Booker T. Washington clinches second straight Class 4A State Championship

ORLANDO – Saturday night in the Orlando Citrus Bowl, the top team not only in Florida, but in the nation, took to the field for the right to be crowned the FHSAA Class 4A champion. The No. 1 Booker T. Washington Tornadoes (14-0) played “host” to the Bolles Bulldogs (10-4) in the night cap game of the second day of the football finals.

By the end of the night, the Tornadoes secured the title with a 40-21 win over the Bulldogs. This not only won them a class championship, but also the all-elusive “High School National Championship.”

“We knew this was our thing to lose. We knew what kind of team Bolles was cause we have faced them before in the state championship game. But I had all the confidence in the world in my boys,” said Booker T. Washington’s head coach Tim “Ice” Harris.

Booker T. Washington opened the game scoring on their first possession. A mix of runs and passes got the Tornadoes all the way down to the five yard line. From there, Mark Walton shimmed his way in the end zone for the first score of the night.

But not to go unnoticed, Bolles answered back with a lengthy drive of their own. Aided by penalties, the Bulldogs drove the length of the field behind the running of Christian Bermudez. Quarterback Joe Edden found Tyrell Moorer in the back of the end zone for a Bolles touchdown.

On the ensuing possession, Tornadoes quarterback Treon Harris tried to force the issue and was intercepted by the Bulldog defense.

Bolles entered the second quarter only down by one point, 7-6, but the score did not stay that way for long.

The Booker T. Washington defense shifted into high gear forcing Bolles to punt on every possession of the second quarter. The Tornado offense benefited from the short field position.

Walton scored his second rushing touchdown after accounting for almost over half the yards on a mid-second quarter drive. Following that, the younger Harris started his aerial assault on the Bulldog secondary.

He first found Terrawn McPhee for a 31 yard score with 5:33 left in the quarter. Then, he later found a wide open Deltron Hopkins crossing the field for a score to close the half. This pushed the score to 28-6 just before the half.

Bolles did gain enough yardage at the close of  the half to attempt a field goal, but it was missed by kicker Alex Lucansky.

Following the 15 minute break of halftime, the Bulldogs received the ball first and immediately went three and out within 45 seconds of the third quarter. But it took even less time for the Tornadoes Krondis Larry to take a Harris handoff and run 45 yards for a Booker T. Washington score.

The Bulldogs did answer though. Insert Dexter Carter Jr., who ran the ball four times over a nine play drive including a two yard run for touchdown. Add on a two point conversion and we had a 34-14 score with a little over six minutes to play in the third quarter.

With nobody scoring for the rest of the quarter, the Bulldogs took their field position at the end of the third and carried it over to the fourth. Although getting into the red zone, the Bulldogs were unable to score in the allotted downs.

“We knew we could play with them. After the first quarter, we were in great shape, but things got away from us a little before half. I talked in the locker room about playing together. We started and finished together and that’s all you can ask for,” said Bulldogs head coach Charles “Corky” Rogers.

After sitting for all of the third quarter, Walton emerged on the field making runs of 27 yards and 17 yards to get the Tornado offense in the red zone. Despite multiple penalties that backed the offense up, Booker T. Washington managed to score on a Harris scrabble of seven yards with a little over seven minutes remaining in the game.

Harris finished the game with 226 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 11 rushes for 86 yards and a touchdown.

With the game already in hand for Booker T. Washington, Bolles still tacked on a late score on the legs of Bermudez, who finished with 132 yards on the ground and one score.

In the end the No. 1 high school team in the nation finished the year the same way they started … as the No. 1 team and still undefeated. Champions not only of the class 4A in Florida, but overall champions as the best high school football team in 2013.

RELATED VIDEO: Booker T. Washington’s head coach talks about winning second straight championship