Plantation outlasts Miramar in ugly defensive struggle to remain unbeaten

Want a sense of how ugly Plantation-Miramar was here Friday?

Colonels coach Darrell Strong apologized to reporters for the score -- and he was on the winning end of this 48-minute slog.

The final score here Friday night was Plantation 2, Miramar 0. And no, this wasn’t a soccer match.

The most charitable way to put it? It was 48 minutes of some of the grittiest defensive football you’ll ever see.

“I’m gonna look at the film first before I say anything about the offense but from the eye test, we didn’t perform well,” Strong said. “Defense did a hell of a job today.”

Defense is the only reason that Plantation leaves Week 2 undefeated instead of 1-1.

The game’s only points came on a first-quarter sack-safety by Chanavis Chance, a promising young defender who is Plantation’s starting inside linebacker as just a freshman.

It was the first of many timely plays by a Plantation defense that has allowed just 21 points in eight quarters this season.

The Colonels also had two game-changing interceptions (one by JaKari Johnson deep in Plantation territory, the other by Janaris Foster the play after a lost Plantation fumble) and five sacks (the last by star EDGE Ashton “Action” Jackson on the Patriots’ penultimate offensive play).

Jackson is an electric senior pass rusher recruited by a number of schools, including Pittsburgh. And it was easy to see why Friday. He made plays all over the field.

“I’ve been [saying] since the summer, I feel like I’m one of the most underrated players in Florida,” said Jackson, who also has drawn interest from Bryant and Tennessee-Martin.

Added Strong: “He’s one of the best players in the state of Florida. Period. Probably the country.”

Jackson is in the perfect system for his dynamic skill set. Miramar was at times able to move the ball, but every time they looked like the Patriots might actually threaten the scoreboard, Plantation would dial up a blitz to shut them down.

“That’s what we do. We take big risks,” Jackson said. “Coach says risk it for the biscuit.”

Miramar’s defense played marvelously as well, and perhaps even better than its opponent. The Patriots held the Colonels to a meager 1.8 yards per play and forced five fumbles.

But Miramar couldn’t capitalize, and as a result, was shut out for the second time in as many weeks. The Patriots were not competitive in a 27-0 loss to Norland last week.

They had plenty of chances to win Friday, however. But they found a way to lose to a Plantation team that had more penalty yards assessed against it than total yards of offense because Miramar was unable to capitalize on its many opportunities.

Miramar’s mistakes on Friday included:

▪ Punting for six yards on fourth-and-3 from the 48 on their first drive, a field-position flip that ultimately led to the safety

▪ Quarterback Jayvin Smart’s two picks, including the one to Johnson inside the red zone.

▪ And missing a 22-yard field goal after the Patriots took over on the Colonels’ 17 due to a snap that went over the Plantation punter’s head.

“If they can’t score, they can’t win,” Jackson said.

This story was originally published August 31, 2024 at 12:29 AM.