Miami Central rebounds from tough loss with blowout win over Southridge in GMAC series
Anjuan Coleman is listed as a wide receiver on Miami Central’s roster, but he considers himself an “athlete.”
“[I] do everything. Quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback — whatever they want me at,” Coleman said.
On Thursday night, in place of the injured JC Evans, Coleman was wanted at quarterback — and he delivered, throwing for two touchdowns in a 41-0 bounce-back victory over Southridge at Traz Powell Stadium. The win came one week after the Rockets (4-3) lost an overtime nailbiter to Miami Norland.
And that’s not all, Coleman even helped with kicking duties against the Spartans (6-3), primarily on kickoffs.
“One thing about [Coleman] is he’s a real selfless kid,” Miami Central coach Jube Joseph said. “We needed him to come in and make some plays for us at the quarterback position, at the kicking position. Anything we ask him to do, he does it.”
Coleman began the game with an 85-yard touchdown drive to put the Rockets up 7-0. He used his legs for an 18-yard rush on the possession and found wide receiver Kimothy Massie for the 35-yard score with 5:45 in the first quarter.
After two red zone field goals, Coleman threw a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Lawayne McCoy for his second touchdown of the night. That put Central up 20-0 at halftime.
The Rockets recovered an onside kick to start the third quarter, and running back King Davis found the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown moments later. Fellow running back Kaj Baker had another four-yard rushing touchdown for Central late in the third, and after a successful two-point conversion put the Rockets up 35-0, the clock started to run.
Coleman’s success at quarterback was complemented by a stingy Central defense, which did not let Southridge find the red zone all game.
The Rockets picked off Southridge quarterbacks Taylor Trauth and Malik Penson three times, along with a fumble recovery, and defensive back Javari Flowers’ interception return in the fourth quarter brought Central to the red zone once again. The Rockets scored as time expired for a 41-0 victory.
“I think that we’re starting to peak at the right time, starting to gel at the right time as a defense,” Joseph said. “We played some great competition at the beginning of the season and that prepared us for the latter end of the season and now we’re starting to show what we really can do as a defensive unit.”
The Spartans didn’t help themselves on offense, however, with a number of special teams miscues that led to short fields for Central. Southridge’s first drive ended in a turnover on downs at its own 2 after a punting mishap. Later in the second quarter, a high snap flew over the punter’s head and resulted in another turnover on downs.
That helped Central secure a much-needed victory after blowing a 20-0 lead to Norland the previous week. Now, the Rockets face Monsignor Pace on Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in their last regular season game of the year.
“I think this win was good just as far as getting some wind beneath our wings,” Joseph said. “Honestly, the kids want to take on this kill or be killed mentality moving forward within their schedule, taking every game as if it’s a playoff game. We want to go 1-0 every game, and that’s the goal.”
Hialeah American 34, Miami Springs 12: Thanks to three first half touchdown passes from quarterback Santiago Villaman, American jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead and cruised to the easy win at Milander Stadium in a GMAC series contest.
Villman found Shamar Fowles for a pair of those touchdowns on 23 and 44-yard strikes and Jaylan Nelson on a 24 yard score just before halftime.
Trailing 34-0, Springs rallied in the fourth on a Fabian Rodriguez 5-yard touchdown run and a 100-yard interception return by Louisdens Paul but it was way too little and way too late for the Hawks.
The game was important for both teams as American, which improved to 5-3, entered the week seeded No. 7 in Region 4-3M and now has two games left against Pembroke Pines Charter and North Miami Beach.
Springs entered just barely on the outside looking in at No. 9 in Region 4-2M and fell to 6-3 with the loss. But the Hawks, who already had a built-in bye week on the final weekend, could not play Archbishop McCarthy, after they rescheduled another game. As such, Springs’ regular season is over making it difficult for it to improve its power ranking and potentially earn a playoff spot.
BILL DALEY
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