With sights set on state title, Gulliver Prep rolls past Monsignor Pace in playoff opener
It was almost a year ago when Gulliver Prep had to gather in its locker room for an eerily silent team meeting following one of the most devastating losses anyone on the roster had ever been a part of. Gulliver, fresh off a unexpected perfect regular season, stunned Booker T. Washington in the second round of the 2019 playoffs by jumping out to a 14-point lead, only to lose in the final minutes to the eventual Class 4A champion.
Gabe Nealy called it “the most heartbreaking loss that I’ve ever been through.” The Raiders thought about it all summer long and it still weighs on them now as the 2020 postseason is underway. After a 46-13 rout of Monsignor Pace on Friday, Gulliver is back into the Region 4-4A semifinal where its season ended a year ago.
“Since the beginning of summer, we came in with a chip on our shoulder. Everything was changed,” said Nealy, who is orally committed to the USF Bulls. “We already knew what time it was.”
The Raiders (5-0) gave up a touchdown on the Spartans’ first play from scrimmage, but otherwise dominated Monsignor Pace (1-4) in at Spartan Stadium. Monsignor Pace managed just 13 yards on 23 plays for the rest of the half, and Gulliver returned an interception for a touchdown, recorded a safety and recovered two Spartans fumbles all before halftime. The Raiders took a commanding 33-6 lead into halftime and led by at least 20 for the entire second half.
Gulliver won’t have to go through the Tornadoes in the 4A playoffs this year, though. Booker T. Washington opted out of the Florida High School Athletic Association’s state series this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the Raiders will host Cardinal Gibbons in the region semifinals next Friday in Miami.
Last season was always supposed to be something of a building-block year for Gulliver. Even now, most of the Raiders’ top players on offense are sophomores and juniors. Star quarterback Carson Haggard, a junior, threw two touchdowns. Two-way athlete Travious Lathan, another junior, caught one and star wide receiver Jalen Brown, a sophomore, caught the other. Star running back Sedrick Irvin Jr., another sophomore, led Gulliver with 121 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
A senior, however, set the tone Friday in Miami Gardens. Gulliver settled for a field goal on its first drive, then gave up an 80-yard touchdown run to running back Ean Pope on Monsignor Pace’s first offensive play. On their second drive, the Raiders picked up a couple first downs and then had to put from Spartan territory, pinning Monsignor Pace at its own 3-yard line.
On the second play of the drive, Nealy picked off Spartans quarterback Adrian Posse and ran it back for a touchdown to put Gulliver ahead 10-6 despite a rocky start.
“The team did really well of just erasing that from our memory,” Nealy said of the early touchdown.
On their next drive, the Raiders went 60 yards in just four plays, capped with a 6-yard run by Irvin. Their next drive began at the Spartans’ 12 after a fumble by Posse and Haggard found Lathan for a 6-yard touchdown to cap a three-play drive. Just before halftime, Haggard connected again with Brown for 32-yard touchdown to cap a four-play, 40-yard drive.
Gulliver’s abundance of weapons were tantalizing last year, even if youth held them back. Now they’re as deep a collection as there is in South Florida.
“It’s a blessing,” Raiders coach Earl Sims said. “We do want to play a dominating style of football, but we want our guys to play hard, passionate. We’ve got guys that can make big plays. We’ve got several guys that can make plays, so it’s certainly a blessing.”
They were all there last year when an unexpected breakthrough season ended sooner than Gulliver hoped. Nealy just remembers how quiet it was immediately after the game at Tropical Park and the following day when the team gathered back at school to return equipment.
It’s still what the Raiders think about now with another region semifinal on the horizon.
“All of us were just speechless. ... We’re all just looking at each other like, Did that really just happen?” Nealy said. “We had a chip on our shoulder. That was not happening again.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 11:49 PM.
