FORT LAUDERDALE – When the Blanche Ely Tigers took the field on Friday night they knew they had to take care of business against the Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs. After beating Boyd Anderson last week, the Tigers looked to add to their winning streak.
After trading possessions the entire fourth quarter, Blanche Ely got the ball back with 1:54 left in the game on their 20-yard line. Thanks to a couple perfectly placed passes from quarterback Nelson Ervin the Tigers found themselves on the Gibbons 35-yard line with 22 seconds remaining.
With 15 seconds left in the game the Ervin completed a 34-yard pass to senior wide receiver and Northern Illinois commit, Kenneth Rawls bringing the ball to the 1-yard line with 4 seconds remaining in the game. Rawls’ reception proved to be the biggest play of the game and it was Rawls’ only reception of the night. Blanche Ely running back Terrance Blands finished the mission as he scored from one yard out to give Blanche Ely the huge win.
“Even though we were on the 1-yard line, I never thought about going for the field goal. I knew our seniors wanted this to be a statement. That’s what it was.” said Blanche Ely head coach Charles Hafley Jr.
Cardinal Gibbons, who came into the game undefeated (7-0), was coming off a big district win over Miami Jackson last week and saw this as a trap game like many other people.
“This was really the first time we had been down all year.” said Cardinal Gibbons quarterback Peyton Bender. “We learned we aren’t as good as we thought we were. You saw it in practice this week. We were just lackadaisical all week and drained from last week vs. Jackson.”
Bender, who leads Broward county in touchdown passes with 27, didn’t throw a touchdown pass in a game for the first time all season tonight. The Chiefs trio of great receivers, George Rushing, Trevon Lee, and Christian Blake were all held in check for most of the night.
Looking Ahead: Blanche Ely (3-5) plays at Northeast in a district game. Cardinal Gibbons (7-1) plays American Heritage-Plantation for the district 5A-16 championship.
