‘Back to the drawing board again’: American Heritage falls in Class 2M state semifinal
American Heritage had two drives to save its season, two chances to show it could overcome one final hurdle and get back to the state championship.
But as quarterback Dia Bell’s final throw while under pressure landed in the defense’s hand, it began to sink in on the Patriots’ sideline that their season was minutes away from coming to an end.
American Heritage lost 17-14 to Tampa Berkeley Prep on Friday in a Class 2M state semifinal, their season ending in stinging fashion on their home field instead of in Tallahassee next week with a chance to win a state title. The Patriots reached the championship game last year, falling to Miami Central.
Berkeley Prep will face Miami Norland for the Class 2M title Dec. 9 at 10 a.m.
“This stuff always hurts,” second-year American Heritage coach Mike Smith said. “They put so much into this and it’s over just like that. You’re one step away from the main goal and we came up short again this year. Back to the drawing board again.”
American Heritage (10-2) led 14-9 at halftime behind a pair of rushing touchdowns from junior Byron Louis — first from 3 yards out late in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7 and then another 3-yard scamper with about four minutes left in the half. Louis finished the game with 135 rushing yards. Berkeley Prep’s defense scored all of its first-half points on an interception return for a touchdown and a safety.
After the Patriots punted on their opening drive of the second half, Berkeley Prep (12-2) orchestrated the drive of the game.
Sixteen plays, 15 of them rushes. Eighty-four yards. Nine minutes and 14 seconds. Three fourth down conversions, the first via an American Heritage penalty, the second on a rush and the third on the lone pass of the drive. Junior Dallas Golden punctuated it with a 25-yard rushing touchdown to put Berkeley Prep up 17-14 with 10:11 left to play.
American Heritage marched down the field on its next drive, getting to the 8-yard line in nine plays before Louis was stuffed on second down and Bell threw an incompletion on third down. The Patriots’ 25-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game sailed right.
After the defense forced a Berkeley Prep punt, the Patriots’ final chance ended with Bell’s interception.
“We just came up short,” Smith said. “We’ve got to score there in a game like this. You’ve got to put it away.”
American Heritage’s run to the state semifinal came with a team that had to reload after losing so many key playmakers from its 2022 state runner-up team to graduation. The Patriots had to replace their starting quarterback (Blake Murphy), running back (Mark Fletcher), top wide receiver (Brandon Innis) and nearly half of their defense (including Daemon Fagan and David Vadala, among others). One of their top returners on defense in defensive lineman Timothy Burroughs-Love also saw his season and football career come to an end after he suffered cardiac arrest during the Patriots’ preseason game.
Still, American Heritage won every game it played, usually in convincing fashion, outside of a 28-16 loss to powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna ... until Friday night.
“I’m proud of this team,” Smith said. “We overcame a lot of adversity, but it doesn’t catch up to you until it catches up to you. It caught up to us tonight. It was a back and forth game. We blew some opportunities. We talk all the time. The game is in the details. We got beat by the details.”
A bright spot for American Heritage: Just about all of its key playmakers were either sophomores or juniors this season — including quarterback Bell, running backs Louis and Deandre Desinor, receivers Malachi Toney and Brandon Bennett, and defensive linemen Omarion Abraham and Kymani Morales.
That’s for another time, though. The loss on Friday was too fresh to think about what’s ahead.
“You build on that,” Smith said. “They came a long way, but we’ve got to finish. There’s no excuse. We’re not young at the end of the season anymore. These guys are battle tested.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2023 at 11:48 PM.
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