American Heritage Tops Cardinal Gibbons In Three Overtimes

     The defending Class 5A state champion American Heritage Patriots stayed alive as they edged their district rival the Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs 58-57 in triple overtime at Heritage Field in a regional final. The Patriots extended their winning streak to 25 games and have not lost a game since the 2015 FHSAA playoffs.
     Cardinal Gibbons(11-2) stopped the Patriots first possession when quarterback Cameron Smith fumbled the ball and linebacker Donnell Bennett III recovered it at the Patriots 42-yard line. It led to running back Vincent Davis breaking through the right side of the line for a four-yard touchdown run at 8:22 of the first quarter.
     American Heritage(11-0) came back and scored on their next drive. Smith connected a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Anthony Schwartz on the right hash marks at the 3:34 mark to make it 7-6.
     The Chiefs responded on the ensuing kickoff when Marquis Williams returned the ball 94 yards to the Heritage five-yard line. Vincent Davis scored on the next play when he went around the left end from five yards away to give them a 14-6 lead with 3:08 left in the first quarter.
     In the second quarter, the Chiefs used a trick play to go ahead 20-6 at 3:33. They executed a double-reverse flick flicker and quarterback Nik Scalzo completed a 51-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tajai Davis on the right sideline.
     Cardinal Gibbons made it a 21-point margin with 1:51 remaining in the second. Sydney Porter blocked a punt and returned it 23 yards for the score and the Chiefs led 28-7.
     The Patriots began to cut the deficit in a rapid pace near the end of the first half. Schwartz sprinted into the end zone on a 79-yard kickoff return with 1:37 to go. They added another touchdown with 16 seconds left. Smith fired a high pass toward the back of the end zone and wide receiver Marcus Lodge brought it down for a 19-yard touchdown reception and they were down 27-20.
     American Heritage continued their momentum to start the second half and scored on their first possession. They tied the contest 27-27 at 8:28 of the third quarter when Smith busted through the middle with a touchdown run from one yard away.
     The Pats got their first lead of the game with 2:07 left in the third. Smith floated a seven-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Beau Johnson in the back left corner of the end zone to make it 34-27.
     In the fourth quarter, American Heritage made it 35 unanswered points against their opponent. Smith raced up the middle for a touchdown from three yards out and the Patriots were ahead 41-27 with 5:55 to go.
     The Chiefs began to make a 14-point comeback late in the fourth. Scalzo rifled a four-yard pass to wide receiver Tavontae Decius in the left seam of the end zone with 2:30 remaining.
     The Patriots were trying to take as much time as possible off the game clock. On a third-down play, running back Jordan Johnson fumbled, cornerback Ronald Hardge picked the ball up and raced into the end zone from 30 yards away to tie it 41-41 with 2:06 left. Heritage tried a 39-yard field goal in the final two seconds and were unable to kick it.
     The game went into overtime and Cardinal Gibbons would get the first opportunity. Tajai Davis smashed through with a two-yard touchdown on a third down. American Heritage was able to match it when Josh Alexander caught an eight-yard catch on the right side of the end zone from Smith on second down to tie it 48-48.
     In the second overtime, the Patriots got to the seven-yard line and had to settle for a 24-yard field goal from Jimmy Lowery. The Chiefs lost some yardage on their possession, however Daton Montiel nailed a 30-yard field goal to make it 51-51.
     Cardinal Gibbons scored immediately in the third overtime on first down when Vincent Davis cut into the middle of the field for a 10-yard score. Montiel would miss the extra point and Chiefs were up 57-51. American Heritage tied it on a 10-yard pass from Smith to Schwartz in the back right corner of the end zone. Lowery converted on the extra point to give the Patriots a 58-57 victory.