Gulliver QB Haggard Throws For Six Touchdowns In Big Win Over Benjamin

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Marcus Benjamin

Palm Beach Gardens, FL — Last season, Gulliver Prep (Miami) was poised to make a run at the 4A state championship. Unfortunately, those aspirations were shattered by the eventual champions Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale) to the tune of a 29-7 loss in the playoffs.  

This season, the Raiders seem to be an improved team from last season.  Gulliver dismantled The Benjamin School (Palm Beach Gardens) 49-14 Friday night behind the arm of starting quarterback Carson Haggard.  The senior threw for a career-high six touchdown passes with four going to his classmate De’Carlo “CJ” Donaldson.  

De’Carlo Donaldson, Tight End, Gulliver

“When it’s one-on-one I’m always open so [Carson] is always going to put it in an area where I can catch it,” said Donaldson.  

Haggard and Donaldson, both committed to Tulane, connected early and often against the Benjamin defense.  After Haggard’s first touchdown, a three-yard pass to junior Antwaan Mays, the 2022 QB connected with Donaldson for their first of four touchdowns.  Haggard rolled to his right and threw it up to Donaldson who was double-covered on the play.  CJ after a slight deflection was able to maintain concentration and gather the football for a 15-yard touchdown. 


The second to Donaldson, a throw to the outside where CJ beat the tackle for the score.


The third, also a result of a Haggard rollout to the right, but this time he would find CJ in the middle of the field, and Donaldson would once again avoid would-be tacklers and get over the goal line.  The Raiders would take a 28-7 lead into halftime.


“They can’t stick CJ man on man, so we just took our opportunities,” said Haggard.  “When CJ gets the ball short, he’s going to break a lot of tackles.”

Benjamin would score first in the third quarter.  Sophomore quarterback Tyler Aronson would sneak it in to make it a two-touchdown deficit, but this is the closest the home team Bucs would get. 

The most impressive connection between the two future Tulane players came in the third quarter as Donaldson ran a post-corner route where Haggard hit him with precision for the touchdown. 


Haggard’s sixth touchdown came in the fourth quarter to junior Jalen Brown.  Carson threw a perfect 30-yard pass to the fast Brown for the touchdown.


Backup junior Gulliver quarterback Stefano Luis would add the last score of the game, a seven-yard touchdown pass to freshman Kenny Williams.  

 

Other Standout Players

Lamont Green Jr., Defensive End, Gulliver – The Florida State commit seemed to be in or around every play.  The junior put pressure on the quarterback and was effective in stopping the run.  

Daniel Bellatin, Linebacker, Gulliver – The junior was also consistently around the football and had a fumble recovery in the game.

Chauncy Bowens, Running Back, Benjamin – The sophomore running back was tough to bring down.  Bowens forced himself over the goal line in the first half for the Bucs and is already at minimum a group of 5 type of player.  

“We have a lot to improve on,” said Haggard.  “Even though we played a good game tonight.  We have a lot of mistakes that we can fix and we’ll take each game one at a time.”

 

Gulliver continues its tough schedule at Dade Christian next week and Benajmin will look to rebound against St. Paul II Academy (Boca Raton).

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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