Lardizabal and Mole combine for six TDs to lead Coral Reef to Independent schools title

After turning in a classic overtime duel during the regular season that came down to the last play, much the same was expected when Braddock and Coral Reef squared off on Friday night at Tropical Park.

Only the stakes were higher this time because this was the GMAC Independent schools championship game.

But Coral Reef, which dropped that overtime heartbreaker to Braddock 35-34 in late September, wasn’t interested in any close games this time around. The Barracudas dominated Braddock from the start, opening a 21-0 first quarter lead and never looking back on their way to a 42-20 victory to finish the season 9-2 and win the Independent title.

With that, Coral Reef head coach Tim Wood saw his three-season plan come to a perfect conclusion.

“When I came in here a couple of years ago, all of these kids were sophomores and I knew I had some special guys at the time and that it was just a matter of trying to keep them together,” said Wood, who has 28 years of experience coaching in Miami-Dade County, including stints at Coral Park and Southridge. “Sure enough, enough of them did stay together and they produced just an unbelievable season. Tonight we came out and really jumped all over them early and were able to control the game from there. Now we’re champions and this can never be taken away from any of them.”

What delighted Wood the most was watching his two running backs, Nick Lardizabal and Abraham Mole dominate all night long as they combined to score all six Coral Reef touchdowns.

Lardizabal scored his three TDs rushing while Mole had one rushing score and two touchdown receptions.

Sadly, Lardizabal did not get to enjoy the post-game championship celebration with his team. He suffered a broken leg with 10:31 left in the game that required Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to be called and him being taken off in a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital.

“Nick’s a great player and that was tough seeing him go down,” Mole said. “It doesn’t seem fair that he can’t share in this moment with us because he was a big part of our success not only tonight but all season long. I pray for him that he’ll be okay.”

Lardizabal scored the first two Reef touchdowns before Mole, after Braddock fumbled on the first play after the second touchdown, scored his first. Just like that, the Bulldogs (8-3) were in a 21-0 hole with 2:05 left in the first quarter and they never could recover. Lardizibal then broke loose for a 60-yard score to make it 28-0 midway through the second quarter and Braddock was done. Quarterback David Garcia threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for the other but the Bulldogs never got any closer than 21.

This marked Coral Reef’s third year of playing independent after dropping out of FHSAA district play.

“I knew the independent move was the right thing,” Wood said. “Just the type of kids we have overall, most of them don’t grow up playing football so when you go up against certain teams in the FHSAA based on their location in our district, that’s just not who we are. I knew this was the right move and knew this group was special.”

Asked if he might consider trying to push to get the Barracudas back into a district, Wood answered the question before it was even finished being asked.

“Next year? Forget it,” Wood said. “Almost this entire roster is filled with seniors so it’ll be back to the drawing board for us. “But that’s okay, we built it once so we can build it again.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 8:18 AM.