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Fort Lauderdale, FL — We are two years removed from Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons’ magical state championship run where sophomore quarterback Brody Palhegyi took over the starting position in the playoffs to lead the Chiefs to their first state championship in school history.
Palhegyi, now a senior, played in his first game of the season Friday night, in October in front of zero fans. The Chiefs defeated 4A class contender Miami Monsignor Pace 28-12 and Gibbons remains one of the favorites to win the class in 2020. Although Gibbons started this abnormal season with a victory, Head Coach Matt Dubuc realizes that there is much work to be done.
“It was great getting back on the field but there was nothing normal about it,” said Coach Dubuc. “We’re not a team yet, we’re far from it…down the road we’ll have a good team by the playoffs, but we are far from being a good team.”
The defending 4A state champions Miami Booker T. Washington opted out of the state series and will not be competing for a state championship. Washington is one of many teams that will compete in a tri-county area (Miami-Dade, Broward, and West Palm Beach). The move by the state champs leaves the door open for other teams to take home a state title in an unorthodox Florida high school football season. Miami Gulliver is the likeliest of contenders coming out of region four along with Cardinal Gibbons. St. Petersburg Lakewood, Tampa Catholic, Cocoa, and last years runner-up Jacksonville Bolles are the other contenders outside of South Florida.
“Booker T. and those guys, I hope they have a good experience,” said Coach Dubuc. “We had good special teams and good defense (tonight) but we did not have a good offense, but we have a lot of encouraging things to build off of.”
The special teams started the scoring for Gibbons as the offense struggled for most of the game. After Gibbons forced a punt on Pace’s first possession, junior Davon Kiser returned the punt for a touchdown from about mid-field.
Junior @DavonKiser glides in for the punt return for a touchdown for @GibbonsFootball. Gibbons up 7-0 over Pace in the 1st quarter. pic.twitter.com/CNezl8TJTT
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) October 9, 2020
In the second quarter, senior wide receiver Luke Dean weaved his way through would-be tacklers for the team’s second punt return for a touchdown in the half.
Make that ✌🏽 punt returns for touchdowns for @GibbonsFootball as @LukeDeann24 takes this one in for the score. Gibbons up 14-0 on Pace in the second quarter. pic.twitter.com/seNwjmOrOX
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) October 9, 2020
Turnovers by the Chiefs offense would prevent the home team from breaking this game wide open. Pace defender Qualyn McQueen caught a deflected pass on the sideline and made an incredible run to make it to the goal line for a Spartans touchdown. The extra point hit the upright to make it a 14-6 game. Pace would register another interception in the half as junior Caleb Mckenzie snatched an errant pass in the middle of the field and a strip-sack by freshman Semaj Kimpson help to stall yet another Gibbons drive in the half.
Starting running back Torrance Miller would get the offense going with a big catch along the sideline to set up a first and goal and the sophomore would finish off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run. Gibbons would take a 21-6 lead at halftime. Miller and Kamari Molten are two running backs from the 2023 class powering a strong running game along with senior Jadon Morgan.
“We had two sophomore running backs that started tonight,” said Dubuc. “We have a defense that flies around so when you have that you have a chance to win against anybody.”
Particularly on the defense, this was a coming-out party for Gibbons defender Greg Otten. The sophomore linebacker was everywhere making plays for the Chiefs defense. Unofficially Otten had three sacks and three tackles for loss and several other tackles. Otten along with Jack O’Keefe, Jertavis Black, and captain Trayvon Brown form a formidable defense that will contend for a state title.
Make that ✌🏽 punt returns for touchdowns for @GibbonsFootball as @LukeDeann24 takes this one in for the score. Gibbons up 14-0 on Pace in the second quarter. pic.twitter.com/seNwjmOrOX
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) October 9, 2020
Pace would keep the game respectable as Jacquise Wright would score on a two-yard run just before the fourth quarter begun, but the Gibbons defense would force a turnover on downs in the red zone to ultimately seal the victory.
Make that ✌🏽 punt returns for touchdowns for @GibbonsFootball as @LukeDeann24 takes this one in for the score. Gibbons up 14-0 on Pace in the second quarter. pic.twitter.com/seNwjmOrOX
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) October 9, 2020
“I’m just fortunate enough we played tonight, now we look ahead to the next game and then we’ll go after that but we have a long way to go.”
Senior receiver and Clemson commit Troy Stellato did not play in this game as he has a lower extremity injury and hopes to be back next week. Five-star defensive end Shemar Stewart was not a factor in this game and unofficially recorded one tackle.
Cardinal Gibbons hosts Doral Academy next Friday night while Pace look to get their first win of the season against Somerset Silver Palms in two weeks. Gibbons takes on national title contender Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in two weeks.
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