COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – North Broward Prep returned home after a three-week hiatus on the road, and didn’t disappoint a huge crowd on hand for homecoming.
The Eagles stumbled out of the gate to a slow start but were able to rally and take down visiting Pompano Beach, 53-28, on Friday night. After falling down 14-13 early in the second quarter, North Broward (5-0) outscored the Golden Tornadoes, 40-14, the rest of the way.
“I told the boys this is like a trap game,” North Broward head coach Rex Nottage said after the game. “Coming off of an emotional win like we had last week and facing a team that’s scrappy like this we knew we were going to be in a dogfight. I think complacency showed a little bit this week because we’re better than how we played even though we did do a great job today.”
The Eagles’ stout defense – which had been putting up record numbers so far this season – struggled early, omitting a touchdown on two of the first three drives. But its offense picked up the slack. Kevin Austin caught a 66-yard touchdown pass, and Dymitri McKenzie ran in two scores from two yards and 72 yards out to give the Eagles a 19-14 lead.
“Our offense scored 53 points,” Nottage said. “So they were pretty much clicking tonight.”
McKenzie had three first-half touchdowns, following five total against Key West last week.
Junior Quarterback Logan Shooster got hit hard on a play in the second quarter and left the game briefly but was able to return and cap off what was a pretty good homecoming performance. Shooster finished with four touchdowns on the night and recovered a fumble on the defensive end.
Pompano Beach (1-4), coming in as a heavy underdog, scored twice early on a John Padgett run on their opening drive – which opened up a 7-0 lead – and a Logan Good quarterback keeper for a three-yard score, which had given the Golden Tornadoes a one-point lead at the time.
But the cream rose to the top, and Pompano scored just two touchdowns the rest of the way, one being with under 10 seconds left.
“We didn’t execute and were confused with some of our coverages defensively,” Nottage said of his team’s slow start. “They did some things that we didn’t see and we weren’t covering like we should.”
Dymitri McKenzie continues to have a monster senior season. McKenzie had a record four rushing touchdowns on Friday night from two, 72, one, and three yards out, adding up to his total of 10 rushing scores on the season. The four-year starter currently has one offer from Stetson, but more should pile in soon.
“It’s his hard work,” Nottage credited to McKenzie’s success this season. “His offseason training, it’s paying off. He has taken the captain’s role on his shoulders and he’s owning, he leads by example, and his work ethic is just great. I think he’s going to have a bright future because he starting to get more and more offers so I’m excited for him.”
Four-star junior receiver Kevin Austin only caught three passes on the night, but they were all valuable. Austin’s three catches all went for touchdowns, one from 66, another from 44, and one more from 27 yards out. Austin now has six receiving touchdowns this year.
After the Eagles’ opened the half with two scores, Pompano Beach was able to answer on a Logan Good touchdown pass to Grady Keene, and after the Golden Tornadoes recovered their onside kick, Pompano – although down 25 at the time – seemed to have some momentum. However, it quickly vanished after Bradley Cooper made a nice play to intercept Good’s pass.
After giving up 14 points in the first quarter, North Broward’s defense was back to its dominating way it had been the first four games of the season. Pompano Beach wasn’t able to get much going offensively with swarming defense by the Eagles. Pompano had just 14 points the rest of the way, while North Broward forced two more turnovers and a safety.
“It was the adjustments that we made,” Nottage said of his defenses’ turnaround after early struggles. “We did a great job making those adjustments and they guys started communicating, we started putting pressure on the quarterback, and putting them in a bad situation. Overall, we woke up a little bit when we were kind of flat at the beginning of the game, and we fought through it.”
North Broward’s 5-0 record is the best it has been since 2008 when current Dolphin Brandon Doughty was the quarterback. The Eagles’ currently sit comfortably in first place in the Gold Coast Football Conference standings.
Kenny Henningsen caught a 32-yard touchdown pass with 4:09 to go after North Broward forced a safety, which put the Eagles up 53-20.
North Broward Prep will have a bye week next before taking on Westminster Academy on the road on October 7th, while Pompano Beach will have a bye as well next week, before playing host to Pembroke Pines Charter the following week.
