Blocked punt sparks Mater Academy football to victory and district championship

Sometimes, maybe all it takes is a blocked punt to get things going.

The Mater Academy Lions, a newly-revived program with the arrival of legendary Booker T. Washington head coach Tim “Ice” Harris, found that out on Saturday night.

After struggling in the first half and locked in a tight District 14-5A showdown with North Miami, a blocked punt by Mater’s Damone Peeples in the first two minutes of the second half was the spark the Lions needed.

A 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dontavious Kinchens to Jamal Robinson on the next play gave the Lions a 14-6 lead, and the Lions took off from there, pulling away for a 35-14 victory at Milander Stadium.

“We came here to put a team together to win the district championship and I think we’re in a good position now to make that first step and get that trophy back to the school,” Harris said. “We definitely struggled in the first half and what we as a coaching staff will be to grade the film but especially grade the second half to see how we responded to an adverse situation.”

The good news for Harris and his players is that they are no longer in a “good position” to win the district title.

They ARE the district champions.

The win over the Pioneers on Saturday kept the Lions, ranked No. 16 in the Miami Herald’s South Florida Top 20 poll, undefeated at 6-0.

But their 3-0 district mark in a five team district, coupled with the fact that Pembroke Pines Charter, they’re only district game left, already has two district losses, means even a loss to Pines Charter and 3-1 mark would still give them the title since they’ve already beaten Everglades, Miramar and North Miami, thus winning the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Mater Academy clinched its first district title since 2016 and will make back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since the Lions did it four straight years from 2014-17. North Miami fell to 4-2, (1-1) but the Pioneers could still qualify for the playoffs as a wild card entry if they keep winning.

After the 31-yard touchdown, Kinchens and Robinson were just warming up.

Twice more in the second half, the two hooked up for touchdown passes of 15 and 49 yards. The 49-yarder came right after the Pioneers had cut into a 21-6 Mater lead on a 2-yard plunge by quarterback Chammbrayy Campbell with 11:35 left in the game.

Robinson did it in style as he jumped up for the deep pass and literally stole it from a North Miami defender before sprinting the final 25 yards to the end zone to make it 28-14 with 10:01 left.

Running back Kimbriq Minnis finished things off for the Lions by breaking loose for a 43-yard score with 2:11 remaining to complete the scoring. Minnis led all rushers in the game with 78 yards on nine carries.

“The first half I was messing up, not really looking at my reads and worrying about the pressure but at halftime my O-line and receivers told me ‘we’ve got you’ so I just had to go out there and make it happen in the second half,” said Kinchens who finished his night 16-of-24 for 225 yards and the three scores to Robinson. “Jamal and I, we spend a lot of time every day after practice getting extra work with our timing routes and everything clicked between us out there tonight. Now we want to stay hungry and win every game.”

Robinson, who along with Kinchens and a handful of other players transferred over to Mater from BTW to continue to play for Harris, finished his night with a total of seven receptions for 135 yards and the three scores.

“It felt great out there,” Robinson said. “After halftime, we knew we had to come out there and get things cranked up and go get it. So we went and got it.”

Harris also coached on the sidelines Saturday night with a heavy heart. He reminded his players after the game how special Sheldon Hanks was. The brother of former BTW head coach Ben Hanks and a long-time assistant coach under Harris, passed away unexpectedly early last week.

“A very difficult situation,” said Harris. “Sheldon Hanks was a very special part of our family and will be greatly missed.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2025 at 3:29 AM.