After breakthrough 2020 season, Homestead shows ‘flashes’ of even more in preseason win
With Homestead finally in control in the fourth quarter of its preseason tune-up with Carol City, Daniel Lyons looked for one more big play. The senior, who orally committed to the Florida State Seminoles last month, chased Dominiq Ponder nearly 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, saw the Carol City quarterback being loose with the ball and swung his hand at it. The ball bounced to the turf and rolled along the sideline for a few moments before it finally turned out of bounds before Lyons could track it down.
Philip Simpson looked at his star defensive tackle and, with a big smile finally on his face, yelled, “Ohhhhh,” laughing at the spectacular play Lyons almost made to punctuate the Broncos’ uneasy 28-14 preseason victory in Miami.
“You saw a lot of things. You saw a lot of opportunity, you saw a lot of fight, but coming into the kickoff classic those guys obviously have a lot to clean up,” Simpson said. “But you saw enough flashes that we can clean it up and get it going, and play some good football.”
It had been sloppy most of the way and Homestead was literally feet away from allowing a game-tying touchdown in the third quarter before the Broncos’ defensive line found their rhythm late to secure the win at Traz Powell Stadium.
Lyons finished with a sack and two tackles for loss. Star defensive end Dante Anderson did the same, and sophomore defensive end Amen Mackey added two sacks and a tackle for loss.
Only one sack, however, came in the first half, as Homestead, which hopes to contend in Class 7A this year, couldn’t put away the Chiefs.
Three lost fumbles — all by sophomore quarterback Joshua Townsend — were partly to blame. The defensive line, though, is what the Broncos plan to win with in 2021 and Simpson, who has a background as a defensive line coach, was underwhelmed by the performance, despite the strong finish, which included a fourth-down tackle by Anderson at Homestead’s 2-yard line in the opening minutes of the third quarter to preserve a 22-14 lead.
“We take defensive line as our pride,” Simpson said. “We’re not happy with it in terms of our performance up front.”
Ultimately, the Broncos knows their defensive line will be good — it was why they were able to win two playoff games last year for the first time since 2002. Homestead’s hope to go even further rests with its still-young offense and two newcomers gave the Broncos a jolt Thursday.
Junior athlete Richard Dandridge and sophomore running back Isaac Brown, both of whom transferred to Homestead from St. Brendan earlier this year, combined for three touchdowns. Brown began the game with a 68-yard touchdown run on the fourth play from scrimmage, then Dandridge caught a pair, including a 51-yard slant in the second quarter to give the Broncos a 22-14 lead at halftime. Dandridge also had an interception in the fourth quarter to help Homestead seal the win.
“They’re great players,” Anderson said.
Gulliver makes statement vs. Killian
Jalen Brown, a five-star wide receiver in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2023, began his 2021 season by pulling in three touchdowns against Killian to help state championship-hopeful Gulliver Prep begin the year with a 37-10 preseason victory Thursday in Pinecrest.
Brown finished with eight catches for 186 yards in the blowout win at Gulliver Schools’ Sean Taylor Memorial Field.
Led by Brown and senior quarterback Carson Haggard, the Raiders looked like a title contender in Class 4A.
Brown set the tone early. His first catch of the year came was a 20-yard slant on the first drive of the game and he capped the opening possession by beating star Cougars cornerback Dwight Bootle for a 33-yard touchdown a few plays later. On Gulliver’s third possession, he pulled in a 38-yard touchdown catch from Haggard, who’s orally committed to the Tulane Green Wave, to give the Raiders a 20-3 halftime lead.
Brown went into halftime with five catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns before Gulliver pulled away in the second half.
The Raiders, who fell to eventual-state champion Cardinal Gibbons in the Region 4-4A semifinals last year, will go on the road to open the regular season Aug. 27 against Bradenton Manatee. Killian, which expects to be a threat in Class 6A, kicks off the regular season Aug. 27 in Miramar.
Central begins national-championship chase
Miami Central coach Roland Smith said his goal this season is to win a national championship and Central has a schedule set up to make it possible. It starts Friday when the Rockets travel to Bellflower, California, for the first regular game of the season for a South Florida team.
“I’m very excited about this game and this upcoming season,” Smith said Monday, “because every year our goal is to not only win a state championship, but also try to win a national championship.”
Central, ranked No. 15 by MaxPreps, kicks off the season at 10 p.m. against No. 3 St. John Bosco. The Rockets’ schedule is one of the 10 most difficult in the country, according to MaxPreps, and includes a Week 2 game against Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman next month, their annual rivalry clash with Northwestern in October and potentially a playoff game against No. 8 Plantation American Heritage.
While Central is the only local team set for a regular-season game Friday, American Heritage will host one of the biggest games of the entire season Friday in Plantation when No. 2 Bradenton IMG Academy comes across the state to face the Patriots.
Other marquee preseason tune-ups Friday include Northwestern-Venice, Booker T. Washington-Seffner Armwood, Palmetto-Cardinal Gibbons and Chaminade-Madonna against Dillard.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 10:45 PM.
