Booker T. routs Gibbons to make first region final since 2019, as Hanks ties INT record
Booker T. Washington does not want to be a team with a single identity.
The Tornadoes are the No. 1 seed in Region 4-2A and one of the favorites to win a state championship because, they think, they don’t have to win just one way. Their defense is great, their coach is one of the best in the country and their offense has enough weapons to win a shootout, too.
In the region semifinals, Booker T. Washington’s identity was simplicity and it has the Tornadoes heading to the Region 4-2A championship after pummeling Cardinal Gibbons, 47-0, on Thursday in Miami with a pair of 100-yard rushers and their first shutout of the season.
“Every play, getting yards. That’s all we look for,” Booker T. Washington quarterback Nylan Maine said. “We don’t have to go big shot for big shot, just pick up yards at a time, kill the time and win the football game.”
Maine only had to throw seven passes and still the Tornadoes (9-2) piled up nearly 50 points at Traz Powell Stadium, despite triggering a running clock with about seven minutes left in the third quarter and then pulling their starters soon after. Booker T. Washington did not have a single negative play, threw just one incomplete pass, and only had five plays go for 1 or zero yards and only two others go for fewer than 3.
Maine went 6 of 7 for 75 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, and Tornadoes running back Irwin James ran for 121 yards on 18 carries. Booker T. Washington scored on all six drives and added a defensive touchdown from Florida commit Ben Hanks Jr., who nabbed two more interceptions to tie the Miami-Dade County single-season record with 12.
The Tornadoes will now face La Salle next week in the region final.
“This is the momentum,” Booker T. Washington coach Ice Harris said. “We’re just trying to make sure we keep this momentum taking us to the next point.”
This first possession set the tone for the Tornadoes. Booker T. Washington started with four straight hand-offs to James, going for 6, 4, 4 and 4 yards. Maine scrambled for 8 yards on the next play, then threw an 11-yard screen pass to Dannell Wesby on the next one before two more runs by James—one for 22 yards and one for 9—put the Tornadoes on the edge of the red zone. In scoring position for the first time, Booker T. Washington took its only down-field shot of the game and Maine connected with Wesby for a 21-yard touchdown to give the Tornadoes a quick 7-0 lead.
Booker T. Washington went 80 yards on nine plays, killing nearly five minutes, and never had never had much more trouble. The Tornadoes went 80 yards on nine plays for a touchdown again on their next drive, then 79 on 11 plays on their third to go up 20-0 with 1:50 left in the first half.
“We’re a whole-rounded offense, so today the bread and butter was the run game,” Maine said. “Teams are going to have to stack the box more and then that’ll open up the passing game for us. That’s what we’re going to look for.”
For the final two minutes of the second quarter, Hanks took over.
On the first play of the Chiefs’ next drive, Hanks grabbed his first interception and nearly ran it back for the touchdown, ultimately getting stopped inside the 10-yard line only because he ran into a teammate. Booker T. Washington scored two plays later on a run by Maine.
Desperate, the Chiefs (7-5) tried to muster something in the final 1:22 of the half and it backfired. Cardinal Gibbons got near midfield, but then Hanks struck again, this time running an interception back 55 yards for a touchdown to send the Tornadoes into halftime up 34-0 and on their way to their first region championship since 2019.
“In the 10th grade, we said you’re going to come out of here as one of the top DBs, if not the top, in the country,” Harris said. “Now we’re moving toward that.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 8:15 AM.