Miramar, trailing by 17 at halftime, rallies to defeat Western in overtime

All it took was great third quarter by Miramar and a bad one for Western.

In the end, it took a 1-yard run by Clifton Miller in overtime for the Patriots to defeat the Wildcats 26-23 in a District 12-8A game on Friday.

The victory extended the Patriots’ (6-3, 5-1 in district) win streak to six games after opening the season with losses to Miami Northwestern, American Heritage and Plantation.

It was the first overtime game between these teams since 2000. Miramar improved to 17-8 all-time in the series with the Wildcats that began in 1984.

Western fell to 7-2, 5-1 in district. Miramar, Western and Plantation are each 5-1 in the district and will need to wait to the end of the regular season next week to determine the winner.

Miramar rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit with 20-third quarter points to earn a 20-17 lead.

Western kicker Zack Fifeski sent the game into overtime with a 35-yard field goal as time expired in regulation. Fifeski gave his team a 23-20 lead on Western’s first possession in the OT.

Miramar also improved to 10-1 past 11 meetings against Western. The Wildcats only win in that stretch of games was 7-6 in 2016.

Up 17-0 at the half, Western saw Miramar cut into lead on a five-play, 98-yard drive as sophomore quarterback Cedquan Smith threw 14 yards to Carlos Hill for the touchdown with 5:11 left in the third quarter.

The Patriots inched closer to the lead as Miller scored on a 15-yard run with 3:09 left in the third. Andre Thornton recovered a Western fumble when Lenard Ingram had a strip sack of Rivera. Nathaniel Williams ran in for a two-point conversion reducing the deficit to 17-14.

Miramar grabbed its first lead on a Kevin Ross 10-yard scoring run that was set up on a spectacular 68-yard punt return by Jhared Josue.

Senior quarterback Jesse Rivera led the Wildcats to touchdowns on their first two possessions for a 14-0 lead. The first went 11 yards to Danny Panchookian. The scoring drive was set up by a Lilton Horne interception at the Miramar 29.

The second scoring drive took just five plays as Shamarr Wright hauled in a 54-yard scoring pass for a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

A late 28-yard field goal by Fifeski gave the Wildcats a 17-0 at the half.

Rivera entered Friday’s game completing 93 of 142 attempts for 1,425 yards with 15 touchdowns and no interceptions. He would throw his first pick of the season in the end zone with 4:04 left in regulation.

Allen Crawford leads the Wildcats rushing attack with 719 yards and three touchdowns did not play due to a knee injury.