By Gary Curreri

It’s been quite a winter for Deerfield Beach’s Megan Moroney in the pool.

The 16-year-old won two state titles for St. Andrew’s at the Class 1A state high school championships. She captured the 200-yard freestyle (1:46- .51) for the second consecutive year and the 100-yard butterfly (54.39) for her third consecutive win in the event at state. She was also a member of the silver medal winning 200 and 400-Freestyle relays.

At the recent Winter Championships in Plantation, she was on the winning girls 800-free, 200-free, 400-medley relay and 200-medley relays; won the 100-back and took second in the 1,000 free and 500 freestyle events, in addition to placing second in the 50-fly.

At the state high school meets, she has accumulated five individual golds, a silver and a bronze and captured three relay gold medals, four silvers and three bronze medals.

Moroney recently returned home from the AT&T Winter National Championships in Knoxville, TN at the University of Tennessee where she also turned in some solid performances against some of the top swimmers in the nation.

“I did pretty well. I went a few best times so it was good,” said Moroney, a junior at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton.”

Moroney bettered her previous best time by three seconds in the 500-freestyle event when she went 4:59.83 and placed 22nd. Her effort in the 200-free was a little off her best time. She swam 1:47.30 in the prelims and came back with a 1:48 at night (16th place). She also broke the 50-second barrier in her prelim with a 49.96 in the 100. She followed that up with a 50.30 in the evening and took 21st.

“I was happy with my 500 and 100 free because I finally broke the two barriers I’ve been aiming for,” Moroney said. “I can’t be upset with my 200 free because it’s really tough to bounce back from doing a best time at states, but I wish it would have gone better. My 100 back and 200 fly were best times technically speaking, but I know I can go much faster in both. I was definitely tired from everything that was going on before, so, with that in mind, I was very happy overall.”

Moroney has been on the high school team at St. Andrew’s since sixth grade, so this is her sixth year on the squad.

“I just remember in the sixth grade how excited I was just to make it to regionals and I was so thrilled that I made it to states,” Moroney said. “I made it by 10ths of a second, and there was no greater feeling for me back then. I never imagined that this was where I was going to be.”

Moroney also went to the U.S. Olympic trials and hopes to someday represent the United States.

“It could have gone better,” she said. “It was totally different from any meet I had been to before. I had the cut in the 100 back and time trialed in the 400 free and 100 fly. What I learned is that there are so many fast people out there, that it is not just the people in South Florida. I will work really hard to get there.”

Moroney was looking forward to exams at school this week and will take a short family vacation before hitting the pool for more hard training.

By Gary Curreri

Former NFL football player Tyrus McCloud wasn’t sure what to expect last spring when he took over the reins of the Zion Lutheran School football program.

McCloud, who played at Nova High School and went on to play two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, started spring practices with just five athletes. As time passed, he convinced more players to come out and had a 17-player roster this fall, of which nearly half (seven) were middle schoolers. Only six players on the team had played tackle football previously.

McCloud said his first-ever head coaching stint was one of the toughest jobs he’s had, and also opened up to the team stressing his “failures” rather than his successes. Among the transgressions was a drinking problem. He recounted a story where he sat with former Ravens Pro Bowler and future NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis one day and Lewis told him he’d stopped drinking because he wanted to become a star player.

Zion Lutheran began the year with two straight losses to Berean Christian, 21-0, and Canterbury (St. Petersburg), 14- 6, before finishing the year on a five-game win streak.

The Lions defeated City of Life Christian Academy (20- 6), Northwest Christian (60-0), Scheck Hillel Community School (38-19), Faith Christian (70-28) and Palmer Trinity (48- 0) as it outscored the opposition, 242-88. It marked the first winning season since 2007 when it went 7-3.

McCloud, 39, of Coral Springs, played linebacker for the University of Louisville Cardinals, was drafted in the fourth round of the 1997 draft with the 22nd pick (118 overall) by Baltimore Ravens. He played in both the 1997-98 seasons with the Ravens and was briefly with the Miami Dolphins in 2001.

Among the other challenges McCloud faced was having two younger inexperienced coaches on staff. McCloud came on board last April for spring practice and called coaching this season was “very intriguing.”

“The biggest transition we had was trying to engage the athletes to get them to maximize the talent,” McCloud said. “We had to give the coaches a vision and then we had the support of the administration.”

McCloud has been the South Florida Field Director for Prison Fellowship Ministries for the past 12 years. The nonprofit organization aims to restore broken bonds between prisoners and their families while protecting their children from following in their footsteps. He had a conversation with Zion Lutheran Athletic Director Mitch Evron, who spoke of challenges with the athletes.

“He said there are some issues socially, economically, spiritually and mentally,” McCloud said. “He said he might have to scrap the program, and I saw it as an opportunity to give these kids a little bit of life and move it forward.”

McCloud also said the players had to overcome fear since they had never played before. McCloud said at one point in the spring, they had 23 players but seven quit because the game was too physical for them.

“That was the identity that was there and we had to put them in position to like the game, have fun and maximize talent,” McCloud said. “That was the hard part of putting the pieces together.”

McCloud said the biggest point he needed to make with his team was drawing on his own weakness. He said it was more than being a finalist for the Butkus Award in college or reaching the NFL.

“I didn’t talk about my strengths, I talked about my weaknesses,” McCloud said. “I spoke of the things I failed at, the things I could have done better at, as it relates to football. Ray Lewis and I were drinking one day as rookies, and Ray was saying how we need to stop. He said he wanted to be a legend and he decided to separate to be better and not keep drinking, and I didn’t do it. I spoke to them about the pain of my past in order for them to really draw into the passion of why we need to play and the focus to move on.”

“It was very humbling to open up like that to the kids, probably beyond humbling,” McCloud added. “A lot of the things I shared with those guys, I never shared with anybody in my life. The only person that knew about that story was me and Ray. I had to do some soul searching. I couldn’t watch them get beat up and defeated. It was therapy for me too because I had to open those scars up. I never even told my wife about it and we’ve been married for 16 years.”

McCloud was the defensive coordinator at Calvary Christian in the spring of 2012 and has been involved as a youth football coach in programs around Broward County. He said the core five kids (Don Andrew Hanson, Chris Judge, Rashad Witty, Ruben Monroe and Josh Forde) who came out last spring were “hoping and believing” that there would be a team and they stayed the course. The players recruited fellow classmates and they were able to field a team and defeated Palmer Trinity, 40-6, in the spring game.

“I think it says a lot.” McCloud said. “We wanted to make it exciting for the school and bring some life to the program,” McCloud said. “They have sent a message to everyone this year. I believe that with the talent in Northern Broward County that Zion can be an elite program in the future.”

“This is going to rank up there with the things I do,” McCloud said. “When I deal with the home school kids, inmates and doing camps … You see the smiles on the faces of the kids. You see the kids at Zion where coaches walked out on the kids in the middle of the season. This will rank in my Top 2.”

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach Swim Team coach Jesse Vassallo hoped for a Top 10 finish in the 23rd annual Speedo Winter Championships at Plantation Aquatic Complex this past weekend.

His team had an outstanding meet and came up just a little short of its goal, and it finished 11th overall with 484 combined points. Pompano Beach took seventh in the boys’ division with 321 points, while the Piranhas placed 17th in the girls’ rankings with 163 points.

“My goal was to be Top 10 this year,” said Vassallo, who took over the program 2-1/2 years ago with 44 beginner swimmers. They brought 41 competitive swimmers to the four-day meet, which ran from Thursday to Sunday. “We came in the first time with nine swimmers and we didn’t even score. The second time, we came in 19th and then 13th last year. From there, we will go down until we win.”

Vassallo, who was also a swim coach at Ft. Lauderdale Aquatics and the former president of the Puerto Rican Swimming Association, has 178 swimmers in the program.

“That is extremely cool,” said Vassallo, who is the lone full-time coach and has a total of six coaches in the program. “I am really, really excited every time I step on deck because I see the growth. I have the coaches in place. I have a great coach dealing with the little ones. I have a great coach dealing with the developmental kids, and great coaches with the age group coaches. It is really coming along. To see them succeed, it fills my heart.”

Vassallo said when he first began in Pompano they were still transitioning from a recreational swim program to U.S. Swimming.

“I believe the mentality is still recreational,” Vassallo said. “It is a process. It doesn’t change overnight. The motivation is there. The recreational swimmer trains maybe for an hour three times a week. The 12-unders train two hours a day every day. The rec kids do it for a couple of months, and we do it all year round.”

Vassallo was also pleased with the performance of the high school athletes in the program as nine made it the state finals for their respective high schools.

“I would like to see the program grow to 250 swimmers,” Vassallo said. “I think that is the limit because it is a public pool.”

Pompano’s Victoria Miyamoto, 13, turned in the strongest performance for the Piranhas as she took third in the high point for her age division. She won the 100-breaststroke, the 100-IM event; second in the 50 and 200-breaststroke events, and was third in the 400-IM.

Other Top 3 performers for the program included Mattheus Santos, Fatimah Westbrook, Jake Schulte and Austin Saunders. The boys 11-12 age group 200-Free relay (Santos, Shane Schulte, Raphael Santos and Christian Henderson) also took home top honors.

Bucks, Tigers fall in football

Deerfield Beach’s quest for a perfect season came to a crashing halt as it lost its Class 8A regional semifinal football game to host Miramar, 43-6.

The much-anticipated matchup between nationally-ranked and undefeated 11-0 teams — Miramar (16th) and Deerfield (19th in this week’s USA Today poll) — was well over by halftime.

Miramar’s Nick Jeanty threw two touchdowns and ran for another to put the Patriots in the driver’s seat as Miramar scored on four of its first five possessions and ran away with the win. The Bucks’ lone score of the game came on Aeron McNeal’s two-yard touchdown run 11 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Blanche Ely also suffered the same fate, as it was also blown out with a 49-7 defeat at the hands of Dwyer in the Class 7A regional semifinals on Friday night.

Blanche Ely, which finished the season on a fivegame win streak, was unable to contain the Panthers’ Alonzo Smith, who carried 25 times for 245 yards and two TDs. The Tigers’ lone score of the game came on a 41-yard scoring toss from Nelson Ervin to Edward Walker in the third quarter, which cut the lead at the time to 28-7.

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach High School’s Brandon Sucher rolled three strikes in a row in the 10th frame en route to a final game, 245 to complete a 693 series in the first-ever district bowling championship held in Broward County.

Sucher, a senior, topped Coral Springs Charter School’s Pablo Cerda for the District 15 boys individual bowling title.

Sucher bowled a 235 and 213 in his previous two games, but trailed Cerda by 40 pins entering the final game at the Brunswick Margate Lanes. Cerda, a junior, who won a District title last year and advanced to state where he went 1-2 in match play, rolled a 255- 233-187 to finish with a threegame series of 675.

“I bowled well,” said Sucher, who began bowling twohanded prior to the start of the high school season. “I was in a slump, bowling one-handed for like three months and needed a change. I had to make it there. It’s my last year.”

A total of 12 teams and 67 bowlers competed in the District tournament. It marked the first time in the history of the state series, which began in 2003. Coral Springs Charter School swept the boys and girls team titles. The boys defeated Pompano Beach, while the girls downed Coral Glades. Both Baker Games went three games.

Sucher, 18, who lives in Margate, has been bowling for just three years and missed qualifying for state last year by 20 pins.

“It wasn’t that disappointing last year because I had a rough start,” Sucher said. “I was looking forward to this year because I had a whole team and that was nice to have. It feels good to be the first district champion. I’ll be able to say I was one of the first ones to make it.”

Sucher went on to finish 59th in the state as he bowled a fourgame series of 794. He had games of 226, 180, 200 and 188. The Tornadoes boys’ team finished 29th with an 885 pin count.

By Gary Curreri

After starting the season 0-4 and being outscored in those games by a combined 147-58, Blanche Ely football coach Charles Hafley tried to keep his team focused on the final goal.

The Tigers captured its first district championship in four years as it manhandled host Northeast, 45-12, to win the District 14-7A championship on Friday night.

“Our senior captains –Tyquan Fields, Terrance Blands, Broderic James, Aris Knight, were phenomenal,” Hafley said. “They come to practice every day. They come ready to work and they believe in what we talk about. Holding the rope … and that’s what the kids did, during that wave we had the first four games and through the grunt of the season. We just came out in district play and did Blanche Ely football.”

Blanche Ely opened the season with a 45-15 loss to M.L. King (Georgia); a 46-6 loss to Deerfield Beach; a 31-21 setback to Glades Central and a 29- 15 loss to Miami Northwestern. The Tigers have won four of its past five games – the only loss coming at the hands of Plantation, 32-26. They’ve won three consecutive games, including the district-clinching win over Northeast.

Senior quarterback Nelson Ervin threw for 148 yards and four TDs Friday night, as the Tigers finished 3-0 in the district.

“I think the biggest difference is all about believing in themselves,” Hafley said. “Nelson Ervin got himself together, mentally, physically and emotionally. He just led this team. He hasn’t had a turnover in any of our district games. He just focused and played Tiger Pride football.”

Northeast (2-7, 1-2) took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards in 14 plays capped by a 9- yard scoring run by Hurricanes’ quarterback Brion Sanchious to take a 7-0 lead.

From there, Ervin took over as he threw three touchdown passes and Anson Benton returned an interception 28 yards for a score as the Tigers scored 28 unanswered points to take a 28-6 halftime lead.

Ervin threw touchdown passes to Laderrick Smith (37 yards); Edward Walker (13 yards) and Chazton McKenzie (13 yards) in the first half. He added a 12- yard TD pass to Kenneth Rawls in the second half. The Tigers also got a 17-yard field goal from Charite Carmeley and a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Steven Carter. Northeast added a late score on a 4-yard TD pass from Deangelo Fulford to Binjimen Victor.

Hafley said the team would need to play mistake-free football to go deep in the playoffs.

“You have to control your turnover battle and make sure you keep your penalties to a minimum,” Hafley added. “If we can do that, we can be successful and make a run at this thing.

“There are many monsters out there in 7A and we respect them, but, in the playoffs, everybody starts 0-0,” he continued. “You could be 10-0 or 5-5, but, at the end of the day, when the first round of the playoffs come, everybody is 0-0 and each week counts, and we take it one game at a time.”

The slow start “hardened” his team and prepared them for a deep run in the playoffs. Hafley said the team would go as deep as his seniors will allow and credits the team chemistry from the administration and the community to the players and coaches.

“The kids believe that,” Hafley said. “The teams we played were traditional powers, all the way from Miami Northwestern, Glades Central, Deerfield Beach and MLK. Hats off to them and their coaching staffs, but it just gave us an opportunity to watch that film and get better. One thing about this team is we are the scariest team in 7A right now.”

Bucks pound South Plantation

Quarterback Danarious Graham ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third as Deerfield Beach rolled to the District 11- 8A championship and remained undefeated at 9-0.

Senior running back Aeron McNeal rushed for 172 yards and scored on a 72-yard TD as Deerfield Beach ran its record in the district to 7-0 with a 42-16 victory over host South Plantation.

Brandon Powell was limited by an injury in the first half; however, he finished with 40 yards and a TD.

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach cross country coach Jerry Guthrie believes his team has a chance to make it to the FHSAA Class 4A state meet with a good effort on Friday.

The Bucks will start their quest for a state berth when they run in the District 12-4A meet at Tradewinds Park on Friday at 9 a.m. It had a strong showing in the recent Westminster Academy meet in Lauderdale Lakes.

The boys’ team was runner- up and was led by junior Romilaire Ambroise, who took fourth in the meet with a 17:40.60 clocking. John I. Leonard won the meet with 34 points.

“The boys really stepped up,” Guthrie said. “We finished in a tie with Boyd Anderson and our sixth runner (Aaron Johnson) broke the tie. You talk about BA and John I. Leonard in front of us and those are two powerhouses. I think both of our teams have a good chance at districts.”

Deerfield Beach’s girls finished fifth in the recent Westminster Invitational with 101 points as Lineliz Cartegena led the team with an 18th place finish (26:52).

Ambroise took 39th in the BCAA meet last Friday at Markham Park to lead the Bucks with a time of 18:50.72. Bryan Hursh (18:44.99) and Evens Fleurantus (19:54.53) took 73rd and 80th in the BCAA meet.

“About a month ago, I was able to talk some of the soccer boys into running and Romilaire came out and won his first race with a 17:40,” Guthrie said. “I think he has a really good chance to go to state. I only have one senior on the team and everyone is in the 18s.”

Guthrie thought his girls team would be the stronger team; however, two of his girls transferred to Pompano Beach and Cardinal Gibbons, respectively. Guthrie hit the soccer fields again and brought in Patricia Leiva.

“She’s come a long way,” Guthrie added. “Sarah Strothman is our No. 1 runner and she is also a soccer player. I just saw them running in the stands one day and said, ‘why don’t you run with us, and,all of a sudden, I have a nice little girls’ team.”

Guthrie, who has been at the school since 1998 and has been the cross country coach since 2000, said he had 60 runners come out for the team this year and said he is looking at the future.

“We worked hard all summer,” added Guthrie, who said there were approximately 40 athletes at tryouts last year. He went to all of the other teams around the school and tried to get them to come out for the team. “I told them they were sitting on the end of the bench for their teams; come run for us. We had 11 girls on the team last year and now we have 23.”

Bucks win in OT

Brandon Powell scored on a 3-yard run in overtime to lift visiting Deerfield Beach to a 27-24 victory over Monarch at Coconut Creek High School on Friday night in a District 12-8A matchup of two unbeaten teams.

Monarch (7-1, 4-1) had taken a 24-21 lead in overtime on a 24-yard field goal by Tyler Johnson.

Powell ran for 134 yards on 21 carries and scored on a 51-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Bucks (7-0, 5-0) a 21-14 lead. Monarch quarterback Mike Harris scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game.

The Bucks fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter before mounting a rally. Monarch’s Brandon Pope caught a 10- yard pass from Mike Harris and Tyrone Woods scored on a 7-yard run for the Knights.

Justin Morgan caught a 30- yard scoring toss from Denarious Graham, and Jamal Patterson hauled in a 41-yard scoring pass to tie the game for Deerfield Beach, which won for the seventh consecutive time.

By Gary Curreri

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Deerfield Beach football coach Allen Jackson when his team travels to Coconut Creek High School on Friday to take on Monarch in a key District 11-8A game.

Jackson, whose Bucks (6- 0, 4-0) are on a six-game winning streak, will tackle the undefeated Knights (7-0, 4- 0) for first place in the District. Jackson previously coached at Monarch (2003- 08) and then at Coconut Creek High School before taking over at Deerfield Beach three seasons ago.

“It is a little nostalgic and a little bittersweet since my wife still works over there,” Jackson said. “We have a goal in mind, and our mindset is to go over there and take care of business.”

The last time Deerfield Beach started the season 6-0 was in 2007 when it finished 11-3 and lost 19-14 to the eventual state champion Miami Northwestern. Deerfield Beach has outscored its opposition, 272-73, in six games this season. Monarch has outscored its opponents, 262- 124, in seven contests.

“Coach Calvin Davis does a great job over there and we know we are going to have to bring our A game,” Jackson said. “We are going to have to turn it up when we play them over there.”

Senior running backs Aeron McNeal and Brandon Powell did most of the damage again as they combined to rush for 212 yards and scored four touchdowns as Deerfield Beach defeated visiting Piper, 53-8, last Friday. Monarch toppled Taravella, 44-28, on Friday.

Powell rushed for 139 yards on six carries and scored on runs of 25 and 65 yards. He also caught three passes for 46 yards. McNeal added 73 yards and two scores on runs of 7 and 5 yards, while quarterback Danarious Graham also scored twice on runs of 11 and 4 yards.

The Bucks’ defense limited Piper to 69 total yards and added two defensive touchdowns of its own on a Kendrick Catis 45-yard interception return and a Quinton Briggs 24-yard fumble return.

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach is off to its best start in five seasons as it received another strong performance from Brandon Powell.

The University of Miami commit ran for 194-yds. on 22 carries and scored three second-half touchdowns as host Deerfield Beach defeated Coral Springs, 26-6, in an 11-8A District game on Saturday night.

The Bucks improved to 4- 0 for the first time in five seasons with the victory and faces a stern test this Friday when Taravella (2-2) comes to town.The Bucks and Trojans are both 2-0 in District 11-8A.

Michael Greene’s 3-yard run with 2:52 remaining in the second quarter gave Deerfield a 7-0 halftime cushion. It didn’t last long into the second half as Powell went 80-yards for a score and a 14- 0 lead.

Powell added a 33-yard scoring run to make it 20-0 before the Colts (1-3, 1-1) cut Deerfield Beach’s lead to 20- 6 on an 18-yard scoring toss from Jake Bofshever to Chad Boyd. Powell iced the game with a 6-yard scoring run on the ensuing drive for win.

“We came out a little sloppy, but we made some adjustments and came out with a different attitude in the second half,” said Deerfield Beach coach Allen Jackson, whose team lost to eventual Class 8A state runner-up Cypress Bay in the regional quarterfinals last season and hopes to go deeper in the playoffs this season. “We have to keep taking care of little things like missed assignments and missed tackles.”

Deerfield Beach’s senior running back Aeron McNeal missed the contest as he served a one-game suspension after picking up two personal fouls the previous week in a win over Douglas.

Sophomore defensive back James Pierre recorded two interceptions to pace the Bucks, which limited the Colts to just 110 yards. Powell led a solid ground game that churned out 327 yards. Green also had 59 yards rushing.

The Bucks are also receiving votes in this week’s Class 8A state football poll.

Ely guard, hoping for threepeat, commits to east Carolina

Blanche Ely High School point guard Lance Tejada will be able to relax a little heading into his senior year after pledging to play at East Carolina University during an official visit last month.

Tejada is a four-star basketball prospect and can now concentrate on delivering a third consecutive state championship to the Tigers. Tejada said he was drawn to the talents of East Carolina University coach Jeff Lebo, who was former point guard for legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

“Coach Lebo is a great coach and great person,’’ Tejada said. “He played for North Carolina and then in the NBA for a couple years. He knows what it takes on the next level. He has been through it all. He is going to push me to get better, especially at the point guard position.”

Tejada, a member of the ESPN 100, chose the Pirates over more prominent programs, including Alabama, Butler, Florida State, Miami, George Mason, Murray State, Tennessee and Virginia.

Tejada first became noticed on the hardwood after he helped lead Miramar to its first state Final Four appearance in his freshman year. After his sophomore year, Tejada transferred to Ely and helped the Tigers go 27-2 and win its second consecutive Class 7A state championship.

Tejada will be one of the catalysts this season as the Tigers bid for its third consecutive state championship under five-time state champion coach Melvin Randall. The Tigers lost some key players to graduation, including Dallas Cameron; however, Tejada is up for the challenge.

“I didn’t expect to commit this early, but when I got to East Carolina I didn’t want to leave,’’ said Tejada, who scored a game-high 24 points in a 71-52 victory over Bartow in the Class 7A state semifinals last year.

“I’m glad the weight is off my shoulders thinking about where I’m going,” Tejada added. “Now, all I have to focus on is basketball and helping Mr. Randall get that three-peat.”

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach coach Allen Jackson had a feeling his team might start off slowly in its District 11-8A opener against rival Douglas on Friday night.

After all, the Bucks hadn’t been challenged in their opening two contests as they outscored Northeast, 37-0, and Blanche Ely, 46-6, before having last week off with a bye.

“We knew this was going to happen,” Jackson said. “Both teams came into the game undefeated and a win is a win. We’ll take it any way we can get it. This is a big, big, big win. Deerfield hasn’t been 3-0 to start the season in a while.”

Senior running back Aeron McNeal rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns as visiting Deerfield Beach rallied for the come-from-behind 47- 31 district victory over Douglas.

McNeal was ejected from the contest with 8:30 remaining in the game after being called for his second personal foul penalty in the game. It is unknown what his status will be for this week’s game against Coral Springs. The Bucks were penalized for 160 yards in the game.

“We aren’t sure what is going to happen with that,” Jackson said. “Our athletic director (Vinnie Tozzi) was going to talk to the officials and see what is up.”

Douglas (2-1, 0-1) took a 7-0 lead on a 15-yard scoring toss from Brett Israel to Tate Lehito. The score capped a 9- play, 68-yard drive. Deerfield Beach answered as it took the ensuing kickoff and marched 77 yards in eight plays as McNeal scored the first of his two touchdowns in the first half to tie the game at 7-7.

The Eagles scored off a fake punt to grab a 13-7 lead as Israel found Corey May with a short pass and he went 41 yards for the score with 11:35 remaining in the first half.

Deerfield Beach (3-0, 1-0) took the lead for good at 14- 13 on a 34-yard scoring run by Brandon Powell with 8:22 left in the first half. Douglas was driving for a go-ahead score late in the first half, however Israel’s pass was deflected and Powell returned the interception 53 yards to set up McNeal’s 48-yard TD run with 1:24 remaining in the first half.

“That gave us the momentum right there,” Jackson said. “It was what we needed and we were able to straighten things out after that.”

Douglas’ Davian Daley pulled the Eagles to within 21-19 as he scored on a 1- yard run to cap a nearly 9- minute drive to open the second half.

Deerfield’s McNeal broke off right tackle and scampered 20 yards to push the lead the 27-19 with 1:03 left in the third and the Bucks iced the game on a 73-yard TD pass from Danarious Graham to Leonard Scott with 8:30 remaining in the game. Douglas closed to within 34-25 on a 5-yard TD run by Khalil Herbert; however, Justin Morgan caught a 20-yard scoring toss from Graham, and then returned an onside kick 50 yards for the score to up the lead to 47-31.

The Eagles added a 24-yard scoring toss from Israel to Ryan Allison in the fourth quarter.

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach Raiders coach Bobby Cooper took in stride his Pop Warner Tiny Mite team’s loss to host Delray Rocks.

The Rocks got touchdown runs of 50 and 32 yards from Jayden Parrish, a 43-yard TD run from Zandher Mesidort and a 50-yard scoring run from Courtney Brown to improve to 3-0 for the year. Deerfield fell to 1-2 with its second consecutive loss.

“That is a very good team right there and our kids have got nothing to be ashamed of,” said Cooper, who has been coaching youth football for the past eight years. He took over the Raiders just eight days before the season opener. “Our kids kept fighting to the end. They didn’t quit and I am really proud of them. They are right about where they should be, considering how young and inexperienced they are.”

The Tiny Mite Division is composed of players ages 5- 7, who weigh between 35 and 75 lbs. The majority of the players on the Raiders team are 13. There are three players who are 7 and one who is 6 years old.

By contrast, the undefeated Rocks have an experienced team.

“We have 15 returning players from last year’s team, so they have been doing really well,” said Delray Rocks coach Anthony Guy, who has been coaching for 12 years, including the past six with the Rocks. “The best thing about this process is seeing the work that they put in on the field before the season is paying off.”

Cooper agreed and said his team is looking to rebuild from the bottom weight class. They have three teams in the program ranging from the Tiny Mite program to the Midget Program.

“The hardest part about working with 13 5-year-olds, and you only got two who have ever played (football) before, is to have patience,”

Cooper added. “The key is to have a lot of patience. If you don’t have patience, you don’t need to be out here.” Cooper and his staff concentrate on the basics with his Treasure Coast-based Pop Warner program.

“We teach them about teamwork and we like to get the families involved, especially the fathers,” Cooper said. “We try and get the families to spend time with the kids. We are teaching them everything they need to know. It also isn’t about winning. We want them to learn important lessons and sports will do that.”