Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 12-15-15 Edition

Local Sports
Miami Central Benefits From Armwood's Mistakes To Capture Fourth-Straight Title
The Miami Central High School Rockets are ready to compete for the 6A Championship.
College Sports
2015 College Football Final Four Has Florida Connection
ORLANDO -- Three-straight trips to the state champi- onships for Armwood, three- straight title games against Miami Central.
After losing the last two titles to the Rockets, was this the year Armwood finally posed with the championship trophy instead of the runner-up?
It looked that way after the Hawks first offensive play - junior running back Erin Collins' 90-yard touchdown run. But things went downhill after that.
Central scored 35 unan- swered points in a 48-13 vic- tory to claim the Class 6A championship, the school's fourth-straight title.
Armwood turned the ball over three times and all three led to Central touchdowns.
"We made turnovers and the turnovers we made, we payed dearly for," Hawks head coach Sean Callahan said. "Things that we talked we couldn't do, we did. It put us in a hole."
The Rockets freshman run- ning back James Cook, younger brother of FSU's Dalvin Cook, scored three touchdowns and rushed for 178 yards. He was a big bene- factor from Armwood's mis- takes.
Central opened the game with a clock chewing drive all the way down to Armwood's 10-yard line. But the Hawks made a stop on fourth-and-5 and on their first play from scrimmage, Collins ran for a 90-yard touchdown.
The Rockets got on the scoreboard when junior defen- sive back Allen Jones re- turned a Hawks fumble 90 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Armwood muffed the return and Central recovered at the Hawks 11- yard line. That led to another Rockets touchdown and a 14-6 lead.
Armwood had an opportu- nity to cut that lead. In the last play of the first quarter, quar- terback Darrian McNeal
converted a third-and-8 with a 33-yard reception to Collins. McNeal got the Hawks deep into Central territory with a 19-yard run. But the drive stalled and the Hawks missed a 38-yard field goal.
Later in the second quarter, Central increased its lead with Cook's 28-yard touchdown.
But the dagger came on the last play of the first half. Arm- wood turned the ball over on downs at midfield after a failed fake punt. After the Rockets took over, they were seemingly stopped until the Hawks were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct taunting. On the next play, Central quarterback Jer- rod Thomas tossed a Hail Mary to receiver Carmoni Green for a 46-yard touch- down as time expired in the first half.
Things didn't get better at the start of the second half. Armwood fumbled the open- ing kickoff and Central turned it into Cook's second touch- down of the game.
Armwood finally got back in the end zone with 7:24 left in the third quarter when Mc- Neal capped off an 81-yard drive with a three-yard touch- down run.
But Central tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth to prevent any kind of Hawks rally.
"(Central's) a great pro- gram, but our kids never gave up and we fought hard," Callahan said. "It is what it is. They're a very good program and we knew that going in. We just can't make mistakes.
"But the effort was there. I'm proud of my kids. They showed a lot of heart."
Callahan gathered his team after the game and told them they'd be back. And then he prepared them for yet another medal ceremony where they would get silver, instead of gold, around their necks.
"When you get that medal, you better wear that with pride," he said.
T. J. HARRELL
Although no teams from Florida made it to this year’s College Football Final Four, there is at least one player from Florida on the roster of the four teams that did.
Clemson, Michigan State, Oklahoma, and Alabama all have players from Florida on their rosters.
But, Clemson, Michigan State and Oklahoma took it a step further by having players
DEVYN SALMON
from Hillsborough County on their rosters.
For Clemson, look out for former Tampa Bay Vo-Tech wide receiver Deon Cain (#8), former Sickles wide re- ceiver RayRay McCloud (#34), and former Plant High School offensive tackle, Jake Fruhmorgen (#63).
On Michigan State’s roster are linebacker T. J. Harrell (#31) from Tampa Catholic
ERIC STRIKER
High School, and Devyn
Salmon (#58), a center from Plant City High School.
The Oklahoma Sooners will feature senior linebacker Eric Striker (#19) from Armwood High School.
Although University of Ala- bama has no players from Hillsborough County on their roster, they do have players from other places in the State of Florida.
DEON CAIN
RAYRAY MCCLOUD
JAKE FRUHMORGEN
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