Playoff Game Recap - State Semifinal vs. Miami Columbus

The 4^th playoff game was, honestly, one of the best games I’ve seen this season. Columbus came out confident in their abilities, and unfazed by the reputation and rankings that Miramar boasted. The Patriots, intent on continuing their season, came out with a fury on both sides of the ball.

Neither team gave an inch, and everything that happened on the field was earned with heart and physicality. In the end, Miramar emerged with a tough 14-6 victory, and a return trip to the State Championship game. 

Let’s take a look at the key factors from the game:

Columbus

• The Explorers came out very intense on the defensive side of the ball. Led by the line, they swarmed to the ball, and prevented the Patriots from establishing their running game. They used solid gap technique, and aggressive run-blitzes by the linebackers and occasionally a safety to eliminate any lanes for Miramar to utilize on the ground.
• Later in the game, Miramar was able to gain some yardage on the ground, but not much. Columbus had great pursuit from the weakside, which eliminated any cutbacks for the Miramar runners, something that had served the Patriots well in the playoffs.
• On offense, the Trio of Running Backs for Columbus didn’t have the kind of game they would have hoped for. Lorenzo Woodley and Daryl Chestnut were largely contained on the evening. Senior Brandon Radcliffe made the most of his carries. While he was gang tackled and limited to 60 yards on the evening, his powerful, explosive 5 yard touchdown run on 4^th and 1, which ended with a dive over 2 Miramar Defenders, was the highlight of the evening. It gave Columbus some life late in the game, and showed what kind of talent he possesses.
• The Explorer passing game seemed to be overmatched by the Miramar secondary. Quarterback Garrett Fortner was able to find receivers only sporadically, and that lack of balance enabled Miramar to load the line against the run on early downs. While he completed a few passes in the game, Columbus had to have hoped for a stronger game from their Senior signal-caller.
• Receiver Jesus Wilson had a limited impact in the game due solely to the few number of touches he received, mostly on special teams. However, when he had the ball in his hands, Wilson quickly demonstrated that he has the elite speed to change any game. He ran a couple nice fly-sweeps for good yardage, and his 37 yard kick return following the 2^nd Miramar touchdown gave Columbus great field position, which they eventually turned into the aforementioned Radcliffe touchdown. Columbus can’t help but wonder what the game would have looked like if Wilson had more opportunities with the ball in his hands. On a field filled with speed, I thought Wilson was EASILY the fastest player on the field.
• The Columbus offensive line did a decent job opening holes for the running game, and protecting the quarterback. While they may not have gained tons of yards against the Darkside Defense, there were very few negative yardage plays, and only 2 sacks. The only critical thing I can say is they did not get any push on a couple key 4^th down opportunities, and weren’t able to convert.
• The pass defense was strong. Columbus didn’t allow any receivers to get on top of the defense, with the singular exception of the first Miramar touchdown. Deon Bush played well from his Safety position, frequently tackling Miramar receivers directly after the catch, and not allowing for yards after the catch. Columbus also came away with a huge interception late in the 4^th quarter, returning it to the 40 yard line. That play kept the Explorers in the game, and proved that their defense has elite playmakers at every level.
• Columbus proved worthy of their title as Region 4 champions in class 8A. They played a tough game, and gave an incredible effort for 4 full quarters of football. Unfortunately, there has to be a winner and loser of every game, even a great game like this one. On this night, Columbus was unable to emerge with a victory, but should be proud of a great season, and a valiant effort in defeat.

Miramar

• Cam Hudge was spectacular on the night. His statistics: 22/25, 244 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception. He also added some decent yardage rushing the ball. He was the steady leader of the offensive attack that we have grown to expect, and he made all the plays Miramar needed to advance with a victory. Many people have started to realize that his play is MVP level. After this performance against Columbus, I think more people will agree with that train of thought.
• D’Vontis Arnold and Alex Lee did not have the success running the ball in this game that they did in previous games. A lot of the credit for that has to go to the Columbus defense, who played arguably the best game against the Patriots this year (yes, including then-#1 Nationally Ranked St. Thomas Aquinas).  Arnold and Lee were able to move the chains at times, and give some balance to the Miramar offense.
• The Wide Receivers played a great game. Using a similar offensive gameplan as the St. Thomas game (quick passes to the edge of the defense), multiple players gained yards and had an impact on the game. Malcolm Lewis, Tanares Robinson, Delano Whitehead, Reggie Lennon, Charleston Jenkins, and Tyler Williams all contributed to the passing attack.
• Devonte Mathis proved his worth in multiple areas once again. He played some quarterback in short yardage situations, and used his physicality to great advantage. He also had a great catch on the first touchdown, running a crisp out-and-up route, with Hudge employing a perfect pump fake, and then a pinpoint throw to put the Patriots on the scoreboard. Mathis routinely beat his man off the line, and I thought he could have been targeted on a couple more passes. There were even more big plays to be had if the ball had been directed his way.
• D’Vontis Arnold’s effort on the second touchdown was absolutely incredible. After catching a pass in the flat, Arnold turned up the field, shook a Columbus defender, then dove into the end zone from 4 yards out. His superman impersonation was timely, and gave the Patriots all the points they would end up needing on the night. (see the picture above)
• On defense, the Darkside earned the right to wear the name proudly. After much conversation by Columbus as having “the original Darkside defense”, Miramar proved that their version is the superior one. The Patriots limited Columbus to 90 yards rushing on the night, and constantly pressured the Explorers, no matter what they tried to do offensively. The Defensive Line and Linebackers played to their usual standard of excellence, and their physical brand of play was a bit too much for Columbus to overcome.
• To highlight a few players individually, Senior Defensive Tackle D’Quan Williams played really well on the night. Unofficially, I counted at least 7 tackles for him on the night, and that was only indicative of part of his impact against the Columbus rushing game. DT Willie Paisley, DE Trevon Coley, LB Mark Rucker, LB Jermaine Grace, and LB Brian Williams all added to the swarming defense, and controlled the line of scrimmage for the majority of the game.
• Safety Marrell Jackson was very tough in run support. He tackled with good form all night, and prevented a couple of runs from really breaking loose, 2 from Radcliffe, and 1 from Wilson on a fly-sweep. Teams have finally learned not to throw the ball his way after 12 interceptions on the year. While he’s had to change his game a bit, his high level of play has not wavered at all.
• In the latest installment of “Tracy Howard Makes Big Plays”, the Senior All-American came through when his team needed him the most. On Columbus’ final drive, with less than 30 seconds left, Howard tackled a receiver in the middle of the field, stripped him of the ball, and recovered the fumble. That play gave Miramar the ball back with 11 seconds left, and any chance for Columbus to drive the field and tie the game. Howard wasn’t too busy on the night, with only 2 passes directed his way. He was a good tackler in run-support, and saved his biggest play for the last play of the night on defense.  
• So, to recap, this is what Tracy Howard has done in the playoffs: he had a game-changing interception for a touchdown in the Regional Quarterfinal, another interception in the Regional Semifinal, a Punt return touchdown AND interception in the Regional Final, and a game ending tackle-forced fumble-recovered fumble trifecta in the State Semifinal.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Enjoy this show while it lasts, because Tracy Howard is one of the best players we have seen in a while.
• On the negative side of things, Miramar returned to their mid-season struggles in terms of penalties.  On the night, the Patriots had 16 penalties for 138 yards. Add in the yardage from the plays that was nullified by the penalties, and that’s EASILY 300+ yards that Miramar had count against them. Penalties stopped Miramar from scoring once or twice in the first half, and this issue must be addressed again before heading in to the State Finals.

Columbus was a worthy foe, and their effort should be lauded.  In the end, they just didn’t have enough big plays to defeat the Patriots.

So, for the 2^nd time in 3 years, the Miramar Patriots are the champions of South Florida (Regions 3 and 4), and will head to Orlando to play for a State Championship.

The season comes down to this: the Plant Panthers (13-1) vs. the Miramar Patriots (13-0) for the Class 8A State Championship. We’ll look at this game through the week to get ready for the big game.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

Until Next Time,

Cameron J. Underwood
Miramar Sports