By Gary Curreri

Grace Parnas had a stellar effort at the recent United States Lifeguard Association Southern Regional event at Lake Worth.

The 14-year-old Pompano Beach resident won six of the nine events she was in and placed second in another for the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguards in the Girls A Division. Parnas, who will be a sophomore at Calvary Christian Academy in the fall, took first in the run-swim-run, paddleboard race, beach flags, rescue race, iron guard and the swim relay. She got silver in the run relay.

“I’ve been competing for four years and been doing the camp for six years,” Parnas said. “It’s so fun. Most of the people say it is so hard, but I get to see my friends and then compete with them.”

She gets lost in the adrenaline rush. 

“You honestly don’t remember a lot of the race,” Parnas said. “You have the adrenaline rush and you are going as fast as you can because you just want to win.”

“I never expected to be at nationals or regionals,” said Parnas, who has also fared well at the national event.

She won beach flags two years ago and placed third last year in the event and is the two-time defending paddleboard national champion. 

“It is incredible,” she continued. “I never thought I would win nationals. I don’t feel any (outside) pressure. It is more self-put pressure because I want to win a national championship again.”

Teammate Julia Freshour, 13, also of Pompano, turned in a solid performance as well. She won the Girls B Division surf rescue, paddleboard, run-swim-run, rescue relay, and moved up in both the Girls A swim relay and the U19 swim relay. She was second in the iron guard.

“I really love ocean swimming so it is probably that,” said Freshour, who is a Pompano Middle School eighth-grader and has competed since she was 7. “I like to race. The competitions are really important. I would skip anything that day to come to this.”

She also loves the adrenaline rush when she competes.

“I kind of tune everything out, and I get into this zone where I kind of go into autopilot and just go,” she said. “I don’t think about anything. I don’t feel anything. I can just go all out.

It is very important to win.”

Pompano Beach’s Victoria Scarpinito took second in the U19 Girls beach flags event. She’s competed for the past five years.

“I love the team spirit and team enthusiasm. I like the challenge and how you can push yourself,” said Scarpinito, 17, who will be a senior at Cardinal Gibbons in the fall. She is also a member of the school’s dance team and on the Pro-Am competition dance team.

“It is an amazing feeling once you are out there,” she said. “It is not the most important thing to win, but it is a good feeling when you do.”

Summer Schulte took first in the U19 girls Surf race (distance swim), paddleboard and iron guard, while Oliver Nagy was the top boys finisher for the Pompano program as he won three events in the Boys A Division. He won the surf swim, paddleboard and iron guard.

Rich Tammany, who heads up the host Lake Worth Junior Lifeguard program, said the event attracted about 200 junior lifeguards from as far south as Hollywood all the way north to Flagler Beach.

Among the other cities represented were Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach and host Lake Worth.

“We were very excited,” Tammany said. “I have been doing Junior Lifeguards for 23 years and this is only the second time we have had it here. The other time we had it here was 2006. The kids are excited. The weather was good…water was good. It was a great day.”

By Gary Curreri

After opening the season with wins over Sheridan Hills and Boca Raton Christian, the Highlands Christian Academy boys’ basketball team found the going rough in its own holiday tournament.

The Knights began the regular season as it topped Sheridan Hills, 83-67, and then downed District 7-3A rival Boca Raton Christian, 53-40, in the opener of the 40th annual event that was started by former AD and basketball coach Reg Cook.

Sophomore guard Alex Villas led the team in scoring with 16 points, including going 6 for 6 from the field with 2, three-pointers in the win over the Blazers.

The Knights (2-2) dropped its final two games in the tournament, falling to the eventual tournament champion, Pine Crest, 57-44, and to King’s Academy, 57-56, in the third place game. Highlands trailed Pine Crest by 14 points and were able to draw within four before the Panthers pulled away for the win.

“Playing these three games really sets the tone for our season and gives me a good indication of what our strengths and weaknesses are,” said Knights coach and Athletic Director Jim Good. “Although we ended up losing two out of the three games, I was very encouraged and pleased with our effort. Unfortunately, we found ourselves too deep in a hole versus Pine Crest and King’s trying to overcome double digits.”

Highlands and King’s are quite familiar with each other as they faced off the previous two tournaments. Highlands defeated King’s for third place last year and in double overtime the previous year for the championship game. The Knights were down 12 in the third quarter before senior point guard Sawyer Lawhon hit 3, threes to draw them close. Lawhon was named to the All-Tournament team.

“We, unfortunately, did not shoot the ball well from the free throw line that night,” Good said. “I guess King’s was finally due to pick up a win against us. It’s always a great week as we host the Classic right after Thanksgiving.”

Pine Crest, the defending champion, won the title with a 72-55 victory over North Broward Prep as Brian Anderson was named tournament MVP. The Knights had won its own tournament nine times – 1978, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2009, 2010 and in 2015.

Santos Sweep helps Piranhas finish 15th in Winter Champs

Pompano Beach’s Mattheus Santos, 16, and his 15-year-old brother Raphael went 1-2 in the 15-16 boys high point standings to help the Pompano Beach Piranhas swim team to a 15th place overall finish at the 27th annual Speedo Winter Championships at Plantation Aquatic Complex recently.

Mattheus had 64 points, while Raphael added 60.50 as the pair combined to score 124.50 of the swim club’s points for the four-day meet and led the boys’ team to an 11th place finish with 219.50 points. The girls’ team finished 28th with 26 points as the program ended up with 245.50 total points.

The meet featured nearly 1,100 swimmers and more than 50 teams from the Florida Gold Coast (South Florida teams) organization, in addition to teams from out of state and international squads. Swimmers ages 9-16 were involved in the competition.

Hosted by the Plantation Swim Team, the Winter Championships is the state’s largest age group meet and one of the nation’s largest LSC (Local Swimming Committees) meets.

Other top finishes for Pompano included Emilio Barrantes, 14, who was sixth with 46 points; Summer Schulte, 14, who finished 18th in the Girls 13-14 high points with 17 points; Alex Marquez, 15, (7 points) and Shane Schulte, 16, (5 points) placed 30th and 35th, respectively, in the meet.

By Gary Curreri

The Pompano Beach Piranhas recently took 11th overall in the Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships at the Academic Village Swimming Pool.

Pompano Beach coach Jesse Vassallo brought 19 swimmers to the three-day meet and scored 449.50 points overall. The men’s team tallied 344.50 to finish 10th in that division, while the women scored 105 points, which was good enough for 17th overall.

“We hoped to do that,” said Vassallo, who cited a Top-12 finish at the meet. The host South Florida Aquatic Club (SOFLO) won the combined team title with 2,748 points. The team also captured the men’s title.

“We are a small team compared to the rest,” Vassallo said. “It adds up to the relays, a point here and a point there. There are three seasons in a year and we came to this meet not rested. We didn’t stop training. We kept training and we came in tired, but we did better that I expected. I had a kid (Tyler Zuyus) win high point without being shaved.”

Zuyus, 16, a junior at Ft. Lauderdale High School, is expecting to be the top swimmer at his school. He is also a Ft. Lauderdale resident.

“Meets like this help me prepare for bigger meets,” said Zuyus. “This is a marking point for where I want to be and where I am at so I know how to train for it. Sometimes we go into it not shaved or tapered and this was one of those times.”

He was pleased with winning the high point award.

“It is really an accomplishment for me to do this,” Zuyus said. “I wasn’t expecting to win the high point. It shows that I am able to do well under all of the pressure. Going back-to-back with all of those races … it is a confidence booster. My high school season was great and it was the first time I place individually. Unfortunately, our relays didn’t do so well. It’s okay. We will get them next year!”

Zuyus was runner-up for the high point award at the Winter Championships. He said he is now looking forward to swimming the summer season.

“I am going to sleep,” said Zuyus, who swam nine total events individually and five relays. “I haven’t slept in a couple days. I was really happy with my 200 back because I dropped two seconds and every other race was close to my personal best time.”

The team’s performance also came off a solid effort at the Junior Olympic competition a couple of weeks earlier.

“At the JOs,” Vassallo said, “we were a very small group. We only brought eight swimmers. Rafael Santos won three events, and Lilia Blanco also swam really well. She is only nine, but she came in third three times and scored in every event she swam in the 10-Under competition.”

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach’s Megan Moroney is looking forward to the next chapter of her career.

The 17-year-old senior at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, who was recently named the Florida High School Dairy Association’s Female Swimmer of the Year, captured 13 state high school championships during the past four seasons.

“This is such a great honor,” said Moroney, who won seven individual titles including four consecutive in the 100-yd. butterfly and three championships in the 200-yd. freestyle. She was also on three relays. “It’s definitely a great note to end my high school swimming on.”

Moroney, the top-ranked recruit in Florida and 16th overall nationally, is headed to the University of Virginia after signing her national letter of intent in the fall.

“I loved everything about it,” Moroney said. “The campus, the coaches, the team, the academics …. it was exactly everything I could want in a school.”

She also considered Stanford and Duke. She said knowing where she was going helped take some of the pressure off her for her senior year.

“It was a tough decision,” said Moroney, whose winning time in the 200-yd. freestyle (1:45.89) was the fastest time in the state in all four classifications. “Every school I was looking at was a really great school. I knew Virginia gave me the best combination of everything. I felt that would be where I would be.

“One thing I liked about Virginia was they had a lot of help with the academics,” Moroney said. “They have tutors on hand whenever you need one. People are always checking on you to make sure your grades are good. They won’t let you do poorly.”

Moroney has also already qualified for the 2016 Olympic trials in the 100, 200 and 400 freestyles. She was one of the youngest swimmers in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2012 Olympic trials in Omaha, NE.

“It was kind of hard to expect a best time at such a huge event with so much pressure,” said Moroney, who started attending St. Andrew’s in the sixth grade. She swam on the club team in the fourth grade after beginning her swim career for the Boca Barracudas Y team in the recreational league. “That was probably the scariest moment of my life and, looking out at an arena pool, it was cool, but it was totally scary. I was a lot younger, so I really wasn’t surprised that I didn’t do as well.”

St. Andrew’s School swim coach Sid Cassidy called Moroney Palm Beach County’s most dominant swimmer ever.

“In addition to everything she accomplished in the pool, she has remained true to herself,” said Cassidy, who began coaching Moroney as a sixth grader. “She leads a well-balanced family life and is a top student at St. Andrew’s School.”

“She was rightly recruited by every one of this nation’s top collegiate swimming programs and has selected the University of Virginia as her next stop on her journey,” Cassidy added. “No doubt the coaching staff in Charlottesville has to be smiling over the acquisition of this Golden Girl from Palm Beach County. We may never see another one quite like her.”

Stone named All-State

Zion Lutheran School senior Keith Stone was recently named to the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches and Source Hoops Class 2A All-State team.

The 6-ft., 8-in., 240-lb. forward, who recently signed his national letter of intent with the University of Florida, averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Lions. Stone committed to play for the Gators two days after his official visit last October.

“It is close to home,” Stone said of his college choice. “My whole family loves them. Coach Billy (Donovan) is a Hall of Fame coach. He runs NBA style plays and that works for me.”

The four-year starter helped the Lions (20-8) advance to the Class 2A regional semifinals where it fell to Grandview Prep, 88-80.

Stone said he improved in his ball handling and stretching the defense in the last couple of years at the school and the four-star prospect was rated as the No. 97 player in the nation and 11th in the state of Florida, according to 247 Sports.

“No. 1, he’s very selfless, so nothing’s ever been about himself,” Zion Lutheran coach John Guion said. “He’s a great passer and a great shooter. He has a solid post game, and he’s got a great perimeter game as well. His game will translate well to the next level.”

By Gary Curreri

Swimmers from the Pompano Beach Piranhas USA swim program have enjoyed success in recent months and the recent Florida Gold Coast Junior Olympics swim meet at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex was no exception.

Several Piranhas turned in strong efforts in the high point awards for their respective divisions led by Tyler Zuyus, who took fourth in the 13-14 Boys Division, while Jake Schulte was 10th in the 10-Under Boys. Pompano’s Boys were fifth in the Boys 13-14 team race, while the 10-Under Boys were ninth overall.

Two swimmers are happy with the progress of the program, which is in its fourth year as a USA swim program, and Piranhas head swim coach Jesse Vassallo is entering his fourth year heading the program.

Pompano Beach’s Shane Schulte, 14, is one of five members of his family that swim. He has two brothers (Kelly, 16, and Jake, 10) and two sisters (Julia, 18, and Summer, 12).

“It is very competitive between us,” Shane Schulte said. “We always try and do the best in every sport. It is really cool because all five of us have spent all of our lives competing. My brothers and me play rugby for the Pompano Storm and we are always fighting and aspiring to be the best out there. We have been playing rugby for two years.”

“In the Junior Olympics (JOs), I was hoping to do the best I could and go up a few spots from where I was ranked in the beginning,” he added. “I went up in my rankings and dropped times in all seven of my events. I was pretty psyched about it.”

Schulte, an eighth-grader at Pompano Beach Middle School, said the local program is starting to make waves in the swimming community.

“Over the past couple of years, we have grown drastically,” he said. “We started off going to JOs and we would be one of the last teams. In the winter champs, we finished Top 10 and that was a pretty good feat for us. We are starting to get a lot stronger and form one of those big teams and big names that everyone wants to be on.

Schulte said the best part of swimming is that it is a social event.

“You are not just competing against your friends,” he said. “The practices are fun. It is not just all about hard work. You can enjoy it and that’s what makes it better than most other sports. It is not always about the placement. When you accomplish something that you have never done before like dropping a time or reaching a certain goal, you are still very satisfied in the end. I want to go very far in swimming.”

Teammate Alicja Zielinski, 14, of Oakland Park, came very close to dropping all of her times in the meet. The Northeast High School freshman has been swimming for Pompano for the past four years.

“I like how it is like an individual sport and it focuses on yourselves and your team,” Zielinski said. “To be honest, it is better than any other sport because it is the best workout for your body. You get this rush of adrenaline and you speed your way through. I am in love with competing.”

She has seen improvement and confidence as she has progressed through the past Junior Olympic competitions.

“It is a tough sport,” said Zielinski, who hopes to swim in college. “It really is. It is tougher mentally than physically. You have to motivate yourself to achieve your goal. When you get up on the block and you race, it is like you are in a different world. It is about you and how you want to achieve your goals. That is more important to me than winning medals.”

By Gary Curreri

Since Pompano Beach Piranhas head swim coach Jesse Vassallo arrived three years ago, the USA Swim program has shown steady progress in major swim meets.

Vassallo, who brought 25 athletes to the recent 24th annual Speedo Winter Championships at Plantation Aquatic Complex, was pleased as his program finally reached the Top 10.

“We wanted to get in the top 10 this year,” said Vassallo, of the meet that hosted a record 1,382 competitors representing 75 teams from around the country, as well as internationally and from South Florida. “The kids all swam and we got about 70 percent of the kids into the finals.”

The Pompano Beach Piranhas placed 10th overall in the combined standings with 522.20 points. It was eighth in the men’s team standings with 303.50 points and 12th in the women’s standings with 219 points.

This is the fourth year that Pompano Beach has been a USA swim program, and it was Vassallo’s third year heading the program.

“We went from 33rd to 19th to 13th before this year,” Vassallo said. “We didn’t bring any bonuses. These are guys who made their cuts. I am excited because it has taken time.”

Vassallo said development of the program has been noticeable.

“This is a lot more competitive than the rec swimming they had before I got there,” Vassallo said. “This is more serious swimming than where they were with recreational. You would come and go as you please and, to be here, you are pretty much swimming every day. Here, it is a big commitment. It is a pretty tough level. I have a very solid core group of swimmers.”

Oakland Park’s Raphael Santos, 12, a Sunrise Middle 6th grader, trains twice a day for four hours.

“It’s pretty fun,” Santos said. “I am good at it and my friends are here. This is pretty important because you get to show how good you are. I want to go pretty far, maybe the Olympics. It is going to take hard training … I don’t get nervous because I know I am going to score (in my event).”

The South Florida Aquatic Club (SOFLO) won its second consecutive Winter Championships with a combined total of 2,097 points to easily outdistance runner-up Azura Florida Aquatics (1,412 points) and the Pine Crest Swim Team (1,240 points). They were the only teams to top the 1,000-point mark.

Top finishers for the Pompano Beach Piranhas included: No. 5 — Victoria Miyamoto (14-year-old women); No. 8 — Sloan Sizemore (14-yearold women); No. 8 — Fatimah Westbrook (15-16 year-old women); No. 15 — Jake Schulte (10-Under men); No. 13 — Emilio Barrantes (11-year-old men); No. 13 — Raphael Santos (12-yearold men); No. 7 — Mattheus Santos (13-year-old men); No. 5 — (tie) Tyler Zuyus (14-year-old men) and No. 21 — Victor Vassallo (17 & Over men)

By Gary Curreri

Victoria Miyamoto likes to wear funny hats; but, when it comes to swimming, it is serious business for the Pompano Beach Piranhas swim team member.

Miyamoto, 14, of Boca Raton, competed in seven events for the local swim team in the recent Florida Gold Coast 14-Under Long Course Junior Olympics championship at the Plantation Aquatic Complex and finished in fourth place in the 13-14 girls high point standings. She said she wears the funny hats for good luck.

“My parents swam, so I just got into it when soccer and softball didn’t work out,” said Miyamoto, who started swimming when she was 8. She is a freshman at Boca Raton High School. “I like how you swim for yourself and not for a team. If you mess up,it is on yourself, not other people. It is cool to have teammates cheering for you though.”

Miyamoto swam in seven individual races and one relay for the Piranhas.

“It is pretty tiring, but my parents do a great job in bringing me everything and taking care of me at home,” added Miyamoto, who has Olympic aspirations. “I get a lot of rest. Swimming is pretty important. I don’t know what I would be doing without it.”

The Junior Olympic swim meet featured more than 50 teams and 700 swimmers in Florida Gold Coast Swimming. The South Florida Aquatic Club (SOFLO) totaled 802 combined points to easily out-distance the runner-up North Palm Beach Swim Club (398 points) and Azura Florida Aquatic (349 points) to win its fifth consecutive Junior Olympics title. The South Florida Aquatic Club (SOFLO) also won both the girls (424) and boys (378) team overall titles.

The Pompano Beach Piranhas placed 14th overall with 133 points. Pompano Beach Piranhas placed 12th in the girls’ standings with 59 points, while the boys’ team tied for 10th in the boys with Plantation with 74 points.

Pompano Beach Piranhas head swim coach Jesse Vasallo brought 26 swimmers to the meet. He had hoped for a Top-10 finish, but knew it would be a difficult proposition.

“We have managed to finish 13th, which was our best position,” said Vasallo, who has been with the program for three years. Pompano Beach has been a USA Swim Team program for the past four years. “We knew the Top- 10 was going to be a little hard because we had some kids who couldn’t make the meet due to other commitments with families. We gave it our best shot.”

Pompano Beach has shown steady improvement after going from 33rd place in its first year as a USA Swim team.

“I think we are doing alright,” Vasallo said.

“The commitment from the kids is bigger. You see them starting to get a little bigger and doing bigger things in the water. Victoria won a couple of events and we had a couple of kids who moved up from 11-12 to 13-14 and they are making finals and scoring.”

Other top performances from the local swim club came from Caroline Makara, Jake Schulte, Christian Henderson, Sloan Sizemore, Mia Marquez, Tyler Zuyus and Mattheus Santos.

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

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.