DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Trailing 7-6 at home to the visiting Western Wildcats, Nick Holm found Alton Allen for the Deerfield Beach Bucks in the flat and the senior went 67 yards untouched down the sideline to put his team back on top. Allen never looked back on his foot race to the end zone and neither did Deerfield, which would score two more times in the first half to bury Western.
Deerfield Beach (8-2) headed into the postseason following a loss to Cardinal Gibbons and Western (7-3) had a week off due to a canceled road game at South Broward. After finishing in fifth place in 8A District 12 last year, Western earned a spot in the postseason as district runner up with five district wins, only losing to the defending state champion, Flanagan. The Bucks won their district outright going undefeated for their second straight title.
Western received the opening kickoff but was unable to move the ball down the field and were forced to punt. The Bucks’ offense was rolling early as Holm completed two quick passes to Jerry Jeudy and Leroy Henley. On his second carry of the game, Lafleur Lemprevil fumbled the ball, but Deerfield recovered it. Head coach Jevon Glenn pulled the senior in favor of freshman Jaylan Knighton, who carried the ball for much of the night.
After receiving the punt from Deerfield, Western began its drive deep in its own territory, opting to run the ball. After going no backfield for much of the first, the choice to run the ball seemed like a bad idea when Keshaun Clarke fumbled and the Bucks recovered.
On fourth and short inside the 10-yard line, Deerfield turned again to the freshman Knighton to move the chains. Knighton did more than move the chains, putting his team on the board by stumbling eight yards into the end zone to put his team up 6-0 late in the first after a blocked extra point attempt.
As if Jeudy wasn’t enough of a headache for Western when he was on offense, the five star Alabama commit played defense Friday night as well. As he has so many times on offense, Jeudy came down with a jump ball. Only this time, it wasn’t from Holm. It was from Western quarterback Harrison Story for an interception.
On the following drive, Jordan Chambers intercepted Nick Holm and took the ball to the house to put the Wildcats up 7-6. Looking to increase their lead, the Wildcats tried an onside kick which failed and set the Bucks up in stellar field position. Holm found Allen leaking out of the backfield to the left for 67 yards and the Bucks went ahead 13-7.
Once again Western tested its luck without a payoff when a fake punt on fourth down failed. And once again Deerfield capitalized on its opponent’s mistakes when Holm found Daewood Davis for 40 yards to go ahead 20-7.
Late in the second quarter the Wildcats were looking to jumpstart their offense when Story launched a pass down the field, but Deerfield safety Cornelius McCoy came down with the ball. Taking over with limited time on the clock, Holm launched a ball down field and found Henley, who took the ball right out of the safety’s hands to set the Bucks up on the five-yard line. Holm later ran in the score to go ahead 27-7.
Compared to the first half, the second half was relatively uneventful. The Wildcats threatened to score following a 32-yard run by Keshaun Clarke, but multiple penalties moved the ball out of the red zone and the threat was eliminated.
Jerry Jeudy was carted off of the field in the fourth quarter, but Jevon Glenn said that his star receiver was just cramping up and would be good to go for next week.
Western scored with one minute left in the fourth quarter when Story connected with Dylan Merino. The Wildcats attempted an onside kick for the second time and this time, they came up with it. However, the comeback effort was too little too late and Kobe Green came down with the Bucks’ secondary’s third interception of the game.
The 27-13 final score did not necessarily indicate how dominant Deerfield was for four quarters of play.
“With 15, 16, 17-year old kids it’s hard to tell them that this team can beat you and that this team is dangerous,” Deerfield Beach coach Jevon Glenn said. “But we came out and played a half of football and were able to do what we want. The focus, we didn’t do that, but in playoff football you have to be able to do that. They know Flanagan has dogs and you have to bring your A-game or nothing.”
Deerfield will now go on the road to take on the defending state champions in the Flanagan Falcons, who have a five-star of their own in Stanford Samuels III who will be healthy for the postseason.
“I’m amped. This has been a collision course all year,” Glenn said. “To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
