Norland QB Yapoor throws 5 TDs in rout of Pace, setting up regional final showdown

Perhaps it was hard not to look ahead to a possible monster showdown next week.

But in the end, thanks to a big night from their quarterback, the Miami Norland Vikings had more than enough firepower to easily dispatch an upset-minded Monsignor Pace squad 52-27 in a Region 4-2M semifinal Thursday night at Traz Powell Stadium.

Having its best season since winning a second state title in 2011, the win kept Norland, the Miami Herald’s No. 2 team in South Florida and No. 1 team in Class 2M, perfect at 12-0 and now sets up that big showdown next Friday night, Nov. 24 against Miami Central at Traz Powell Stadium.

“I’ll be honest, it was hard keeping them from not looking ahead to next week,” Norland coach Daryle Heidelburg admitted after the game. “We definitely were not at our sharpest tonight but it was a delicate balance as well because we had a few starters banged up and we were trying to either hold them out and limit their playing time. In the end, we did what we had to do to get to the next round. Now we can concentrate on next week.”

One player Heidelburg didn’t have to worry about was Enio Yapoor Jr. The Norland quarterback enjoyed a huge night as he tossed five touchdown passes, ran for another and passed for nearly 300 yards.

After scoring on a short run to give his team an early 7-0 lead, he tossed touchdown passes of 33 and 24 yards to Amari Lee and Ivory Aikens (and had a third one called back on a penalty) as the Vikings took a 21-7 lead at the break.

Yapoor tossed his third touchdown, a 33-yarder to Larry Tarver to open the second half before a 30-yard Noah Sidan field goal put Norland up 31-7 with 4:31 left in the third and the Vikings had everything under control.

It was at this point that the Norland defense, after forcing the Pace offense into six consecutive three-and-outs over the course of the last half of the first quarter to late in the third, may have let down as Spartans quarterback Aidan Karsh started to find success in the air.

He wound up throwing a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another over the final 16 minutes but it mattered little to the Vikings as Yapoor continued to fire away as well and the lead never shrank to less than 17 points.

He connected with Terrence Honeywood for a 23-yard score and Tarver again from 10 yards out before giving way to backup quarterback Kai Moore who tossed a 25-yard score to Jamari Smith with 3:26 left to wrap up a high scoring game by both sides.

This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 7:24 AM.