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Marcus Benjamin @_benjaminmoney
Deerfield Beach, FL – Team speed is often the difference between winning and losing. The Deerfield Beach Bucks have an abundance of speed on both sides of the ball and used that advantage to take over the game against Westlake (Atlanta) Saturday night. Their receiving corps, which is one of the best in the state, scored often in the second half in route to the 40-16 victory.
“We have a great group of receivers,” said receiver Deajaun McDougle after receiving the Football Hotbed MVP honor. “We got speed. Their from Georgia they don’t [know] about our speed.”
There was a moment when Deerfield Beach seemed like they might lose this game on their home field. The moment was late in the first quarter when starting quarterback DeRohn King left the game with a head injury. On that same possession that King left the game, backup quarterback Tyron Herring threw an interception to Jaden Daniels. Westlake would score a field goal on the drive and open up scoring in the game in the 2nd quarter with a 3-0 lead. Herring would redeem himself by connecting with 2020 receiver McDougle over the middle as the Bucks entered the red zone for the first time in the game with under a minute left in the half. Dashaun Davis would cap the drive with an impressive catch dive over the goal line to take the lead 6-3 for his team right before halftime.
Touchdown Bucks! Deerfield Beach @DB_BucksFB goes up 7-3 with this catch and dive into the end zone by @Shauntoosmooth1. @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/uh3MEhA7Zb
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminMoney) September 9, 2018
At the half, the Bucks were chewed out by their head coach Jevon Glenn for their lack of effort.
“We came out flat,” said Coach Glenn. “We weren’t prepared to play. I gave a very intense halftime speech, something my mom won’t be proud of but it got us right and you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Westlake received the first half kickoff and were able score on a screen pass to Darrell Nichols for a 44-yard touchdown. Nichols would finish the game with two touchdowns.
The Bucks would strike back as DeRohn King returned to the field and threw his the first of his two touchdown passes to McDougle. He would also connect with Donte Banton and Davis again to complete the game with 4 TDs and over 300 yards passing.
“I seen how they were playing man to man on my slot guys,” said the junior QB King. “The middle of the field was wide open and I knew my guys were going to beat them.”
The “Beach Boys” were relentless on defense and did not allow the team from Georgia to get in a rhythm offensively. They were able to take advantage of Westlake miscues and put the Deerfield offense in great field position.
“We hang our hat on defense,” said Coach Glenn. “That’s what we do defensively, we create turnovers and we got it together after halftime.”
After facing three teams that all will contend for their respective class state titles this season, the Bucks will face their rival Blanche Ely (Pompano) next week Saturday at 7:00 PM and continue their 8A title run.
