Belen Jesuit goes ‘old school’ in playoff upset victory over South Broward
For years, it was the great equalizer for Belen Jesuit’s football team.
Even if the Wolverines appeared to be a bit outclassed in terms of depth or talent, the effective implementation of the Wing-T offense, with all its ball control rushing and misdirection, often kept defenses off balance and leveled the playing field.
More importantly, it resulted in many clutch victories for past Belen teams.
The Wolverines had gone to more conventional offenses in recent years.
But on Thursday night against South Broward, Belen Jesuit decided to go old school…and it worked.
The Wolverines turned back the clock and, led by senior Khamani Alexander, pulled the first upset of this year’s playoffs with a 20-13 victory over the host Bulldogs in a Region 4-3M quarterfinal in Hollywood.
After ousting the No. 2 seed South Broward (8-3) to pick up its first playoff victory since 2014, Belen (5-6), the No. 7 seed in the region, will travel to face No. 3 seed Miramar next Friday in the regional semifinals.
“We fought and we overcame and I knew that going through a top 5 schedule in the state of Florida, I knew if we got in the playoffs we could put our best foot forward,” Belen coach Don Chaney said. “Hopefully, we can keep this going and keep grinding.”
After incorporating elements of the Wing-T scheme into its offense in small amounts in recent weeks, the Wolverines unleashed much more of it on the Bulldogs.
Alexander ran for over 200 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wolverines, who thrived using the offense it ran for so many years under former longtime coach Rich Stuart, who is now an associate athletic director at Belen.
Stuart watched from the sideline Thursday as the Wolverines controlled the clock and let its defense hold one of the more potent offenses in South Florida and Broward County’s leading rusher Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, a University of Miami commit, largely in check.
Defensive end Gavench Marcelin, an FAU commit, had multiple tackles and quarterback hurries and a couple of sacks.
“We just wanted to get the ball in Khamani’s hands,” Chaney said. “There’s no back in the county better than him this year.”
While Belen Jesuit’s 4-6 regular season record wasn’t pretty, Chaney said it toughened his team while navigating through the tough schedule that included games against Cardinal Gibbons, Homestead, West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman and Gonzaga Prep (D.C.).
The obstacles were made tougher after two of the Wolverines’ top players - wide receiver Bryce Fitzgerald and defensive end Davion Dixon transferred just before the season.
But through it all, Belen persevered and may have found a formula which could make it a sleeper in Region 4-3M. Chaney credited quarterback Andres Miyares for directing the offense on Thursday. Sophomore linebacker Ethan Barosela and junior linebacker Kam Walters also had solid games on defense.
“We grew up a lot tonight and we had a lot of adversity and tonight, they stood in the midst of the storm and weathered the storm,” Chaney said.
