By Gary Curreri
Photo by Gary Curreri
The Deerfield Beach dynamic duo of running back Jaylan Knighton and quarterback Derohn King flexed their muscles and helped lead host Deerfield Beach to a convincing, 32-14 Class 8A regional quarterfinal playoff victory over Miramar on Friday night.
Knighton ran for 140 yds. on 18 carries and three touchdowns in the second half as the Bucks moved to 10-1 on the season and will host Plantation on Friday night in the regional semifinal.
Knighton had a game-clinching score from 19 yds. out with 3:23 remaining to give the Bucks a 26-14 lead and added a 28 yd. run with 41 seconds left as Deerfield snapped a three-game playoff losing skid to Miramar. The Bucks lone loss this season came at the hands of St. Thomas, 38-6 three weeks ago.
“We weren’t running the ball the first half,” said Knighton, who had just four carries for 16 yds. in the first half. “The second half, I put the team on my back and carried them.”
Knighton said he asked for the ball in the second half. He scored on runs of 1, 19 and 28 yds.
“It came to a point where I wanted to destroy them,” he said. “They came up and started talking and doing stuff I didn’t like, so I wanted to make them feel me.”
Deerfield Beach junior quarterback Derohn King came off the bench to throw two TDs in a 2-minute span of the second quarter to give the Bucks an early 13-0 lead.
King, who injured his throwing shoulder in a win against Piper two weeks ago, didn’t play the first three series of the game as senior Tyron Herring got the nod. He was ineffective and was replaced by King, who promptly game connected on a 78 yd. pass to senior Dashaun Davis for a 7-0 lead with 5:55 left in the first half.
Deerfield Beach coach Jevon Glenn said they tried to rest King, but since Miramar was crowding the line of scrimmage taking away the run, they inserted their junior quarterback to open things up.
“We put Derohn in and once he hit them a couple of times over the top and started stretching the field they had to respect that and it opened up things for Jaylan,” Glenn said.
King made it 13-0 on a 29 yd. pass to senior wideout Donte Banton on the Bucks’ very next offensive series after forcing the Patriots to lose the ball on downs deep in their own territory. King hit Banton running in stride in the end zone with 3:50 left to extend the lead. King was 11 of 18 for 193 yds. and two TDs for the game.
Miramar’s Torrie Cox returned the second kickoff 65 yds. to the Bucks’ 12 yd. line. Three plays later, senior running back Clifton Miller went in from 5 yds. out to trim the lead to 13-6 with 11:12 left in the third quarter.
Miramar (6-5) took a 14-13 lead on a 61 yd. scoring pass from Smith to Carlos Hill and a 2-point conversion pass from Smith to Joseph Adams with 4:40 left in the third quarter.
Deerfield Beach answered as they marched 78 yds. in 9 plays to grab a 19-14 lead on a 1 yd. run by Knighton with 1:20 left in the third.
Miramar entered the game 3-1 versus the Bucks in the postseason. The Bucks won the regional final 21-14 in 2005; however, Miramar had won the last three playoff meetings. Miramar won 34-30 in 2008 regional final, 24-21 in the regional quarterfinal, 24-21 in 2010 and again in the 2013 regional quarterfinal, 43-6.
Deerfield Beach is 20-8 all time in first round playoff game, including 16-4 at home. Both teams were coming off upset losses in last year’s regional quarterfinals. Miramar fell 28-20 to Park Vista, while Deerfield was downed by Western, 20-17 at home. The Bucks were the top-ranked team in the state at the time.
Golfers win local tourney
The team of Andy Burt, Joe Patchen, Dennis Rooy, Gene Stoller carded a 114 in the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association’s Two Best Ball of Foursome competition on Nov. 7 at the Pines Course at the Pompano Municipal Golf Club.
George Disch, Jerry Goodman, Tim O’Brien and Bart Valerio was second with a 116, while Oscar Aleman, Frank Cutrone, Al DiBenedetto and Dave Dowling (blind draw) shot 119.
Disch also won the closest to the pin on the 17th hole when his shot landed 11 ft. from the hole.
Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association results
The team of Jan Ruck, Janet Tomchik, Lynn Goodman and Elaine Schoengood carded a 113 to win the Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association’s 1-2-3 Best Ball Mixed Foursome tournament on Nov. 6 at the Pompano Beach Municipal Golf Club.
The team of Kim Heath, Vonnie O’Keefe and Patti Van Zandt finished second with a 118, while the team of Georgie Wright, Sarah Lee, Wiltrud Messinger and Anita MacMichael was third with a 120 following a scorecard playoff.
The following week (Nov. 13) was a competition of Low Net in Flights. Deb Brown shot a 75 and won the tiebreaker in the A Flight. Jan Ruck was second. Winning the B Flight with a 72 was Deb Ladig, while Janet Stuart was second with a 75. The C-Flight winner was Lynn Goodman, who shot a 74, while Vonnie Okeefe carded an 83 to finish second. Alberta Bove shot a 71 to win the D-Flight, while Anita Macmichael was second with a 78.