In a battle of two South Florida high school football powers with aspirations of winning another state championship, the Miami Central Rockets and Christopher Columbus Explorers made quite the case why they might just be the best teams in the whole state.
The defending state champions jumped out to a 35-7 halftime lead Friday in their Greater Miami Athletic Commission championship game, but Columbus launched an epic comeback that forced the Rockets to hold on for a 42-35 victory at Traz Powell Stadium.
Central (8-0) struck first on a 52-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Keyone Jenkins to wide receiver Lamar Seymore to put the Rockets up 7-0. The Explorers (8-1) tied the game up on a 10-yard touchdown run from quarterback Alberto Mendoza.
The second quarter was all Rockets as Jenkins hooked up with Seymore for a 47-yard touchdown, followed by a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Dylan Tulloch. Jenkins found Corey Washington for a 31-yard touchdown and Central used some trickery on a halfback pass from Anjuan Coleman to wide receiver Lawayne McCoy for the halftime lead.
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The Explorers made it a game in the second half, scoring 21 unanswered points on a touchdown pass from Mendoza to wide receiver Fadrelle Andrus followed by a touchdown catch from Dariell Harper and one from Jose Leon to cut the deficit to seven points.
Central extended the lead on a five-yard touchdown pass from Jenkins to McCoy in the fourth quarter to make the lead 42-28. Mendoza and Leon hooked up for a 29-yard touchdown that again cut the deficit to seven and had the ball with one minute left in the game, but a costly turnover gave possession back to the Rockets and allowed them to run out the clock.
The game continued the annual GMAC Football Championships, a week set aside in the regular season to allow some of Miami-Dade’s top programs to battle on the football field.
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Central will look to close out their regular season undefeated next Friday as they face Monsignor Pace in a district showdown. Columbus will also finish their regular season next Friday in a home game against Barbara Goleman High School.
