Piper defense stymies Plantation to remain unbeaten, braces for showdown with Monarch
In the NFL, they have the 24-hour rule.
At Piper High in Sunrise this week, it’s more like a 24-minute rule.
Just moments after finishing off a defensive masterpiece to beat Plantation 14-7 on Senior Night, the focus turned to the task immediately at hand: Monarch. Thursday night. In Coconut Creek. For the District 13-6A title.
And if each team plays like it did Friday -- as the Bengals were improving to 7-0, the Knights were getting romped 44-6 by St. Thomas Aquinas -- Piper will prevail.
“We got an enormous game next week,” said Piper coach Quentin Short, who with a win next week can match what is believed to be the best start in program history. “That’s a tough challenge. So we gotta get ready. It’s on a short week. We’re going to celebrate this one tonight. Get back here tomorrow and get ready for them.”
There will be plenty of time between now and then to hype up one of the games of the year in Broward County.
But for now, let’s give credit to a Piper team that is one of the best surprise stories in South Florida this fall.
The Bengals have allowed just 39 points in seven games, a testament to the remarkable job done by defensive coordinator Jerald Burley, who totally stoned dynamic Plantation running back Zachariah Ray after a leaky first drive.
On the game’s opening possession, Ray went for 44 yards on six carries. On his 19 attempts after that, Piper limited Ray to just 25 yards (although he did score their lone touchdown).
“They made great great adjustments,” said Plantation coach Darrell Strong, whose team fell to 5-3 on the year. “I give it up to their coaches. They’re putting everything together right now.”
The Colonels deserve credit too: Even with a string of three-and-outs Friday, they entered the fourth quarter in a tie ballgame.
But the Bengals ultimately ground them down with a 16-play, 77-yard drive that featured two conversions on third down and two more on fourth.
The play of the game? When quarterback Christian Mata found Alex Gammage on a deep post on fourth and 7 to put Piper on the shadow of the end zone. The completion went for 28 yards -- the longest play of the game by either team.
As Mata explained, the play was designed to make the Plantation safety on the right side of the formation to decide which of the two receivers to cover. Gammage was the one ultimately left free.
Mata’s strike set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by workhorse running back Julien Halley that gave Piper a lead its defense made hold up.
Three Bengals players picked off Plantation quarterback Jayden Chico Friday -- including Jahmani Chin-Suer and Antrell McWhirter, who intercepted Chico on the Colonel’s final two drives.
But the defensive player of the game was probably junior defensive lineman Thomas James, who had at least four tackles behind the line of scrimmage Friday.
“They’ve been doing this all year,” Mata said. “They get stops. They keep us in every game. They make every play when they need to.”
They’re going to need to make plenty more on Thursday. Monarch might be reeling, but they still have two Power 5 recruits on the outside in Samari Reed and Antwaun Parham.
“I mean, they got guys everywhere,” Short said. “They got receivers all over the place, running back. They’re a great team. So it’s going to be a huge challenge -- district game for us. So we gotta get ready.”