American Heritage Blanks Dillard

    The Plantation-American Heritage Patriots clinched the District 15-5A title as they smothered the Dillard Panthers 56-0 on Saturday night at Otis Gray Jr. Memorial Stadium. The Patriots, who won their seventh straight game, will host a first-round opponent in the FHSAA playoffs two weeks from now. It was the second consecutive week that the Pats wiped out a district foe. Last week at home they dominated the Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs 70-19 and broke their undefeated streak this season.
    Dillard(4-5, 2-2) finished in a three-way tie for second place in the district. They will play in a tiebreaker at Cardinal Gibbons against the Chiefs and Hallandale on Monday night. The Panthers will then face Blanche Ely in the annual Soul Bowl at Lockhart Stadium next Saturday night.
    American Heritage(8-1, 4-0) began the scoring midway through the first quarter as Michael Deeb picked off an interception thrown by Lee Martin 35 yards for a 7-0 lead. On their next possession, Tyler Cogswell ran a bootleg toward the left side and scored from one yard out with 1:01 left in the quarter. The Patriots get the only touchdown in the second quarter as Tyler Carmona caught a 17-yard pass in the back of the end zone at 2:54 and extended their lead to 21-0.
    The Panthers, who have lost three straight games, gave up 28 points to the Heritage offense in the third quarter. Eldred Oates fumbled the ball away on the first play of the second half for Dillard. Two plays later, Isaiah McKenzie finished the drive on a 34-yard touchdown reception from Cogswell 45 seconds into the quarter. McKenzie concluded their next possession on a 13-yard catch at 6:06. It was a seven-play, 67-yard drive for the team.
    Walter Tucker followed with a score on their next drive as he ran around the left end from 13 yards out at 4:10. Victor Ferrera capped the quarter with 26 seconds remaining on a six-play, 60-yard possession with a 14-yard catch. Dillard turned the ball over one play after the ensuing kickoff. The Patriots were up 49-0 after three quarters.
    There was a running clock in the final quarter of the game, but that did not stop American Heritage. Travis Jackson completed the two-play, ten-yard drive with a one-yard run for a score at 9:40 to make it 56-0.