alex95
January 12th, 2010, 09:34 PM
yeah! this may be late..
ORLANDO -- It was supposed to be a transition year for the Miramar Patriots. The only change turned out to be the jump from contender to state champion.
Playing on a chilly Saturday night in front of 8,803 fans at the Citrus Bowl, Miramar capped its greatest season in school history with a 42-20 blowout of DeLand to claim the Class 6A crown -- the first state title for a boys' team at the southwest Broward high school since it opened 41 years ago.
"It's big for the program, the city of Miramar and the Broward County school system. It's just been an awesome, awesome, awesome year,'' said Miramar coach Damon Cogdell, who in three seasons as head coach has led the Patriots to a 33-4 record including an 8-1 postseason run the last two years.
"Being a Miramar graduate, this means so much. Our fan base brought a big crowd. They were supporting us from Day One. We had to make sure we brought home the state championship.''
Quarterback Ryan Williams, who had huge shoes to fill this summer when he took over for Parade All-American Eugene Smith, had a night to remember.
The 6-5, 220-pound senior transfer from Plantation American Heritage set a state record with five touchdown passes and 254 yards on 18 of 21 attempts (the 85.7 percent completion rate also set a state record).
Star receiver Ivan McCartney, a cousin of Bengals Pro Bowl receiver Chad Ochocinco, caught three of Williams' TD passes and provided the crowd with his own rendition of the Riverdance after the last one -- a 15-yarder -- with 28 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 42-7.
Senior running back Jeremiah Hicks, who missed his sophomore and junior seasons because he was academically ineligible, ran for a 44-yard touchdown and hauled in a 29-yard pass at the start of third quarter to make it 35-7.
But the night belonged to Williams, who helped the Patriots (14-1) roll up 354 yards of total offense on a DeLand defense that had eight shutouts this season.
``Eugene Smith -- awesome quarterback,'' McCartney said. ``There's no quarterback like Eugene Smith. But Ryan Williams has done something Eugene Smith hasn't. That's win a state championship.
``He was at a 2A school, came up to a 6A school. It took him some time. But he progressed. We worked together and he made it happen.''
DARK SIDE DEFENSE
Miramar's ``Dark Side'' defense, meanwhile, had no problem shutting down the Bulldogs' talented rushing tandem of Shontrell Johnson and DeAnte `Pop' Saunders. The duo who combined for 3,665 yards and 41 touchdowns during the season, had 35 yards on 22 attempts between them Saturday.
DeLand's only first half points were scored after McCartney and safety Keondrick Lyn collided during a punt return, one of two fumbles lost on punt returns by the Patriots in the first half.
Before Achim Johnson scored on a 3-yard run to make it 21-7 with 3:32 left in the first half, Miramar lost its leading tackler when senior linebacker Jamaal Bass went down with a broken left ankle.
Cogdell dedicated the win to Bass, who was carted off on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital.
``Losing Jamaal was tough. But we stuck together,'' defensive end Sir Christian Gordon said. ``We weren't going to let him down.''
The championship is only the second for Miramar in a team sport. The Patriots won a girls' flag football title -- with Cogdell as coach -- in 2006.
It also made history in Broward. Miramar became only the fourth public school to win a state football championship and no Broward team had won a Class 6A state championship since the classification was formed in 1994.
HISTORY BOOKS
Prior to that, the only school to bring home a title in the state's largest classification was Hollywood Hills, which won the 1973 Class 4A crown.
``I'm going to remember this family, this crowd and all the coaches that helped make this happen for the rest of my life,'' said Gordon, who along with McCartney chased down Cogdell for an ice bath as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
``People are going to remember us for a very long time. We're in the history books.'
source: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/high-schools/story/1390947.html
yeah! this may be late.. W00T YAY FOR MY HIGH SCHOOL XD
ORLANDO -- It was supposed to be a transition year for the Miramar Patriots. The only change turned out to be the jump from contender to state champion.
Playing on a chilly Saturday night in front of 8,803 fans at the Citrus Bowl, Miramar capped its greatest season in school history with a 42-20 blowout of DeLand to claim the Class 6A crown -- the first state title for a boys' team at the southwest Broward high school since it opened 41 years ago.
"It's big for the program, the city of Miramar and the Broward County school system. It's just been an awesome, awesome, awesome year,'' said Miramar coach Damon Cogdell, who in three seasons as head coach has led the Patriots to a 33-4 record including an 8-1 postseason run the last two years.
"Being a Miramar graduate, this means so much. Our fan base brought a big crowd. They were supporting us from Day One. We had to make sure we brought home the state championship.''
Quarterback Ryan Williams, who had huge shoes to fill this summer when he took over for Parade All-American Eugene Smith, had a night to remember.
The 6-5, 220-pound senior transfer from Plantation American Heritage set a state record with five touchdown passes and 254 yards on 18 of 21 attempts (the 85.7 percent completion rate also set a state record).
Star receiver Ivan McCartney, a cousin of Bengals Pro Bowl receiver Chad Ochocinco, caught three of Williams' TD passes and provided the crowd with his own rendition of the Riverdance after the last one -- a 15-yarder -- with 28 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 42-7.
Senior running back Jeremiah Hicks, who missed his sophomore and junior seasons because he was academically ineligible, ran for a 44-yard touchdown and hauled in a 29-yard pass at the start of third quarter to make it 35-7.
But the night belonged to Williams, who helped the Patriots (14-1) roll up 354 yards of total offense on a DeLand defense that had eight shutouts this season.
``Eugene Smith -- awesome quarterback,'' McCartney said. ``There's no quarterback like Eugene Smith. But Ryan Williams has done something Eugene Smith hasn't. That's win a state championship.
``He was at a 2A school, came up to a 6A school. It took him some time. But he progressed. We worked together and he made it happen.''
DARK SIDE DEFENSE
Miramar's ``Dark Side'' defense, meanwhile, had no problem shutting down the Bulldogs' talented rushing tandem of Shontrell Johnson and DeAnte `Pop' Saunders. The duo who combined for 3,665 yards and 41 touchdowns during the season, had 35 yards on 22 attempts between them Saturday.
DeLand's only first half points were scored after McCartney and safety Keondrick Lyn collided during a punt return, one of two fumbles lost on punt returns by the Patriots in the first half.
Before Achim Johnson scored on a 3-yard run to make it 21-7 with 3:32 left in the first half, Miramar lost its leading tackler when senior linebacker Jamaal Bass went down with a broken left ankle.
Cogdell dedicated the win to Bass, who was carted off on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital.
``Losing Jamaal was tough. But we stuck together,'' defensive end Sir Christian Gordon said. ``We weren't going to let him down.''
The championship is only the second for Miramar in a team sport. The Patriots won a girls' flag football title -- with Cogdell as coach -- in 2006.
It also made history in Broward. Miramar became only the fourth public school to win a state football championship and no Broward team had won a Class 6A state championship since the classification was formed in 1994.
HISTORY BOOKS
Prior to that, the only school to bring home a title in the state's largest classification was Hollywood Hills, which won the 1973 Class 4A crown.
``I'm going to remember this family, this crowd and all the coaches that helped make this happen for the rest of my life,'' said Gordon, who along with McCartney chased down Cogdell for an ice bath as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
``People are going to remember us for a very long time. We're in the history books.'
source: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/high-schools/story/1390947.html
yeah! this may be late.. W00T YAY FOR MY HIGH SCHOOL XD