogs were in the midst of another frantic celebration that ended with more hardware.
Behind its “old-school” single-wing offense, which racked up 291 rushing yards on 33 rushes, Carroll rallied in the second half on Friday afternoon to beat Ransom Everglades 20-14 and secure the Florida Independent Football Conference championship at Tropical Park.
The Bulldogs (9-1) finished the regular season with their best record in school history and now turn their attention to what will be their first playoff appearance in 14 years.
“What these kids do on the field only happens because of who they are and how they conduct themselves,” said Carroll coach Jorge Zagales, who returned to the program this season and led the Bulldogs to the state semifinals in 2007. “The long hours in the weight room and in the classroom, it’s a byproduct of what they do.”
Zagales found himself surrounded by his players jumping up and down in celebration after a game in which they were pushed to the brink by the Raiders, who are independent and finished the season with a 6-3 record.
Trailing 14-7 heading into the fourth quarter, Carroll’s ground attack put together two long drives the first of which ended with a Sylus Villanueva fullback dive for a touchdown from one yard out to tie the game.
The Bulldogs drove 80 yards on their ensuing possession, capping that series with a 3-yard touchdown run by Alejandro Isaza, who led all rushers with 107 yards on 14 carries.
Ransom was led by quarterback Jackson Pegg, who completed 16 of 29 passes for 282 yards and two interceptions, but ran for two touchdowns.
Pegg nearly drove Ransom to a dramatic comeback win after the Raiders reached the Carroll 13-yard line when Gabe Menendez de Alencar brought down a 35-yard pass in double coverage. Ransom called a timeout with one second left. But Pegg’s next pass was tipped near the line of scrimmage and fell harmlessly incomplete to end the game.
Carroll defensive back Kenneth Pembleton picked off Pegg twice and took home Defensive MVP honors for the game.
Manny Bynum ran for 90 yards and caught the lone pass of the game - a 22-yard touchdown from Jorge Sanchez-Morales just before halftime on a ball that was tipped by a defender right in front of him. He was named Offensive MVP. Villanueva finished with 89 yards on 13 carries.
Zagales said Carroll needed to modify its offense to run the ball even more earlier this year following a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Ryan Castro.
“It’s what we do and who we are and we embrace it and we love it,” Zagales said of the team’s offense. “The execution of it is a credit to them. We lost our quarterback, Ryan Castro, and he could have been the MVP of this district. He got his surgery done and ever since he’s on the sideline helping us call plays. Sanchez stepped in and has played quarterback and middle linebacker for us and we haven’t lost a game with him back there since.”
Carroll is the top seed in Region 4-1M and will begin the postseason in two weeks hosting the No. 4 seed, which at the moment would be Miami Palmer Trinity.
“We talked to the kids about playing in December,” Zagales said. “The only way we could do that was to work hard in January and beyond and now this is the opportunity that came from that.”
