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Miami – On fourth down in the second session of overtime, the boys from Overtown found themselves in a win or lose situation on the Spartan’s wet home field. Quarterback Torrey Morrison dropped back to pass and lofted the ball in the corner of the end zone to his go to receiver Jacorey Brooks. Brooks, clearly being held on the play, had enough strength to locate the ball and haul it in for the equalizer at twenty Thursday night.
.@ballout_corey4 with amazing touchdown catch here over Tyrique Stevenson to help @MiamiBTW_FB get the win in double overtime over Miami Southridge. Extra point by Andres Borregales seals victory for Tornadoes 🌪 @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/7bWqPeDDmB
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminMoney) September 7, 2018
“I believed in my quarterback to make the throw,” said Brooks. “We had to fight through adversity and we overcame that. It was an amazing play.”
Andres Borregales kicked through the extra point after the score and the Tornadoes stormed the field and escaped with a 21-20 victory. After a tough loss to Miami Central last week, the Tornadoes had something to prove in this game. Washington trailed 6-5 in the first half against Central before the Rockets blew the doors open and won 41-5. Booker T. trailed on three occasions in this game and answered every punch that was thrown their way.
“After playing a great team like Central, we tried to make sure we worked on the understanding of fighting through the process,” said Head Coach Tim “Ice” Harris. “Fighting through the adversity of a game and understanding what it takes for us to not to quit is something we talked about all week. We wanted to show tonight that were not going to be a team that quits in tough situations. We were blessed to come up with the plays we needed to make to pull this off.”
Plays were made when they needed them the most. Down 6-0 in the second half, Washington was faced with a fourth down and long. Morrison threw into triple coverage to his running back Marcus Barthell and he somehow wrestled the ball away from the defender.
.@MarcusBarthell6 2019 RB from @MiamiBTW_FB comes up with huge catch on 4th down in traffic to extend drive. @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/wNZMijKSi7
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminMoney) September 7, 2018
Barthell would finish the drive with a 27-yard touchdown run to put his team up 7-6. Southridge would recover a loose football that Baron Howard III would quickly take over the goal line for a score to help put the Spartans back up 14-7. The Tornadoes would attempt to strike back with 4:31 left in the game, but the drive would end with a Spartan group sack on Morrison. Coach Harris pulled his sophomore quarterback aside and offered words that would help him with his next drive.
“I tried to make sure he knew that he did not have to win it by himself. He tried to do a little too much but once he bought into that, he settled himself down and made the throws he needed to make. He’s going to continue to grow to be an elite quarterback in the future.”
Booker T.’s defense came up with big stops in crunch time. Wati Huggins came up with a fumble recovery on the ensuing drive after a fumbled exchange in the Spartan backfield. Morrison would capitalize on their next drive as he found Theodore Richardson wide open for a 24-yard touchdown pass. With the game now knotted at 14, Southridge had a chance to end the game in the final minutes. Quarterback Antwan Anderson drove his team into the red zone but Theion Kendrick caused a fumble that would end the scoring threat. In overtime, Washington would miss a field goal on their first possession giving the Spartans yet another chance to grab the victory. The Tornadoes would block a field goal in the first overtime and then block a critical extra point attempt that would eventually set up the game winning scores.
“The defense really kept us in the game,” said Coach Harris. “They put us in great positions all night. They bended but did not break and made the big stops when we needed to make them. We put our block party team together and they were able to block those two kicks which would put us in position to kick that extra point to win it.
Miami Booker T. Washington will look to continue to build on this victory as they will face Columbus (Miami) next week at Curtis Park. Southridge will continue its quest toward a 8A state title as they play at Miami Killian next week.
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