Bradford’s stellar rushing effort, late TD spark West Broward win over Gibbons

West Broward sophomore running back Amos Bradford stood near his own goal line as his team trailed by three with 1:07 to play.

In the blink of an eye, he raced 95 yards down the visiting sideline stunning the Cardinal Gibbons defenders for the game-winning kickoff return, resulting in a Bobcats improbable 43-39 victory at Cypress Bay High on Friday.

The 82 combined points in a victory was the second most in West Broward football history since both teams scored 109 combined points in a 67-42 win over Cooper City in 2017.

“Bradford is a hard-working kid,” West Broward coach Brian McCartney said. “Every time in practice he works his tail off. He says I’m going to win the game if you give me the ball. He’s one of those kids you love to have as a coach.”

Besides the winning score, Bradford also rushed for 237 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. He also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.

“Really, I just came out here to play ball,” said Bradford. “It’s about hard work. I just kept running until I scored the touchdown.”

Bradford’s score capped off a wild final 12 minutes, 30 seconds of the game that began with the Bobcats taking a 24-17 lead on an Elijah DeWoskin 15-yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

He later added a 46-yard scoring run with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter as part of his 133-yard night on 15 carries, giving West Broward a 36-31 lead at the time.

Junior quarterback Jayden Torres had a historic night for the Chiefs combining for five touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing). His 1-yard scoring sneak with 1:01 to play gave Gibbons a 39-36 lead.

When the night was over Torres passed for 415 yards, completing 17 of 24 attempts. He had scoring passes to Brian Williams for 42 yards and Trent Dubuc for 20 yards in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t play much defense, but that’s coaching,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Matt Dubuc said. “Torres played hard, hit some good shots, but we self-destructed in the second half. I thought the officiating was very sub-par. We had to play against the referees at times. We can’t make mistakes and expect to win.”

The Chiefs dropped to 6-3 all-time following a bye-week under Dubuc.

Cardinal Gibbons (1-2) struck first on a pair of touchdown passes from Torres to take an early 14-0.

Torres, who threw for 205 yards in the opening half, connected twice to senior wide receiver Tyler Jackson for 36 yards and again for 32 yards for a 14-0 lead only 5:24 into the game.

West Broward (2-2) settled down after the initial shock, finally getting on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on a 49-yard run by Bradford.

The teams exchanged field goals later in the quarter with Gibbons leading 17-10 at the break.

Gibbons will host Coconut Creek next week, while West Broward will be at home against Flanagan.

This story was originally published September 14, 2024 at 11:17 AM.