Archbishop McCarthy football edges Fort Lauderdale to earn best start since 2017
Archbishop McCarthy is no stranger to winning on the baseball diamond with seven state championship trophies in its collection.
But it’s been a while since the Mavericks’ football team has experienced sustained success.
McCarthy appears to be making strides toward changing that trend.
On Thursday night, the Mavericks rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Fort Lauderdale High 21-20 and secure the school’s first 3-0 start since 2017.
“We still have a very young team with a lot of freshmen and sophomores, but we have a lot of great kids that want to work hard and do well academically and they’re doing a great job,” second-year McCarthy coach Dino Mangiero said.
One of those freshmen is running back Damian Grant whose 15-yard touchdown run early in the fourth provided the decisive points in the victory.
After that, the Mavericks’ defense - led by junior linebacker Joel Lugo and freshman defensive end Ji’Koi Highsmith - held the Flying L’s to seal the win. Lugo totaled three tackles and a sack on Thursday while sophomore linebacker Cole Ivey had a team-high 10.5 tackles. Sophomore Joseph Shapiro had an interception.
Sophomore quarterback Robert Kerns is the backbone of the offense along with a three-player rotation of running backs consisting of Grant, sophomore Mahki Vance and sophomore JJ Alexandre.
Grant ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries on Thursday. Kerns ran for 54 yards and passed for 51 yards on 6 of 16 attempts. Vance ran for 34 yards on 10 carries.
McCarthy (3-0), which is playing as an independent, had not even won three games in a season since 2017 and had gone 8-37 over the past six seasons.
McCarthy last won a postseason championship playing as an independent in the Gold Coast Conference and even put together an unbeaten season in 2015.
The last time the Mavericks even made the FHSAA playoffs was in 2012. McCarthy put together back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2009 and in 2010 when it won its only two playoff games in school history.
McCarthy has remained playing as an independent in recent years.
Should it sustain success, it could perhaps mirror other programs like Miami Dr. Krop and Hialeah Goleman, which have had success playing outside a district for a few years before returning to district play.
But for now, Mangiero is keeping the focus on the present and continuing to build up the program game by game.
The Mavericks have already defeated Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest and Coconut Creek North Broward Prep by a combined score of 89-21 before beating Fort Lauderdale, which plays in District 11-3M. McCarthy will head to Palm Beach next Friday to take on Oxbridge Academy.
“The kids played hard and we took advantage of some mistakes,” said Mangiero, who became coach last season after a stint coaching Mater Dei Prep in New Jersey. “We still have a long road ahead of us, but I’m very lucky to have such a good group.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2023 at 1:54 PM.
