Wilder eclipses 2,000-yard mark as Doral upends Western to reach first regional final

Western entered Friday’s Region 4-4M semifinal against Doral Academy with its star quarterback Collin Hurst on crutches and out for the remainder of the season after suffering a severe left knee injury last week.

Now it was up to Monroe Ingraham to pick up the pieces if the Wildcats expected to advance.

But Doral Academy had other ideas thanks to a big-time rushing attack led by senior running back Mark Wilder, who already had over 1,900 yards and 22 touchdowns entering the game.

Western didn’t have an answer in stopping Wilder or the entire Firebirds’ Wing-T rushing attack. He rushed for 206 yards on 36 carries and pair of touchdowns for a 32-21 victory. Doral produced 372 rushing yards overall, marking the ninth time they have exceeded the 300-yard plateau this season.

“The running back did a great job along with our line,” Doral coach Eddie Delgado said. “They had a great game and honestly, they’ve been do that all year. Wilder has been our rock, and this was the first time we’ve had everyone back since the preseason game. Wilder has been the guy that has carried us and he’s been there every game.”

The Firebirds (8-4) advanced to their first-ever regional final and will face Miami Columbus next Friday at Tropical Park at 7:30 p.m.

Wilder brought his season total to 2,137 yards and 24 touchdowns. But it was a Firebirds trick play on a double pass that created some separation against Western.

After taking backwards pass from quarterback Jorge Rodriguez, wide receiver Marcus Antelo threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Jason Demetrius for a 26-14 lead with 2:22 left in the third quarter.

Demetrius also ran for 103 yards 15 carries. The Wildcats (8-4) answered with a Santana Fleming 29-yard touchdown run cutting the deficit to five points.

Doral erased the score when Rodriguez scored on a 1-yard sneak with 5:08 to play to secure the win.

Down 20-7 with 1:59 left to play in the opening half, the Wildcats were in a must score position knowing they would get the ball again to open the second half.

With just one time-out remaining, they drove 80 yards with Ingraham throwing his first career high school touchdown pass to Nelson Walker in the back left corner of the endzone with 18 second left.

The PAT was good as Western closed the deficit to 20-14 at the break.

“Hats off to Doral and they did a great job tonight,” Western coach Adam Ratkevich said. “We made way too many mistakes against a good football team.”

Doral opened the game in style when Demetrius returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a 6-0 lead following a missed point after.

Western answered accordingly with a seven-play drive for 66 yards that concluded with a 14-yard run by Fleming.

The Firebirds and their vaunted running game regained the lead with a 77-yard drive capped when Wilder scored from six yards out.

Matt Wilson led Western’s run game with 148 yards on 16 carries.