Monsignor Pace defense breaks open close game to advance past Ransom

One would never know by the final score but, thanks to having one of the most talented quarterbacks in South Florida in their arsenal, the Ransom Everglades Raiders actually had the Monsignor Pace Spartans sweating on Friday night.

Just a freshman, Neimann Lawrence had put on a dazzling display of passing for the first two-and-half quarters and appeared ready to lead his team into the end zone on the first possession of the second half and give his team the lead.

And then, it all turned.

Clinging to a 16-10 lead, the Pace defense, having been frustrated all night up to that point trying to deal with Lawrence, made the play it needed to make. That when Ransom running back Noah Alce couldn’t find the handle on a handoff from Lawrence.

Pace defenders converged to the loose ball. Linebacker Dante Alexander got there first, scooped up the loose ball and rambled 82 yards for the scoop-and-score touchdown. Following a successful 2-point conversion, the Spartans led 24-10 and pulled away from there, bouncing Ransom 40-10 in a Region 4-2A quarterfinal at Pace High School.

The No. 3 seeded Spartans (8-2) will now travel next Friday to take on No. 2 seed Immaculata-LaSalle in a regional semifinal contest. The Royal Lions survived an upset bid from No. 7 Gulliver Prep 27-21 in the opposite game.

“I went up to make a play on the running back and all of a sudden I see the ball on the ground,” Alexander said. “I never fall on fumbles, we’re always looking to scoop it up so when I saw I had daylight to run, I scooped it and managed to pick it up clean and it was off to the races. No doubt that was the play that swung everything in our direction, We were good after that.”

Indeed as the Spartan defense picked Lawrence off twice, once by Willie Anderson late in the third quarter and Alexander who actually bolted 35 yards for a pick-six touchdown only to have it called back by a penalty.

Those three turnovers proved to be the fuel Pace needed to hold off a pesky Raiders team that trailed just 16-10 at the half when Lawrence, on fourth-and-goal from the Pace three, fired a touchdown pass to tight end Juan Velazco 53 seconds before halftime.

“That quarterback, he’s a real talent and they had all the momentum when they came out on that first possession of the second half,” Pace coach Anthony Walker Sr. said. “But we’ve leaned on our defense all season to make big plays in key moments so that’s when our senior leader, Dante Alexander, gave us the spark we needed. No doubt about it, the entire game swung on that play. If Ransom goes in and scores there to take the lead, we’re in a dogfight the rest of the way.”

Lawrence, who went 25-of-37 for 337 yards passing, frustrated the Spartans defense throughout the first half as his pinpoint passing allowed the Raiders to convert 6 out of 7 third down situations and two fourth down conversions as well.

But Pace managed to hold the Raiders to a field goal on their first possession and a turnover on downs inside the Pace 10 on their second possession.

Meanwhile the Spartans offense did a nice job of getting their defense a lead as Sean Ponder tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Amare Whetsell, the first from 19 yards, the second from 27, to stake Pace to a 16-3 lead (the Spartans successfully went to two-point conversions after all five touchdowns on the night) with 5:33 left in the second.

But Lawrence drove his team goalward, even converting a fourth-and-13 pass for 16 yards setting Ransom up at the Pace 10.

“That quarterback, he’s a talented dude,” said linebacker Gabriel Cline who actually sacked Lawrence three times for more than 40 yards. “We saw him on film and knew coming in that he was tough so shout-out to him. But our defense, we all trust our other guys and trust all of my guys around me. We knew that we would find a way to make some plays and get it done and that’s what we did.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 12:34 AM.