Miami Carol City shocks Miami Central for the second straight year

FloridaHSFootball.com is a partner of USA TODAY High School Sports

Miami Central entered Friday night’s game against Miami Carol City averaging 48 points per game. But a combination of penalties, mistakes on key plays and a whole lot of Carol City defense left Central on the wrong side of a 34-7 upset against its crosstown rival.

Carol City had allowed only 37 points in its first four games, but it was the Chiefs offense, which was averaging just 19 points per game, that stole the show.

The Chiefs (3-2, 1-0) burst out to a 21-0 lead at halftime as Victor Tucker and sophomore Nayquan Wright both scored on the ground, and quarterback Marlon Smith connected with Terrance Horne on an 80-yard strike late in the second quarter.

Central (5-1, 1-1) tried to make a game of it with a short James Cook TD run in the final minute of the third quarter, but Smith hit Tucker from 11 yards out midway through the fourth quarter to push the lead back to three scores.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Wright, who already holds scholarship offers from Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame, Florida State and Georgia, capped the upset with a 51-yard scoring run.

It was the second consecutive year that Carol City stunned Central. Last year, Carol City won 8-7, although Central did not lose again and won the Class 6A 6A title.

Follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Twitter at @USATODAYhss