All three Keys teams enjoyed home contests on Aug. 15 in their preseason classics. The Key West Conchs and the Coral Shores Hurricanes came out on top, while the Marathon Dolphins floundered. With preseason in the books, all the records are wiped clean as all of Monroe County’s teams start week one undefeated.
Photos by Doug Finger, Maicey Malgrat and Sean Westerband
KEY WEST
In a 35-34 nailbiter, Key West prevailed in the Ran Carthon Kickoff Classic, making a statement against the 6A Homestead High School Broncos. Head coach Johnny Hughes had two goals going into the contest: to remain injury-free and to see how physical his team was. According to Hughes, both goals were met.
“We had a few bumps and bruises, but nothing major,” he said. As for the physical gut check? The Conchs managed to hold their own until the final whistle, despite facing a roster of over 60 Broncos.
“Most of our guys play both sides of the ball,” said Hughes, a fact that makes it far more difficult to compete against large schools.
One of those two-way athletes, senior Walson Morin, ran for a pair of touchdowns. Fellow senior Jeff DeJean had a pair of his own and junior Roman VanLoon, who earned the nod as starting QB, connected with Reef Guyet for a 24-yard touchdown pass. The scoring made it clear that the Conchs have figured out exactly what they need to do and have the finesse to execute.
Also helping them in their win was a lack of turnovers, something that plagued the team at times last season. With that out of the picture, and athletes who are showing out despite double and sometimes triple duties, the season could be something special for Key West.
Up next for the Conchs is Barbara Goleman. Goleman, a 7A school with at least two Division I commits, will test Key West in week one, but Hughes is optimistic.
“If we shore things up and have no turnovers, we should do well,” he said. Kickoff is Friday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. at Tommy Roberts Stadium.
MARATHON
Marathon coach Sean McDonald knew it was a gamble to schedule North Broward Prep, but a review of their spring game film eased that decision a bit.
“When they unloaded the bus, it was quite a different team,” said McDonald. But true to Dolphin form, Marathon fought hard from pillar to post.
Also not in the Fins’ favor was the fact that the team had just 10 collective carries in game action among all of their rostered athletes prior to the matchup.
“We graduated our ball carriers (from last season) and we were untested as far as carries go,” said McDonald. “I knew we would have some challenges there, and I knew there would be miscues. That’s what a kickoff classic is for.”
The Dolphins struggled to find their groove, and did not move the ball as much as they had hoped, yet the experience was an important lesson, according to McDonald.
“It was important to get that out of the way,” McDonald said, referring to several Fin fumbles. “Anytime you have a new ball carrier, there’s bound to be a fumble, and it’s better to have this in the preseason than when it counts.”
This season, the Dolphins will continue their single wing offense with new role players. Steven Stotts, the team’s center last season, traded in his lineman number in order to play fullback. Stotts scored the team’s lone touchdown last week and amassed 30 yards. Garrett Ruddy and Jesus Gonzalez both had carries at tailback. Gonzalez joins his brother Israel in the backfield, and both have football savvy and lots of athleticism. Ruddy, a sophomore, had never played football until last season, but that doesn’t diminish the expectations for him. “His intensity is great,” said McDonald. “He’s going to do big things for us in the next few seasons.”
Playing wingback this season is junior Matthew Machado. Machado was one of the few players going into last week’s game who had experience running the ball for the Fins, but his role this season will be far more crucial. McDonald noted Machado’s leadership and tenacity. Christopher Paul will replace Stotts at center, helping to shore up an offensive line that will feature Eduardo Garcia, Aidan Gilday and Matthew Delgado, a trio of seniors with experience holding the line.
Marathon will find out if the lessons learned from their preseason game are enough to overcome Pompano Beach, a team which has become a great rivalry for the Fins.
“We should match up well against Pompano,” said McDonald. “If we play aggressively and ditch the hesitation, we should have a great game.” The Dolphins play at Pompano at 7 p.m. on Aug. 22.
CORAL SHORES
Coral Shores head coach Ed Holly found himself scrambling for a kickoff classic after Miami Coral Park canceled at the last minute. Fortunately for the ’Canes, Miami Southwest had suffered a similar setback and agreed to travel to Tavernier for some preseason action.
“Going into the game, our goal was to find out who we are,” said Holly, whose team graduated a multitude of seniors last season. For the Hurricanes, that goal was achieved quickly. “True to Coral Shores, our identity was being able to run the ball and be physical at the point of attack,” he said.
Coral Shores struck first, with a 9-yard touchdown run from John Oughton in the first quarter. Miami Southwest answered in the beginning of quarter two to tie the game. With moments to go before the half, Ekon Edwards exploded for a 23-yard touchdown run to put the ’Canes ahead 14-7 at the half.
Southwest tied it up again in quarter three, making for an exciting back-and-forth game until Jake Companioni punched it in for the go-ahead TD. A missed 2-point conversion made the score 20-14 until the final quarter, when Sterling Keefe ran one in and David Beltran added two to make the final score 28-14.
As with all south Florida teams, with the exception of the Keys, Holly really did not know what to expect with his most recent opponent. The rule modifications allowing open transferring of athletes from one school to another make knowing exactly what you will face each week a bit of guesswork.
“They had a lot of speed,” Holly said, adding, “They were a good team with good coaching.
“We had a good camp this season. We fought through the heat. We have a good nucleus and we’re excited for what’s in front of us,” he said.
The Hurricanes, having met their preseason goal, head into week one with some confidence, knowing they can do what has become Coral Shores’ trademark in recent years: play hard, dig deep and never give up. They’ll need that grit as well as the heat conditioning from their camp against Somerset South Homestead on Thursday, Aug. 21 at Harris Park in what will likely be a scorcher, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
