Ferguson tops Hialeah Gardens, sets up rematch with Coral Reef in independent final

After falling behind 14-0 after the first quarter, there was no panic from coach Gene Chew or his Ferguson football team.

The Falcons kept their cool and wound up scoring 37 unanswered points to easily defeat Hialeah Gardens 37-14 in a GMAC Independent semifinal playoff game at Hialeah Gardens High School.

Ferguson running back Elias Romero turned out to be the workhorse as he churned out over 125 yards on the ground with a pair of touchdown runs from five and six yards out along with a couple of two-point conversion runs as well.

Ferguson (5-5) advanced to the championship game in two weeks where the Falcons will get a rematch with Coral Reef, a team they dropped a 22-21 overtime heartbreaker to a few weeks ago. The game will be played at a site and time to be announced. Coral Reef defeated Mourning 35-14 in the opposite semifinal on Friday at Southridge High.

The Falcons got the game tied just 31 seconds before halftime when quarterback Alex Lamela, on fourth-and-goal from the three, faked a handoff to Romero up the middle and sprinted to the flag in the corner for the score.

Ferguson took the lead for good with 2:53 left in the third when Romero scored his second touchdown and ran in the two-pointer for a 22-14 lead.

The contest was still a one possession game with just under nine minutes left when the key swing moment arrived. That’s when Gardens coach Greg Magner rolled the dice and went for it from his own 30 on fourth-and-five.

An incomplete pass turned the ball over to Ferguson and Lamela made them pay when he dropped back on the next play and tossed a perfect ball to wide receiver Brandon Tagle for the score to make it 30-14. Lamela finished the scoring with another quarterback keeper, this one from five yards out with 3:59 left.

Competing in only their second-ever GMAC independent playoff game, the Gladiators finished their season 6-4.