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Marcus Benjamin @_benjaminmoney
Miami, FL – The Rockets came into this game knowing that they had to take care of business against their crosstown rival. Their opponent in blue and gold came into Traz Powell Stadium looking to get back on track and win their first game since September 21st. Penalties were the story in this game as both teams totaled 47 accepted penalties and failed to get any offensive consistency in the first half.
“We couldn’t get in a rhythm,” said Head Coach Roland Smith. “The referees really took control of the game. I guess we have to do a better job as coaches to make sure we teach our kids the proper way to avoid committing so many penalties.”
The teams traded field goals into the second quarter as both offenses failed to get in the end-zone. Quarterback Maurice Underwood, like he’s done all year, found one of his speedy receivers on a deep ball to break the touchdown drought. Senior Jaylin Young caught up to a deep pass and scored on a 64-yard touchdown.
Senior Wider Receiver Jaylin Young
The Rockets tried to execute a balanced offense and would take the 10-3 lead into halftime.
“We were trying to balance it out,” said senior running back Lexington “Flex” Joseph. “As we went to halftime, we started to focus on the run more.”
There was definitely a commitment to the run game in the second half as the Rockets drove 88 yards and held the ball for about six minutes on their first drive. The drive ended with a four yard touchdown pass from Underwood to Shamar Zaragoza to extend the lead to 14.
.@MauriceJr_D1 rolls to his right and finds Shamar Zaragoza for the touchdown! @Roc__Nation extends lead 17-3 mid 3rd over Miami Northwestern. pic.twitter.com/20VMimVXpr
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminMoney) October 20, 2018
The Bulls would counter that drive with a scoring drive of their own. Sophomore Karman Kinchens setup the score with a long kickoff return and junior Nathan Noel took it in from two yards for a touchdown on a drive that started at the Rocket 22 yard line. It would be the only time Northwestern would get in the end-zone as the Rockets would score 21 straight points from that point forward. Joseph would run some plays in the wildcat and the combination of juniors Shemar Paul and Juan Henry would prove to be too much for the Bulls. Joseph would break away on a 32-yard touchdown run to make it a 24-10 game with 9:18 left in the game.
Junior Running Back Shemar Paul
“We started pounding, pounding, pounding in the second half,” said Joseph. “Patience over time you wear the defense down, then eventually their going to let down and we take advantage every time.”
Henry would get in on the scoring on the their next drive as he blasted through the middle for a 21-yard touchdown run.
Juan Henry seals the deal with a 21-yard touchdown run for the Rockets. @Roc__Nation up 31-10 with under six minutes left. @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/wP5TcnO8HC
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminMoney) October 20, 2018
Underwood had another solid game completing 50% of his passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns. He would connect on another deep ball in this game to senior Anthony Fredrick for a 60-yard touchdown in the game’s final moments.
Marshall Commit Maurice Underwood
Andre Auguste earned defensive MVP honors as the Central defense was able to create penetration and shut down the Bulls running game.
Senior Defensive Tackle Andre Auguste
All eyes and ears will be back at Traz Powell next Friday for the regular season game of the year in Dade County against undefeated Miami Carol City. Coach Smith will hope to clean up the penalties and special teams lapses next week in a game that will decide the district 16-6A champion.
“We cannot give a high powered offense like Carol City the ball inside our 2o or 30 yard line, because if we do that we won’t give ourselves a chance,” said Smith. “We have to give them a long field to try and score against us and if we do that we’ll be fine.”
Miami Central is now (8-1) with their lone loss coming to St. Johns (DC) in five overtimes. Northwestern falls to (3-5) on the season and find themselves in a must win game with Miami Norland next Thursday.
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