Archbishop Carroll rides rushing, stingy defense to rout of previously unbeaten Ransom
To run a hard-nosed offense, you need a hard-nosed quarterback.
And Archbishop Carroll senior Ryan Castro fits that description perfectly.
Castro doesn’t get a chance to throw the ball much in the Bulldogs’ Wing-T offense.
But he runs as well as any of their backs. And he blocks about as well as any of their linemen, too.
“Ryan Castro is the best quarterback in Dade County,” Archbishop Carroll coach Jorge Zagales said. “Not only can he throw, he runs and he flattens guys on blocks. He has about as many pancakes as some of our linemen.”
On Friday night at Harris Field, Castro was once again at the heart of the Bulldogs’ latest win over a quality opponent.
He didn’t throw the ball once, but he ran for 143 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown to help Archbishop Carroll topple previously unbeaten Ransom Everglades 35-13 to improve to 8-1.
For the Bulldogs and their retro offensive look, which is barely implemented anymore in South Florida with most teams going to spread offenses, the formula continues to work.
Carroll last week locked up the District 8-1M championship and Friday’s victory earned them a spot in next week’s Florida Independent Football Conference championship game against Miami Palmer Trinity set to be played next Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Tropical Park. Palmer Trinity (6-2) handed Carroll its lone loss this season and eliminated it from the playoffs last season.
The Bulldogs, who had to revive their football program as a varsity team after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, have gone 23-5 over their past 28 games and made the playoffs in two consecutive seasons winning district titles each year.
It’s the school’s best stretch of success since advancing to the state semifinals in 2007 and the regional finals in 2008 during Zagales’ first stint as the Bulldogs’ coach.
“We have to thank God for everything he’s blessed us with,” Zagales said. “This senior group, as freshmen, we went through COVID three years ago and played a JV schedule and then as sophomores we played against varsity competition and after last year here we are again.
Castro wasn’t the only Carroll ball-carrier to have success against Ransom.
The Bulldogs ran the ball 40 times and amassed 342 yards.
Senior Alejandro Isaza ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries while Sylus Villanueva totaled 56 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts. Ryan Gonzalez also had 35 yards.
“We’ve put the work in and it shows on the scoreboard,” Castro said. “I love to hit and I love seeing my guys get their stats too. There’s nothing but love all around this team,” Castro said. “I love to run the ball, and spread the ball around so everybody gets their touches and everybody can score.”
But Carroll’s defense played a huge role in the victory, shutting down Ransom Everglades’ offense led by 6-2, 180-pound eighth-grader Neimann Lawrence, which entered the game averaging 40.4 points per game.
Lawrence’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Reid Rosenberg with 3:40 left in the first quarter gave the Raiders (8-1) a 7-6 lead. But that would be their only advantage in the game as Carroll responded with 22 unanswered points.
Lawrence completed 23 of 35 passes for 233 yards and also ran for a touchdown, but was sacked six times. Senior Ivan Quesada had two of those sacks and a tackle for loss while junior Anthony Pazmino also had two sacks and knocked down a pass. Jorge Sanchez-Morales and Kendrick Pembleton each had one sack.
“We needed to put pressure on those guys because of the quality of their offense and their quarterback and we did a great job of that,” Zagales said. “Big win for us. We kept their offense off the field and we always ask our guys to play physical and they did.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2023 at 9:05 AM.
