By Gary Curreri
The annual McDougle Bowl will have to wait thanks to Hurricane Irma.
On Tuesday morning, the Broward County Athletic Association (BCAA) had rescheduled all 16 of its weekend football games to Wednesday night, but opted to cancel those plans early Wednesday morning when the threat of Hurricane Irma to South Florida became more imminent.
The fourth annual event between Deerfield Beach High School and Blanche Ely High School would be moved to a later date if officials can come up with an alternative date. Retired NFL players and brothers Stockar and Jerome McDougle partner with the BCAA in hosting the annual event.
Both deeply involved in the community, Stockar (1996 Deerfield Beach grad) and Jerome (1997 Blanche Ely grad) hand out $1,000 scholarships to an MVP from each game.
“Nothing has been rescheduled at this point,” said BCAA Director of Athletics Rocky Gillis.
With the storm not shifting course away from Florida, BCAA commissioner Shawn Cerra said it was more important to preparing for the hurricane. In fact, all high school activities were canceled for the rest of the week.
Broward County announced Tuesday that schools would be closed on Thursday and Friday. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade had also done the same.
The Saturday evening contest between Deerfield Beach at Blanche Ely was one of the top Broward County matchups this week.
Deerfield Beach, currently the top-ranked team in the Class 8A state poll, is 1-1 this season, dropped a 44-21 decision on the road against St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, NJ. The Bucks fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter and could never recover.
Blanche Ely is 0-2 out of the gate under new coach Calvin Davis. The Tigers have been outscored 63-13 in their two games losing to Stranahan 30-13 in the season opener and 33-0 last week to Plantation and former Blanch Ely head coach Steve Davis. The Colonels are 2-0 to start the season.
Deerfield Beach football coach Jevon Glenn said his team is primed for a breakout year. The team spent the summer touring 27 college campuses.
“It was out biggest thus far,” Glenn said. “It is a great tool for us to get the kids out and see and get the touch feel experience and get close to their dreams. A lot of our kids were offered or being recruited by those schools, so it is also an awesome team building and team bonding aspect. We have a lot of fun and there is a lot of ribbing too, with kids taking videos while the others are sleeping.”
“In my tenure, there is really no replacement for that,” Glenn said. “We have kids from different walks of life and different neighborhoods…there is nothing else like us being out there in the country, just us against the world. It forges that brotherhood and then we bring it back from the road and that’s why we do it every year.”
Pompano Beach falls to 0-2
Following a 53-0 loss to host Monarch, the Golden Tornadoes dropped a 39-6 decision to John Carroll Catholic (Ft. Pierce) on Friday night. Pompano Beach High’s game against Coral Glades, also 0-2, was canceled this week due to the Hurricane.
Knights also have to wait
Coach Josue Paul and his Highlands Christian Academy football team will also have to wait as the Friday night game against Somerset Academy was also canceled.