American Heritage persevered through grueling road to state championship repeat
Every team probably feels they’ve earned it after they’ve won a state championship.
But after facing the kinds of challenges the American Heritage football team overcame this season, it’s hard to argue the Patriots didn’t earn the right to celebrate on Saturday afternoon.
Led by senior quarterback Leon Strawder’s three touchdowns overall, and clutch play from its defense and special teams, American Heritage was a state champion for the seventh time.
The Patriots did so by beating Orlando Jones, 33-28 at FIU’s Pitbull Stadium in the Class 4A state final, winning their second consecutive state title at the Tigers’ expense.
“I don’t think we have enough time to recap what a journey it’s been to get here,” American Heritage coach Mike Smith said.
Smith, who won his second state title as the Patriots coach, isn’t exaggerating as Heritage (9-5) navigated a tumultuous path to the top this year as an underdog for a change.
The Patriots were under .500 at 4-5 entering the playoffs as an at-large selection after finishing as a district runner-up behind neighborhood rival Archbishop McCarthy.
Heritage also started the season, losing three of its first four games, and would have been 0-4 had it not rallied from a 28-0 deficit to beat Pennsylvania’s St. Joseph’s Prep in its season opener.
Within the first month of the season, the Patriots lost starting quarterback Dia Bell, a five-star prospect and Texas signee, to a season-ending injury.
They also lost top wide receiver and Florida State signee Brandon Bennett for a large part of the regular season to injury. They lost top running back Jonathan Bueno to injury more than once with him suffering a season-ending knee injury in the regional finals.
And still, the Patriots put together five consecutive wins, including a payback win over McCarthy in the regional finals to repeat as state champs.
“It’s just about getting lost in the work,” Smith said. “We couldn’t live in the past. We had to win the 24 hours and once we started stacking those wins, we got momentum back.”
When Heritage lost Bell, it opened the door for Strawder, who transferred in from Miami Northwestern. Strawder, who played as a freshman at Miami Central and led Northwestern to a state title last season as a junior, won the third of his career at his third school.
Strawder completed 12 of 18 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns and had one interception and lost a fumble. He also ran for 71 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
“It was crazy adversity this year,” Strawder said. “(We had) running backs hurt, quarterback hurt. I’m just grateful to American Heritage for accepting me and bringing me in. It was great playing with my new brothers. It took a couple of weeks in practice, learning plays and learning coverages, but we just had to execute.”
After falling behind 7-0, Heritage scored 26 consecutive points, capped by Strawder’s 14-yard touchdown run with 1:46 left in the third quarter. Both of Strawder’s touchdown passes went to Jamar Denson, who finished with three catches for 70 yards.
Jones (12-3) showed some resilience of its own, cutting the Patriots’ lead to 26-21 with 8:34 as senior quarterback and Miami Hurricanes signee Dereon Coleman led a pair of touchdown drives.
But Strawder made one of his biggest plays on a run up the middle on 3rd and 2 from Heritage’s 40-yard line where he dragged tacklers for a 32-yard gain. The play led to a 6-yard touchdown by Tremaine Mullen to push Heritage’s lead to 33-21.
“You put (Strawder) in a brand new environment with kids he doesn’t know in the middle of the season. He had four practices and then had to play against Miami Central,” Smith said. “He did an unbelievable job of just pushing forward and trusting us as a coaching staff and he’s been rewarded for it. He’s a winner. There’s no question about that.”
Mullen was also clutch in Heritage’s backfield over the past couple of weeks stepping up in Bueno’s absence. He finished with 84 yards on 17 carries and caught three passes for 38 yards.
Coleman ran for 108 yards and a touchdown on 29 attempts and completed 13 of 19 passes for 163 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Jones.
But Coleman was sacked six times by American Heritage’s defense, which kept the Patriots in the game early after Jones nearly took a two-touchdown lead.
Leading 7-0 and in the red zone, Dylan Bennett recorded one of his two sacks on the last play of the first quarter. Facing third-and-goal at the Heritage 14, Roddy Tellez forced a fumble from Jones running back Larry Miles and Joshua Houston recovered to end the threat.
Tellez and Micah Price each had 1.5 sacks while Isaac Tanis had one sack.
Two possessions later, Strawder found Denson for a 14-yard score to even the score at 7 with 53 seconds left in the first half.
“The defense has done that all year,” Smith said. “They’ve answered the call, and it goes back to our schedule. We’ve played in tough environments and when you do that, you almost become momentum-proof. They locked in. They focused, and those guys continued to battle.
“(Defensive coordinator) Darryl Porter is a South Florida legend, and he continues to put together legendary defenses.”
Special teams then saved Heritage to open the second half after Strawder fumbled on the first play of the third quarter, and Jones’ Ke’sean Williams recovered at the Patriots’ 33.
After Heritage’s defense forced a three-and-out, Jones’ kicker Kason Mullis had his 47-yard field goal attempt blocked by Amare Nugent, who picked it up and returned it to the Tigers’ 25.
“When I saw them line up, I knew I could beat my guy on the end. I just used my technique and blocked it and picked it up and ran it back,” Nugent said. “I put my offense in good field position to score. We went through so much this year so it feels great to be here today.”
Four plays later, Mullen scored from 5 yards out to put Heritage ahead for good.
After Strawder hit Denson over the middle on a crossing route and Denson sped to the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown, Terrance Johnson came up with a key turnover as he intercepted Coleman on Jones’ ensuing drive.
“This game was a summary of our season. We get down and we come back. We think we’re out in front, and then we have to make a play to make it happen. Finally, one goes our way,” Smith said. “We were 1-3 at one point and 4-5 and these kids never stopped giving effort.
“I feel like I have the best coaching staff in the country. We had points where we were like, this guy is down, and that guy is down and what are we gonna do. They came up with some unbelievable plans and without a doubt, this was our best coaching job.”
