Poitier Jr.’s 5 TDs lead Miami Edison to first trip to regional finals since 2020
Miami Edison’s football team had no trouble scoring points on Thursday night at Tropical Park.
But victory wasn’t possible until its defense got things under control.
A 25-yard interception return for a touchdown from junior safety John Jones early in the third quarter made it happen.
Senior quarterback Emmanuel Poitier Jr. and senior running back Sterling Joseph did the rest on offense as the Red Raiders outlasted Miami True North for a 47-39 win in a Region 4-1A semifinal.
Edison (8-4), the No. 3 seed in the region, advanced to the regional finals for the first time since 2020 and will next face either No. 4 seed Boca Raton St. Andrews or top-seed and three-time reigning state champion Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna next Friday.
“This is the first time in a long time we got to this point which is a testament to these kids and coaches,” Edison coach Luther Campbell said. “This is the first time we’ve been healthy this season too. We had nine guys out at one point. It gave us an opportunity to play some other guys and get that experience we needed now.”
True North (8-4), which was aiming to advance to the regional finals for the third consecutive season, quickly jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a 40-yard fumble return by George Harris.
Poitier Jr. immediately rallied Edison and scored a go-ahead 1-yard touchdown he set up with a 70-yard pass to Jaylen Moore.
After six lead changes in the first half, Jones’ pick-6 was the seventh and final one, putting Edison ahead 33-31 with 9:03 left in the third quarter.
Edison made it a two-score game moments later when Joseph broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run and Jones hauled in a 2-point pass from Poitier, who finished with over 200 combined rushing and passing yards, three touchdown runs and two touchdown passes.
True North quarterback Zach Katz threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another.
But most of that came in the first half before Edison began dropping extra defenders into coverage and limiting the Titans’ offense from throwing downfield.
“We had to make some adjustments at halftime and they came out and threw the kitchen sink at us,” Campbell said. “We made some adjustments in the back with our linebackers and had more communication.”
