21 years after Sean Taylor, Gulliver Prep has eyes on a second state championship
From coaches to players to administrators, the frustration is etched on their faces.
For each of the past two seasons, Gulliver Prep has been nothing short of perfect in the regular season — a 10-0 mark in 2019 followed by a 5-0 record in the shortened 2020 season.
But undefeated regular seasons and 75 cents will do nothing more than buy you a cup of coffee these days if you don’t get it done in the postseason. Therein lies the frustration. Not only did the Raiders stumble out of the gate once the playoffs began in both seasons, but they then had to watch both teams that beat them — Booker T. Washington in 2019 and Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons last year — go on to capture a state championship.
The Booker T. game was especially excruciating as Gulliver was one fourth-down stop in the final minute of the game from beating BTW, only to have the Tornadoes convert and find the end zone three plays later to pull out a miracle win.
As the Raiders and longtime coach Earl Sims embarked on the 2021 season, the window for that state title — something they did just once when the late Sean Taylor led them to the 2000 championship — is still open but won’t be forever.
“We’re blessed to be playing football again,” said Sims, who took over the program in 2006 and is second only to North Miami Beach’s Jeff Bertani as the longest-tenured coach in Miami-Dade County at one school. “It’s my take that everybody has their own individual account, and so I try not to compare this team to other great teams we’ve had. What I will say is that I love this group of kids — a bunch of kids who try hard who love the team that they’re on, love each other, love the school, the coaching staff — and it’s an enormous opportunity in front of us this year that we’re excited about.”
Thanks to senior quarterback Carson Haggard, senior linebacker Trey Lathan (who has committed to West Virginia) and juniors Jalen Brown and Sedrick Irvin Jr., to name a few, the Raiders return a large core of the talent from the past two seasons. The kicking game won’t suffer either as Will Bettridge is the No. 1 kicker in Florida and has already committed to Virginia.
“Those playoff losses are definitely motivation for sure,” said Haggard, a Tulane commit entering his third year as the starter. “Just knowing that we were so close to winning, especially the Booker T. game, that was really tough. I remember it so clearly and how it’s been painted in my mind. I actually posted a picture of that game up on my wall afterwards to serve as motivation for me. Then after we lost to Cardinal Gibbons last year, that was just more motivation. Now this year, it’s my last year, I just don’t want to have that feeling again.”
Brown still has two more seasons left, but that hasn’t kept big-time college programs from banging on his door. A five-star prospect with more than 30 FBS offers (but no plans to commit for at least another year), Brown is not only a wide receiver, but he also returns kickoffs and punts and plays some cornerback. Although he had only 18 catches during the abbreviated 2020 season, eight of those were for touchdowns and the 500 receiving yards meant he averaged nearly 28 yards a catch.
“This year I think we have a stronger bond between each other,” Brown said. “We’ve been working all summer with each other, day and night, and I feel like that will put us over the top from other years. The state title? That will come if it comes. We’re just going to focus and worry about only one thing, and that’s the next game in front of us. These harder games are going to push us to our limits, and we’ll just have to surpass and put everything we have into every week and every minute of the game.”
Gulliver’s 2021 schedule might be one of the toughest it has ever put together. The Raiders opened with a preseason win against Killian on Friday and followed it with a win against Manatee in Bradenton in the regular-season opener. Games against two-time reigning Class 2A champion Hialeah Champagnat Catholic, five-time state finalist Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna and another out-of-town trip against Orlando Bishop Moore are also on the schedule.
“I think it will,” said Sims, when asked if the tougher schedule might make a difference for his team once the postseason arrives. “It’s something we spoke of as a coaching staff and the players as well during the offseason. Everyone pretty much agreed that this is the way we will be ready for the tougher games later on when it really counts in the playoffs. It will also help us maintain our focus one week at a time rather than worrying about the big picture at the end.”
Said Haggard: “We haven’t had the toughest schedule the last few years, and everyone can see that so this year we really loaded up and we’re excited about it. All these games will be really tough and that’s really going to help because it’s not going to allow ourselves to look ahead beyond the next game on our schedule.”
