The Seminole Ridge High School boys varsity football team got off to a shaky start Friday, Aug. 23 when they lost 34-7 in a pre-season game against North Miami Beach High School at Callery-Judge Stadium.
Though it looked like it might be a shutout, the Hawks rallied in the third quarter to pull out a touchdown, but they were unable to stop the Chargers.
Early on, the Hawks missed on opportunities to score and let North Miami Beach control the field.
The chargers racked up 20 points unmatched, shutting out Seminole Ridge as the game went into halftime.
On the opening play of the second half, the Hawks fumbled the ball, turning it over on their own 25-yard line. Luckily, the Chargers were unable to capitalize on their field position and fumbled the ball on the second down. Seminole Ridge grabbed the ball to take possession once again.
The Hawks were unable to push through the North Miami Beach defense, however, and turned the ball over again. The Chargers pushed through the Seminole Ridge defense, and with 6:28 left on the clock, ran in a touchdown and extra-point kick to make the score 27-0 in the third quarter.
But Seminole Ridge wasn’t going down without a fight. On the return kick, the Hawks began an 86-yard drive down the field. EJ Elien picked up the ball on the 14-yard line and carried it 10 yards for a first down. He then pushed through to the 28-yard line, where he was nearly stopped.
The Hawks took a chance on a fourth down attempt and ran in another first down to push down the field.
Elien, aided by Kerrith Whyte, continued to move the ball down the field. With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Whyte brought the Hawks to the goal line.
Despite a failed first attempt at scoring, which saw Elien tackled for a loss of yards, Whyte pushed through the Charger defense to score the first touchdown of the season for the Hawks. An extra-point kick by Jacob Curran made the score 27-7.
But it wasn’t enough to win the game. North Miami Beach scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter to end the game 34-7.
The Hawks host Boca Raton High School on Friday, Aug. 30 for a 7:30 p.m. game to open the regular season.
ABOVE: Hawks quarterback Zach DeCosta looks for an opening.
