Cardinal Gibbons outlasts La Salle to reach Class 2A state semifinals
The Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons’ football team gets plenty of deserved regard for its explosive passing game.
But the Chiefs proved on Friday night, they can run the ball and play a little defense too.
Led by over a 150 yards rushing and two touchdowns by Donte Findeson, Cardinal Gibbons outlasted previously unbeaten Miami Immaculata La Salle, 20-17, to win the Region 4-2A championship and advance to the state semifinals for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back state titles in 2020 and 2021.
The Chiefs (10-3) will next hit the road, likely to face Cardinal Mooney in Sarasota next Friday. The FHSAA plans to release the official semifinal pairings on Sunday morning.
“We want to throw the football, but the last four weeks we’ve really found our niche running the ball,” Gibbons coach Matt DuBuc said. “We had a couple of fumbles, but when you’re getting 5 or 6 yards a pop, you stick with it.”
The Chiefs did just that even after La Salle (12-1) seized the advantage on the first play of the third quarter on an 80-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Nate Merrill Jr. to junior Tyrone Williams that put the Royal Lions ahead 17-14.
Merrell Jr. led the Royal Lions with 211 yards passing and two touchdowns on 14 of 23 attempts, and both of his scoring tosses went to Williams, who finished with over 100 yards receiving.
Gibbons continued to grind away until Findeson found an opening in La Salle’s defense and sprinted 61 yards to the end zone to put the Chiefs ahead for good with 2:04 left in the third.
Two muffed punts in the fourth quarter by Gibbons gave La Salle chances to win the game late.
But the Royal Lions were stopped on downs the first time, and missed a would-be, game-tying field goal from 39 yards out with 3:19 left.
The Chiefs kept it on the ground again on their final drive and iced the game on an 11-yard run by Douglas and a 30-yard run by quarterback Jayden Torres.
Findeson finished with 142 rushing yards on 10 carries and sophomore Jeremy Douglas had 100 yards on 14 carries. Torres ran for 52 yards and he completed 10 of 14 passes for 118 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time, ten years now as a head coach, and I feel like everything that could have gone wrong there at the end went wrong,” DuBuc said. “But it was a pleasure watching these kids battle back and do what you have to do to win the game.”
DuBuc credited his team’s challenging schedule, which included games against playoff teams - Archbishop McCarthy, West Broward, Chaminade and Coconut Creek - for preparing them for their current playoff success.
It helped Gibbons overcome those late miscues as well as take command early with a 14-3 lead after Torres found Gary Hadley Jr. open down the middle for a 34-yard touchdown pass.
Gibbons’ defense sealed things led by Joseph Cammarata, who has two tackles for loss, and Landon Martin and Justus Del Pino, who each had a sack
“We played four teams that are still in the playoffs today and it prepared us,” DuBuc said. “It’s a testament to these players.”
