American Heritage Wins First State Title

     The American Heritage Patriots captured their first state football championship as they destroyed the Clay Blue Devils 66-8 in the FHSAA Class 5A title game on Friday afternoon at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
     American Heritage(14-1) dominated the first half as they scored on their first five possessions of the game. After a three-and-out by Clay, the Patriots scored on their first play from scrimmage as quarterback Torrance Gibson faked a handoff and went around the left end for a 78-yard touchdown at 9:50 of the first quarter. Scott Wade had the extra point blocked and Pats led 6-0.
     The Patriots excelled on their next drive with consecutive rushes by running back Sony Michel of 21 and 29 yards to get the ball deep in Blue Devils territory. Wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie capped the four-play 72-yard drive with a three-yard dash through the right side of the line for a 13-0 margin at 6:43 of the first.
     On the fourth play of their next possession, Gibson threw a swing pass to McKenzie on the right side and he raced down the right sideline 49 yards for the score. They were up 20-0 with 3:49 left in the first quarter.
     Clay(10-5) finally picked up a first down with just over three minutes left in the first as quarterback Wes Weeks ran up the middle for two yards to the Blue Devils 23-yard line, however they had to punt the ball away four plays later.
     The Pats continued to roll in the second quarter as Michel finished a six-play, 59-yard drive as he went untouched with a run up the middle at 11:23 for a 27-0 lead. American Heritage followed that with another touchdown on an 11-play, 59-yard drive when Michel jumped over the top of a pile on a fullback plunge from one yard out at 5:10 and a 33-0 margin.
     The Patriots finished off the first half and extended their lead to 40-0 with 18 seconds left. Gibson was forced out of the pocket to the left, reversed his field as he ran to the right and fired a 34-yard pass into the right back corner of the end zone to wide receiver Dredrick Snelson. Heritage had compiled 371 yards on offense while Clay had just 64 yards by halftime.
     Momentum continued for American Heritage as they added three more touchdowns within the first three minutes of the second half. They picked up two consecutive special teams on their first two touches of the third quarter. Tavar McFadden returned the opening kickoff of the second half 86 yards through the middle of the field eight seconds into the third then McKenzie ran back a punt return 65 yards down the right sideline untouched at 9:30.
     The Blue Devils turned the ball over deep in their own end as Weeks fumbled the ball at their own 13-yard line. Michel ran around the right side on the first play of the Patriots next drive to make it 59-0 with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter.
     Michel was pulled from the game with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter by Patriots head coach Mike Rumph. A running clock was agreed on by both coaching staffs and used in the final quarter due to a 35-point margin in the game.
     American Heritage put up another touchdown on their first possession of the final quarter. Running back Travis Jackson sprinted in from 27 yards out at 8:56 to finish a six-play, 58-yard drive.
     Clay broke the shutout with 4:38 left in the fourth as Weeks scrambled around the left end from 32 yards away to end the seven-play, 80-yard drive. Running back J.T. Turner scored on the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 66-8.