Chiefs Hungry For Second Straight State Title

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Posted on June 3, 2019 by Marcus Benjamin
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Fort Lauderdale, FL — Winning the first championship in school history has officially put Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale) on the Florida high school football map.  Kids want to be apart of the Chief family that Head Coach Matt Dubuc has helped to create. Dubuc was an All-State running back for Gibbons from 1989 to 1992 and helped his team reach the state championship game as a player.  As a head coach Dubuc is going into his fourth year and is the Chief of the ‘Air Raid Offense’ which has served to be the identity of the Gibbons football team. The style of offense was made popular by Washington State Head Coach Mike Leach as of late and is an adaptation of the old run and shoot made popular by the Houston Oilers in the 80s and 90s.

Head Coach Matt Dubuc (Center)

“We have an identity, said Coach Dubuc.  “People want to play for us because they know we are going to throw the ball.  We include the backs in what we do. The ‘Air Raid’ is a system not just based on one thing.  It’s not based on how many times you run the ball but how far you run it. That’s our philosophy and that’s the way we look at it.”  

Quarterback is obviously an important piece for the ‘Air Raid’ offense and the Chiefs do get their starting quarterback of the 2018 5A state championship game back for his junior season. Brody Palhegyi having the best year of his life took over for the injured Kentucky signee Nik Scalzo during the 2018 playoffs. Scalzo, who started the same year as Dubuc, was a three-year starter and helped build the Gibbons program to what it is today. Scalzo set numerous school records including career touchdown passes and passing yards in the regular season and the playoffs. Scalzo also holds many multiple single-game records and is easily the best quarterback in Gibbons history. His senior season was documented by the Netflix series QB1 due to be released this fall.

Former Gibbons QB Nik Scalzo

“He was a guy who came in and competed and got us to where we needed to go,” said the Chiefs of Broward coach. “Ultimately he threw a lot of touchdowns, 75 touchdowns in a three year period is a lot of touchdowns for any quarterback.  I think the system has something to do with it.”

Palhegyi goes into the Fall with three-star tackle Gerald Mincey anchoring his offensive line, three-star receivers Majon Wright (2020), Troy Stellato (2021) and Jake Harrington (2021) on the outside and three-star running back Tajae Davis (2020) at running back.

Gerald Mincey, Tackle, Cardinal Gibbons

“I don’t think I’ll have any pressure with the offensive weapons I’ll have around me.  We have weapons all around me to help me out,” said Palhegyi when asked about the pressure he would feel going into the 2019 season after their ‘Red and White’ scrimmage.  “From our offensive line to our running backs to our wide receivers it takes a lot of pressure off of me.”

Brody Palhegyi, QB, Cardinal Gibbons

On Defense, sophomore Tray Brown at middle linebacker will be looking to replace all-time sack leader and University of Florida signee Khris Bogle and Lenoir-Rhyne signee Trevis Robinson record holder with 5.5 sacks in one game in the playoffs.  Michael Antwan at defensive back will look to replicate a tremendous season from the opportunistic Sidney Porter now at Marshall University.

“We had 28 seniors and about 25 of them are going to play college football at some level,” stated Dubuc.  “There are a bunch a guys that are going to fulfill there dreams at the next level and that’s what makes me proud.  They get to continue their education by doing something they love to do. That to me is why we are in this deal. Winning games is really important but developing these guys into better people is what it’s really all about.   And if you are not in it for that reason you will not last very long.”

Tragedy struck the Gibbons program when Coach Mark Kirby, Youth Coordinator, tragically died in his sleep in February.  Coach Kirby a Michigan native, was a great ambassador for the program and developed a strong bond with the younger players and was vital to their development. The Gibbons program will honor ‘Coach Kirb’ with a decal on their helmets during the 2019 season.

“He was always a really good friend and somebody that we miss severely,” said Dubuc.  “I don’t think you can replace a guy like Mark Kirby, but he obviously left his mark. That’s life and the way it goes. He’ll be missed but never forgotten.”

The 5A state champions are now in 4A and face perhaps an even tougher task in repeating as champions with the re-classification.  Gibbons is in region 4 of the 4A class which is composed of teams such as Gulliver (Miami), Miami Booker T. Washington, Miami Carol City, Monsignor Pace (Miami), University School (Davie) as some of the top contenders. Other notable teams in 4A include 4A runner-up Cocoa and 2018 playoff teams Bolles (Jacksonville), Glades Central (Belle Glade), American Heritage (Delray) and Tampa Catholic.

Out of eleven teams in the region, six will make the playoffs.  The two highest ranked teams will receive byes in the first round.  The remaining teams will be decided in a points system which is based on strength of schedule and opponents wins and losses.  

“I think the best teams in the state in any classification are in 4A,” said Dubuc.  “They can play against anyone in any classification and probably could win a state championship in another class.”

The expectations are at an all-time high and many of the senior leaders are ready for the challenge.  

“Iron sharpens iron,” said Gerald Mincey.  “I’m a veteran and I have a lot of young guys under me.  I have to play to the fullest of my potential so they can be great so we can win another championship.”  

In addition to Scalzo, the Chiefs lose their all-time leading rusher in yards and touchdowns in the playoffs in Pittsburgh signee Vinson Davis.  The defending 5A champs will take on the defending 6A champs Miami Northwestern in game one of the 2019 season.  This will mark the third time that Gibbons will open with a Miami-Dade County powerhouse.  The Chiefs defeated Miami Southridge two years back and suffered defeat to Miami Central a year ago.

“In my first two years as a head coach Heritage was winning and ranked nationally and winning championships.  In those two years, American Heritage (Plantation) were our only losses. For us to knock them off it was monumental. That put us in the position to where we are today.  There are some really good teams that we are going to be playing and we are going to have to rise to the occasion. We had great participation this Spring and in our workouts and I will not expect anything different.  We know the competition level is going to be fierce and you don’t want it any other way. I look forward to the overall challenge of it. The most important game is always the game we are playing that week. Even though it’s a different classification we will go out there and put it on the line every week.”

Gibbons is looking to build for the future and is also looking to build youth football players into high-level athletes. In June, Gibbons along with local organization Go Get It will host a three-day youth football camp at Cardinal Gibbons High School.

“We are going to offer them a little bit of what we do offensively.  I love coaching offense so I’ll be a big part of the offensive side of the camp.  I look forward to the summertime getting back to coaching. We do this because we love coaching.”

Cardinal Gibbons is looking to perfect a formula year in and year out to maintain the level of success that every team thrives to achieve.  The new crop of Chiefs know what is expected and 2019 will prove if they are able to deliver.

“We have a very talented team,” said Troy Stellato.  “We lost some people but we’re still hungry. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication but [winning a championship] is something I think we will do this year…again.”

About Marcus Benjamin

Marcus Benjamin works as the senior writer and editor for FootballHotbed.com. He attended Florida A&M and Florida Memorial University completing a bachelors degree in communications in 2010. He's covered high school football in the South Florida area since 2010 for the Miami Herald, Miami Sports Tribune and ShawSports.net. He is married and lives in Fort, Lauderdale, FL.
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