Miami, FL — Take notice of the Raiders from Pinecrest. The Gulliver (Miami) Raiders made a statement on Friday afternoon in defeating Belen Jesuit (Miami) 45-16. Sophomore quarterback Carson Haggard took the MVP honors passing for four touchdowns in what was promoted as the “Prep Bowl” between the two prep private schools. The game was moved from Friday to Saturday originally only to move back to Friday afternoon due to Hurricane Dorian.
“We came in very confident because we know how hard we work,” said Haggard. “Our receivers stepped up and made some great plays for the win.”
The Raiders find themselves in a highly competitive class in 4A and will have to earn their way through the playoffs should they reach the postseason. Last year, Guliver fell to University School (Davie) after defeating Monsignor Pace (Miami) in the first round. Despite last season’s success, some of the Raider players feel they are being overlooked.
“At the beginning of the season, nobody thought we were going to beat Gables by how much we did. Nobody thought we were going to beat Belen by how much we did, said senior running back Anton Hall. I know that’s just two games, but more to come.”
Gulliver jumped on Belen early scoring touchdowns on their first two drives of the game. Running backs Cedric Irvin Jr. (son of Miami Southridge head coach Cedric Irvin) and Hall helped the Raiders jump out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter. The Gulliver running attack was not at full strength as three-star Yulkeith Brown was held out of this game with a hand injury.
The Wolverines, with their traditional ground and pound run game, tried to keep things close in the first half with five-star Don Chaney Jr. After the Wolverine defense forced a turnover on downs on their own 8-yard line, The Miami Hurricanes commit, helped his team finish the 92-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run to make it a 14-9 game in the second quarter.
This would be the closest the Wolverines would get on the scoreboard. Stopping Chaney was a focal point of the Raider defense.
“We let them get on the board, but things happen,” said defensive tackle Westley Neal. “Every time [Chaney] touching it we hitting him.
Haggard would get it going en route to his multiple touchdown pass afternoon. On 3rd down in the red zone, Haggard found Navy commit Amin Hassan for a six-yard touchdown. Gulliver would take a 21-9 lead into halftime.
Disaster would strike for Jesuit as the Wolverines would fail to protect the football. On the first play of the second half, Chaney Jr. was stripped of the football by the Gulliver defense and sophomore Bakari Edwards scooped up the football for the Raiders. The home team added a Will Bettrididge field goal to their total with a 27-yard field goal.
On the next Belen possession, freshman Antonio Smith snatches a Wolverine pass over the middle of the field for a Raider interception. Gulliver would capitalize on the turnover as Haggard would find Hassan again. This time the senior receiver caught a quick short pass toward the sideline near the line of scrimmage and blazed to the goal line like a bolt of lightning for a 40-yard touchdown.
Chaney would go in for his second touchdown on his best run of the day. After breaking through the first line of defense the future Cane used his elusiveness to get to the corner for a 22-yard touchdown run to make it a 31-16 game in the 3rd quarter.
Haggard’s best throw of the day was a gorgeous deep ball to senior Ulises Sarria in the third quarter. The touchdown connection was good for 32 yards and essentially ended any hopes of a Jesuit comeback. Later in the half, touchdown pass number four from Haggard went to junior Gabriel Nealy.
“We haven’t played to our full potential,” said defensive end Donell Harris. “We’ll take one game at a time.”
Harris mentioned that his top five of Texas A&M, LSU, Alabama, Georgia and Auburn are still his current top five colleges and mentioned that Miami is back in the mix.
Kamar Meza and Gab Taylor (brother of former Gulliver and Miami Hurricane great Sean Taylor) also recorded interceptions for Gulliver.
Vanderbilt commit Diego Lamonica sat this one out with a knee injury but should be back next week.
Gulliver will look to continue rolling as they host Pinecrest next week. Belen Jesuit will look to get on a winning track as they get Doral Academy in their home opener next Friday night.
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