Coral Reef football rallies again to clinch GMAC independent crown; Columbus advances
Coral Reef’s football team is no stranger to making it work with what it has.
The Barracudas have only two coaches on their staff - head coach and offensive coordinator Tim Wood and defensive coordinator Joey Petisco.
Yet they’ll both tell you their practices run smoothly thanks to the dedication of their players.
That focus allowed Coral Reef to overcome a halftime deficit for the fourth consecutive game on Thursday night.
And that commitment was a major reason the Barracudas found themselves hoisting another GMAC Independent Schools Conference championship trophy following a 14-7 comeback win over Ferguson at Southridge Stadium.
“We embrace (the challenge),” Coral Reef senior linebacker Antonio Siplin said. “The leaders, seniors, we coach the young guys and we lead our individuals and we make it work. It doesn’t matter that we have only two coaches. We get it done.”
Coral Reef put a bow on a 10-1 season and won the conference title for the second time in three seasons while denying Ferguson (5-6) a repeat title.
Just three weeks after edging the Falcons 22-21 in overtime, the Barracudas found themselves in a battle with the Falcons again.
Trailing 7-0 at the half, Coral Reef scored all of its points in the third quarter and then leaned on its defense to hold off Ferguson’s own comeback attempt.
Quarterback Izaiah Roque’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Bethell tied the game at 7 with eight minutes left in the third. After Ferguson turned the ball over on downs, the Barracudas put together another long drive capped by Roque’s 3-yard touchdown run.
The scoring play itself was an example of turning adversity into success as Roque took the snap, rolled out and then dropped the ball. He was able to chase it down, pick it back up and find his way to the end zone anyway.
“What an investment and great group of guys that hung in there,” Wood said. “This is the fourth game in a row that we face adversity in the first half and are down at halftime and these guys find a way to pull together and get it done. They didn’t flinch four weeks in a row.”
Siplin and Coral Reef’s defense did the rest.
The Barracudas once again stopped Ferguson on downs and ended the Falcons final drive when Dylan Perez recovered a fumble in Reef territory with 52 seconds remaining. Roque then knelt twice in a row to run out the clock.
“Defense took Ferguson out of their game in the second half,” Wood said. “Once they had to throw, that’s not really who they are. I wish we could have closed it out better, but defense wins championships.”
With such a small coaching staff, Wood (a former head coach at Coral Park and other schools) and Petisco (a former head coach himself at Miami Sunset), spent each of week of practice this season dedicating specific days to each personnel group on the team to make sure they coached every player and that any issues were addressed.
“It’s the greatest 2-man staff in the United States of America. It’s not to toot my own horn or his horn, but it’s a credit to these kids,” Wood said. “We have leadership on this team that makes up for the fact that we only have two sets of eyes.
“It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of character guys that have put in the work.”
As a result, Coral Reef was able to put together a championship season despite returning only two players from its 2022 GMAC independent championship team.
“Since January, we have had a goal. We didn’t like how last season ended,” Siplin said. “We built our bond and worked through training. We had guys step up and we made it work. It pushes us through. Like our coaches always say, ‘The mountain is climbed.’”
▪ Region 4-7A quarterfinal - Columbus 56, Boca Raton Spanish River 8: The two-time reigning state champion Explorers set off in quest of their third straight title on Thursday night by doing what two-time reigning state championships should do in a first round game.
Top-seeded Columbus scored three touchdowns in the first four minutes and never looked back.
The outmanned and outgunned Sharks (7-4) never had a chance as the Explorers, led by FAU commit Hector Chavez, led 49-0 by halftime prompting a running clock in the second half.
After quarterback Vicente Gonzalez scored from 5 yards out on option keeper two minutes into the game (after the Columbus defense forced a turnover at the Spanish River 20), Shaddai Carter and Chavez put on quite a show. Carter blocked a Spanish River punt and Chavez scooped up the loose ball and rambled in from 5 yards out. Less than 90 seconds later, the two did it all over again, Carter blocking another Shark punt and Chavez scoring from 10 yards out.
Chavez wasn’t done. After Gonzalez tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Bryce Fitzgerald (46 yards) and JJ Gomez (24 yards) to make it 35-0 early in the second, he picked off a Spanish River pass and bolted 30 yards for a score. Columbus (7-3) advances to next week’s regional semifinals where it will host either Homestead South Dade or Lantana Santaluces at either the school or Tropical Park.
BILL DALEY
