Carol City gets pushed early, but rallies to defeat Booker T. and stay undefeated

For the first time this season, it wasn’t easy for the Carol City Chiefs. Not even close.

One would think that when they walked off the field 39-17 winners over Booker T. Washington on Thursday night at Traz Powell Stadium that it was just another night at the office for head coach Benedict Hyppolite and his players.

But forget the final margin of victory. This one was close most of the night as the Chiefs actually had to overcome a 10-0 second quarter deficit and led by just three with seven minutes left in the game.

Perhaps slightly guilty of sneaking a peak at next week’s monster showdown with Central in what will decide the District 16-6A championship, the Chiefs, led by quarterback Daniel Richardson and running back Nay’Quan Wright, managed to overcome some early sloppiness while also dealing with a talented Booker T. team that has played arguably the toughest schedule in the country and didn’t back down.

“No doubt it, tonight gave us an opportunity to find out and learn who we are as a team and program and how we would overcome obstacles thrown in front of us,” Hyppolite said. “For the most part, this season for us has been a breeze. We have not been challenged, so just being able to see how we would handle this gave some answers we needed tonight. Winning by a large margins is always nice but understanding how to win the ones that count will help us going forward.”

And the timing for getting into a tight game was perfect as the Chiefs, ranked No. 12 in the nation, will likely be in a dogfight next week when they take on No. 6 nationally-ranked Central at Traz Powell on Friday night in what will be a sold-out stadium and the much-anticipated “game of the year” in South Florida.

“Hats off to those guys,” said Wright, who led all rushers with 80 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. “I think we really underestimated them. They gave us something we all needed – to get pushed and tested. Usually we come out and we’re up 21-zip. Tonight we come out and we’re down 10-0. It wasn’t something we’re used to for sure.”

But this night belonged to Richardson for so many reasons. Not only did he lead his team back by turning in pinball number statistics (19-of-25, 337 yards and four touchdowns) but did it against a team he played his last three years for, leading BTW to a state title as a freshman three years ago.

With the Chiefs leading by that narrow three-point margin, Richardson fired a 50-yard touchdown pass to Thaiu Jones-Bell with 6:35 left in the game to put his team up by nine – and then ripped his helmet and stared at the Booker T. sideline with an emotional fist pump.

“I really can’t say too much about that right now. There was just a lot of emotion out there for me and I wanted to play well,” Richardson said. “I just wanted to make sure we came out on the right side of this and when things didn’t start well, it was up to us to keep our poise and play the way we knew we were capable of playing.”

Booker T. sophomore quarterback Torrey Morrison was a thorn in Carol City’s defense all night long as his quick, shifty feet and elusiveness had Chiefs defenders chasing him all over the place.

His 13-yard touchdown pass to Jacorey Brooks early in the second quarter followed by an Andres Borregales 40-yard field goal gave the Tornadoes (4-5) that 10-0 lead.

But Richardson then put together a very important drive, leading the Chiefs 80 yards down the field in 11 plays capped by a 26-yard touchdown run from Wright to cut the deficit to 10-7.

After a BTW punt, Richardson then dropped back on the first play and tossed a 75-yard touchdown pass to Lorenzo Floyd 3:01 before halftime to put the Chiefs up 14-10 at the break. An 8-yard pass from Richardson to Michael Bucknor gave Carol City a 20-10 lead midway through the third quarter.

But the Tornadoes, led by Morrison who finished his night 26-of-43 for 198 yards, answered with a 52-yard, eight-play drive bridging the end of the third quarter and beginning for the fourth to slice their deficit to 20-17 on a Marcus Barthell one-yard run with 11:17 left.

BTW got the ball back at midfield with eight minutes left but an Anthony Harris sack of Morrison followed by a nine-yard punt gave the Chiefs the ball at midfield.

Richardson found Jones-Bell on the next play for the touchdown to make it 26-17. A Travis McNichols interception deep in Tornadoes territory set up another short scoring drive, with Richardson finding Amari Johnson for a 25-yard score. The Chiefs recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set up another score, ballooning the lead to 22 points with two minutes left.

“We have a lot of respect for those kids on the other side,” said Hyppolite, pointing to the Booker T. players and a program that he coached at for many years under Tim “Ice” Harris. “We knew they would come in here with a great game plan and I fully expected them to compete and they did. Now we’re looking forward to next week and I’m confident these kids will handle (all the distractions) this week without any issues. They’re used to playing in big-time games.”