Gulliver Prep rolls past Champagnat Catholic; Columbus snaps skid against Monsignor Pace
Only a pregame lightning delay could slow Sedrick Irvin Jr. and Gulliver Prep’s playmakers in a 52-27 win over Champagnat Catholic on Friday in Pinecrest.
“The lightning ruined some of our games in the past,” Irvin said. “It put us in that mood again. ... We came out and used that frustration to our advantage.”
Irvin struck for 123 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns at the homecoming game on soggy Sean Taylor Memorial Field.
“He is a special kid,” Gulliver coach Earl Sims said. “When he gets fired up, it gets the whole team fired up.”
The win improved Gulliver to 5-0 and dropped Champagnat to 3-2. The Raiders have won 20 consecutive regular-season games, dating back to 2019.
Gulliver posted a 28-point second quarter of its latest win. Senior quarterback Carson Haggard went 25 of 35 for 327 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Wide receiver DeCarlo Donaldson made seven catches for 96 yards and scored on a 70-yard punt return. Champagnat freshman quarterback Ennio Yapoor went 13 of 19 for 210 yards and three scores.
“We tried to keep our mindset and made sure we were locked in,” said Haggard, who is orally committed to the Tulane Green Wave. “We knew it was going to be sloppy. We played the the best to our ability.”
Jalen Brown scored first with a 5-yard touchdown catch from Haggard halfway through the first quarter. Raiders offensive lineman Patrick Atkins ran for another short score at the start of the second.
Irvin, who orally committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last week, reached the end zone for the first time on a 3-yard run to push the Raiders lead to 20-0. Yapoor threw 40-yard touchdown pass to Shayon Walton 6:05 before halftime.
Irvin caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Haggard about a minute later. Donaldson’s punt return then gave Gulliver a 35-7 lead at halftime.
Champagnat outscored Gulliver 21-17 in the second half, but the Lions couldn’t overcome the first-half hole.
Irwin scored a rushing touchdown in each of the final two quarters. Yapoor threw late touchdown tosses to Jaylin Terzado and Benson Prosper.
Columbus blows out Monsignor Pace
It probably seemed like forever since Columbus last won a football game. When you’re used to winning a lot, Aug. 27 is a long way in the past.
An opening-weekend victory against Benedictine in Savannah, Georgia, was the last win for the Explorers until Friday, when they used a big offensive play to open the game followed by a pair of defensive touchdowns to rout Monsignor Pace, 34-14, at Christopher Columbus High School.
Ranked No. 17 in the Miami Herald Top 20 poll, Columbus improved to 2-3 while Pace, in the midst of a midseason coaching change after releasing Mario Perez last week, fell to 1-4.
Running back Ken Moore Jr. bolted 75 yards on the game’s very first play to stake Columbus to a quick 7-0 lead, which was followed by two field goals from kicker Luis Palenzuela and two defensive touchdowns, both by Ahmere Foster.
Foster retrurned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, and then scooped up a Pace fumble and rambled 75 yards for a score on the final play of the first half to put the Explorers up 27-0 at the break.
Tremonte Underwood scored from 20 yards out late in the third quarter to make it 34-0 before Columbus coach Dave Dunn began pulling his starters as Pace scored a pair of late touchdowns.
“It’s not a coincidence that when we lost the turnover battle the last three games, we lost the game,” said Dunn whose team also had losses to St. John Bartram Trail, Chaminade-Madonna and Palmetto last month. “Then tonight we went out there and created turnovers, including two for scores, and didn’t turn the ball over ourself and you saw the result. If you take care of the ball on offense and create some turnovers on defense, good things will usually happen.”
-Bill Daley, Miami Herald Writer
