PREVIEW: Key West prepares for battle against Coral Glades in conference action

For the second straight week, the Key West High Conchs travel to the mainland for their final regular season game. After blowing Inlet Grove out of the water, 42-6, the Conchs face off against the Coral Glades Jaguars. The Jaguars, currently 4th in Gold Coast Conference (GCC) standings, were crushed by Archbishop McCarthy 42-7 last week on the road.

Although the Conchs are (4-4) so far this year, Key West is (3-1) in Conference play just behind the Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks (5-0 GCC) and a single game ahead of the North Broward Prep Eagles (2-2 GCC). The Eagles have won 6 games and have only suffered two losses overall; one to the Mavericks and the other to the Conchs. If the Conchs win this week, the standings will most likely stay the same and Key West will host its second home playoff game since 1995. The Conchs, however, must take care of business against Coral Glades.

Last week’s result not only put the Conchs at .500 on the season, but also jump started the Key West triple option offense and the Conchs’ wide receiver Alvin Howard. The sophomore stole the spotlight with three total touchdowns—one rushing, one receiving and one passing—adding up to 85 total offense yards. Helping Howard, was senior Mekhi Sargent. Sargent would continue his dominant play and rush for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The senior would score his 17th touchdown of the year and his 40th of his career, which is a new school record for the Conchs. Sargent and Howard weren’t the only two who had a big night. Sophomore Kolby Kelleher added 111 yards and scored a touchdown of his own.

Quarterback Michael Cleaver had a productive night under center as he was 6-for-12 with 64 yards and a 24 yard passing touchdown to Howard. As mentioned above, Howard would have a passing touchdown of his own as he would connect with senior Shaq Parkinson on a 27-yard halfback pass for a score. Overall on offense, Key West’s triple option offense gained over 400 total yards during the win.

The interleague win keeps Key West in second place in the Gold Coast Conference as shown below:

Archbishop McCarthy: 5-0
Key West: 3-1
North Broward Prep: 2-2
Coral Glades: 2-2
Pembroke Pines Charter: 1-3
Inlet Grove: 0-5

If Key West wants to secure a home playoff game, they must defeat Coral Glades on the road. Both teams have defeated Pembroke Pines Charter and Inlet Grove, but Coral Glades lost to North Broward Prep at home 35-12 on October 2nd, while Key West defeated the Eagles 44-30 on the road September 18th. As for the Eagles, they too travel this weekend to clash with Pembroke Pines Charter. Archbishop McCarthy capped off their regular season last week by defeating Coral Glades 42-7 in their Homecoming game, finishing the regular season 9-0 overall and ranked 72nd in the state of Florida according to MaxPreps.

The regular season comes to a close this Friday night under the lights as the Key West High School Conchs battle it out with the Coral Glades Jaguars on the road with hopes of securing the number 2 seed and a home playoff in the Gold Coast Conference postseason.