Monarch’s historic season suffers rough ending after lopsided loss in state semifinals
It took a couple of quarters, but it seemed Monarch’s football team finally had things rolling on offense.
Senior quarterback AJ Hairston lobbed a perfect pass over the middle to sophomore receiver Jabari Brady, who sped 60 yards to the end zone to give Monarch a 21-16 edge with 6:26 left in the third quarter.
Unfortunately for the Knights (11-3), that would be the last time they’d enjoy a lead in what was a historic season for their program.
The visiting Mustangs cranked up their own balanced offensive attack and rolled up 35 consecutive points to end the Knights’ season on Friday night with a 51-21 loss at Coconut Creek.
The lopsided defeat was a tough conclusion to Monarch’s first ever trip to the state semifinals. Instead of a Miami-Dade vs. Broward County final, Mandarin (11-3) will be the team to face Miami Columbus in the Class 4M final next Friday at 3 p.m.
“We had a great season and this doesn’t take that away from us,” Monarch coach Calvin Davis said. “Now we know what it feels like to get here so we just have to figure out how to take that next step.”
After Monarch jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Antonio Ward, Mandarin answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Florida State commit Tramell Jones to Ethan Sherman and later added a field goal to take a 9-7 lead. It was the first of five lead changes as the teams exchanged scores through the first six minutes of the third quarter.
But then the Mustangs countered with a punishing ground attack led by Tiant Wyche, who scored three touchdowns in the second half and finished with 143 yards on 15 carries. Deshard Wescott also had 70 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.
Trailing 44-21, things got worse when Hairston tossed a lateral pass to Brady that bounced off his hands and one-hopped into the hands of free safety Jake Stubbs, who returned the fumble 85 yards for a score. Stubbs also had two interceptions of Hairston that led to 10 points for Mandarin.
“We were right there, but it just didn’t happen,” Davis said. “I’m proud of the way the guys battled and fought through this season.”
Junior Samari Reed caught six passes for 117 yards and a touchdown while Brady had six catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. The duo are part of a core of returning players Davis hopes to build around to make another run at state next season.
Hairston, a UMass commit, cried in the arms of one of Monarch’s assistant coaches following the frustrating loss. Hairston completed 16 of 28 passes for 356 yards and a touchdown and was intercepted twice.
But the result didn’t tarnish what was a great high school career that helped put Monarch on the map as a contender.
“AJ changed our program for the better,” Davis said. “He’s our first Division-I quarterback in a lot of years and he put our program on the map. He’s a great kid and we’re happy for him.”
