By Gary Curreri
Both the stadium and the host football team suffered from a power outage, and, in the end, Deerfield Beach prevailed 30-12 over host Blanche Ely in the second annual McDougle Bowl last Saturday night.
Deerfield Beach struck early and often, and, ultimately, a power outage ended the contest with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter with the Bucks winning the contest. The second annual McDougle Bowl game was presented by brothers Jerome McDougle (1997 Ely grad) and Stockar McDougle (1996 Deerfield Beach grad) who both went on to play in the NFL.
Deerfield Beach coach Jevon Glenn said it is was a big game for the program.
“This is huge,” Glenn said. “It is a big rivalry game between the Pompano and Deerfield Beach communities. I played in this game (1995-96) so I know the electricity in this game and I want to make sure the kids know the importance of it. You can throw the records out of the window. Throw the wins and losses out the window. It is time to battle.”
“It has gotten bigger and actually better,” Glenn said. “Especially with the McDougles coming on board and doing everything leading up to the game. I am very pleased and proud of the growth that the game has had over the [past] 20 years.”
Deerfield Beach (2-0) struck as quickly as the lightning in the area that prompted the game to be delayed for one hour and 40-minutes. The game then endured a 20-minute power outage at 10:45 p.m. before officials called the game.
Bucks senior quarterback Teddrick Moffett, who transferred from Blanche Ely prior to the season, engineered three scores in the game’s first 6:25 as he threw for two scores and ran for another. Moffett finished the game with three TD passes and one running score.
Moffett hit Jerry Jeudy on a screen play on the first play from scrimmage that covered 62 yards and gave Deerfield Beach a 7-0 lead. The pair connected again on the next series on a 9-yard scoring play for a 14-0 lead and Moffett drove his team 60 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a 3-yard scoring run and a 21-0 lead with 5:25 remaining in the first quarter.
Blanche Ely (0-3) was able to trim the lead to 21-6 following a fumble recovery by David Francis on the Bucks’ 25-yard line. Arthur Forrest capped the 5-play drive when he bulled in from three yards out with 8:25 remaining in the second quarter. Francis later added an interception for the host Tigers.
The Bucks closed out the first half scoring with Alton Allen hauling in a 23-yard scoring pass from Moffett on the final play of the first half for a 27-6 advantage.
Jefferson Souza booted a 23-yard field goal to make it 30-6 with 10:54 left in the third quarter and Blanche Ely took the ensuing kickoff and marched 88 yards in 17 plays to trim the lead to 30-12 on a 7-yard scoring pass from Perdue to Jeremy Taylor with 4:54 left in the third quarter.
Less than two minutes later, the lights went out rendering the stadium pitch black and after a 20-minute delay, officials called the contest.
Blanche Ely entered the contest 3-7 lifetime against the visiting Bucks.
Blanche Ely lost the first four meetings and the last three games sandwiched in between three victories from 2009-11. Deerfield won 14-12, 46-6 and 19-0 the past three years. The Tigers won 28-10, 37-0 and 34-16. Deerfield Beach won the first four matchups 36-27 (2004), 28-6 (2006), 20-2 (2007) and 21-14 (2008)
Glenn said the team didn’t go into the game overconfident.
“Nobody is more desperate than us,” Glenn said. “We went 4-6 last year. We are hungry. We will never walk into a game where somebody wants to beat us more than we want to beat them. That’s the mentality of our program.”
Blanche Ely coach Nakia Jenkins had guaranteed a victory before the game. He said the team made some coaching changes during the week, and Jenkins said he took over play calling duties.
“We just had a couple of bad breaks and the kids are ready,” Jenkins said. “We made a couple of coaching changes and I am back to calling plays.”
Jenkins said things hadn’t gone the way he thought they would despite a senior-laden team entering the year.
“Speaking for myself,” Jenkins said. “I think I got away from it. I wasn’t putting both hands in it like I should have. I think my kids started drifting and not focused like they should of. I am the leadership. It starts with me. I think if they see me take it more serious, then they do the same.”
For more information on what the McDougle brothers do in the community, visit their website at http://firstability.org/#first-ability.