With playoff seeding on the line, South Miami routs Miami Springs
Needing to finish in the top eight in order to make the postseason and sitting in the No. 10 spot, Friday afternoon was an important one for South Miami.
And while all of the reshuffled numbers won’t come out until early next week following this weekend’s action, the Cobras certainly helped their cause when they traveled to Milander Stadium and rolled to a 46-7 rout over Miami Springs in a key District 16-7A matchup.
And as big as the win was for South Miami, which improved to 7-2 overall (Doral has already clinched the district), it was just as expensive for the Golden Hawks who, at 6-2 were sitting smack on the bubble in the No. 8 spot entering this week.
“We know we’re right there just outside the bubble and what was at stake today and the kids came out and really did a great job,” said South Miami head coach Rick Munne. “This is a really super tight bunch of unselfish kids who play for each other and all the credit goes to them.”
Munne watched his team enjoy a dominating first half, rolling to three touchdowns and converting all three two-point conversions to build a 24-0 lead.
First came a 7-yard scoring pass from quarterback Tyler Pena to Isaac Chacon midway through the first quarter, a 22-yard bobbing and weaving touchdown run by Pena himself 2:43 before halftime and then the killer play.
With Springs driving just before halftime, Lewis Oviedo picked off a David Moore pass and then somehow knifed his way through a wave of Springs players and tightroped the sideline for a 65-yard pick six interception return just 54 seconds before the break.
After Springs scored on its lone touchdown of the day, a 40-yard scoring pass from David Moore to Torian Liptrot, the Cobras answered right back when Pena found Gerand Turner for a 79-yard score and South Miami rolled from there.
“It was basically do or die today so we just had to go out there and do,” said Pena who enjoyed a big day finishing 15-of-22 for 239 yards and three touchdowns. “We kind of treated it like a playoff game because we knew if we didn’t get it done, we would be out. Now we know we still have a chance.”
However the numbers come out, both teams will be in the mix when they wrap up their regular seasons next week, Springs hosting Hialeah-Miami Lakes on Nov. 1 and South Miami squaring off against Coral Park.
This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 6:47 PM.