PLANTATION, Fla.—Defense wins championships.
Both teams’ defenses were outstanding Friday night, but American Heritage’s proved superior and shut out the high-powered Cardinal Gibbons’ offense as the Patriots outlasted the Chiefs, 10-7, to advance to the regional finals.
“I told my guys all week we would encounter some adversity,” American Heritage head coach Pat Surtain said after the game. “It was about how we would respond, and we just kept plugging. We went back to playing Heritage football.”
Cardinal Gibbons’ lone touchdown came on a fumble recovery by its defense in the end zone to take a 7-3 midway through the third quarter.
Trailing by that score with 5:54 to play, American Heritage (11-0) senior quarterback and Harvard commit Jason Brown led a seven-play drive that was capped off by a one-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 10-7 lead.
It would prove to be the difference.
“I just can’t stress enough how my offensive line helped me out tonight,” Brown said. “When everything was going wrong, the offensive line was there for us, and they blocked a great game.”
Cardinal Gibbons (9-2) got the ball back with 42 seconds – after the Patriots had eaten nearly four minutes of clock with their ground game led by junior running back Miles Jones – but couldn’t do anything against what was a ferocious American Heritage defense all night.
“When a team can battle through things like we did tonight it builds character,” Surtain said. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to play better next week. These kids fought and that’s all you ask for. They left it all on the field tonight.”
Chiefs’ sophomore quarterback Nik Scalzo drove his team down the field twice inside the American Heritage 30-yard line but was picked off both times. Cardinal Gibbons had 3rd-and-9 from the 22 just before halftime – in which a field goal would’ve tied the game at three – but Scalzo was picked off in the end zone by junior five-star cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr.
American Heritage – ranked as the top team in Florida – took an early lead on a 32-yard field goal by Zack Thompson, and drove into Chiefs territory on each of its first three possessions, but came away with no points and didn’t return to Cardinal Gibbons’ territory until the final two drives.
“We were tired of trying these we weren’t accustomed to,” Surtain said of what was different on his offense’s last two drives. “Our blueprint all year has been to run the ball, that’s what we beat teams at. Those last two drives, the touchdown drive and then the four-minute drive that got it down to 40 seconds, were huge.”
This is the second time the Patriots beat rival Cardinal Gibbons this season, defeating the Chiefs, 29-9, back on October 14th.
Cardinal Gibbons’ only two losses came to American Heritage, and each game the Chiefs had their lowest point totals of the season. The Chiefs forced a rematch with the Patriots after defeating Suncoast, 42-7, last week.
“Our guys fought hard,” Cardinal Gibbons head coach Matt Dubuc said after the game. “I think we closed the gap, our guys didn’t play particularly well on offense, played really good on defense, but overall they have a lot of seniors, we don’t and next year is another year. But it’s disappointing, to say the least.”
The Patriots’ defense held Cardinal Gibbons’ offense – which entered averaging 37.8 points per game – to under 200 total yards, caused three turnovers, and sacked Scalzo six times in the win. The unit has let up just 10.2 points per game this season and has held opponents to single digits in six of the last eight weeks.
“That’s been our rock the whole year,” Surtain said. “I know it’s a cliché, but defense wins championships. We have had a great defense all year, and to come out and shut these guys out – an explosive offense like Gibbons – was huge.”
American Heritage – ranked 11th in the nation by MaxPreps – will travel to play Bishop Moore (12-1) next Friday night in the regional finals.
