Booker T. Washington bounces back; top Miami Southridge

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – In order to get back on track, Booker T. Washington recognized the importance of playing to its strength – which is running the ball.

The Tornadoes did just that on Friday afternoon, putting a heavy workload on running back Antwan Smith.

The hard-running Smith plowed his way for 151 yards on 21 carries, and scored a touchdown in Booker T. Washington’s 35-21 win over Miami Southridge at Nathaniel Traz Powell Stadium.

“We’ve got to understand our team is a little different this year than we’ve been in the past,” Booker T. coach Tim “Ice” Harris said. “In the past, our coordinators were guys who had played for us, and they were receivers. We threw the ball all over the place. Now, our team is not built like that right now.”

At times, the Tornadoes get away from their identity, and they got to be a little pass happy. It almost cost them on Friday.

“Our team is built more to running the football, and we’ve got to have that patience to understand that’s who we are now,” Harris said. “What we might be next year, or the year after that, then we’ll deal with that. But this year’s team, we got away from what we’re good at, and that’s running the football.”

Southridge is coached by Pierre Senatus, who formerly was part of the Booker T. program. His team kept it close, but didn’t have an answer for Smith’s ability to gobble up yards on the ground.

“We’ve been wanting [Smith] to turn that corner,” Harris said. “In previous years, he’s a kid who grew up in Overtown, playing for Overtown Optimist. He got on the heavy side. Now we’ve gotten his weight down, and under control. He can be an elite, top back – not just in the state of Florida, but in the country. Recruiting is now picking up for him. They’re seeing a difference in who we are, and how we’re running the football. So we want him to keep running with that passion, and that love for the game, the way he did today.”

A junior, Smith is being recruited by a number of schools, including Florida Atlantic University, Toledo and West Virginia.

With his big day on Friday, Smith topped 1,000 yards rushing on the season.

“That was the first goal that I had, because I had like 600 yards last year,” Smith said. “They said, ‘I’ve got to get faster.’ “

BTW-Southridge was the second to last game on Friday as part of the Greater Miami Athletic Conference (GMAC) showcase that featured 18 games among Miami-Dade County schools.

The event was capped by nationally-ranked Miami Central holding off state-ranked Columbus, 42-35, in arguably the best game of the season in Miami-Dade County.

None of the GMAC games counted towards district standings, but the results matter in the state power-rankings. The field was set to match teams as evenly as possible.

For Booker T., Friday was a bounce back game after the Tornadoes lost, 26-7, to Miami Northwestern the previous week.

With the win, Northwestern is now the 2M District 14 champs, and Booker T. (7-2, 3-1) is aiming for the top at-large seed. The highest seed the Tornadoes can have is fifth, and the lowest is eight. The four district champs will be rated 1-4.

Meanwhile, Southridge (4-4, 2-0) clinched first place in 3M District 16 based on its upset of Homestead, 20-8, the week before.

Southridge’s success is not surprising to Harris, because of his familiarity with Coach Senatus.

“Pierre was a part of us, with Booker T.,” Harris said. “He came to Booker T. as a Social Studies teacher. He was a part of what we do, and our tree. We know, that’s who we are. … He pays attention to details. He’s going to have a team to be reckoned with, as he keeps playing.”

Early on, the game featured explosive plays.

Claudell Sherman connected with Xavier Irvin for 18-yards and the Tornadoes were on the board in the first quarter. Sherman added a 15-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 before Southridge quarterback Damari Charlton scampered 51 yards for a score.

Sherman to Irvin clicked again for 50 yards, and Booker T.’s lead was 21-7.

The Tornadoes were able to tack on another big play, this time by running back Gerald Modest, who scampered 63 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-7.

It looked like Booker T. would head into halftime with a three-touchdown edge, especially after Ben Hanks Jr. made an interception late in the quarter.

But rather than rely on their big backs to run out the clock, Booker T. threw the ball incomplete, and gave Southridge time to get back in it. Charlton threw 18 yards to Cameron Owens, trimming the Spartans’ deficit to 28-14 at halftime.

In the fourth quarter, Smith’s 12-yard touchdown run made it a three-score game, 35-14.

But Southridge chipped back on Charlton’s 14-yard scoring pass to Joe Scott.

Hanks added his second interception with 1:44 remaining to ice the game for Booker T.

“We knew it was going to be tough, watching what Coach Pierre and his staff are doing with his team in his first year,” Harris said. “The same with us. He’s really putting it together, the right way. We saw that on video. We knew it was going to be tough. For us to be able to get back into it, and get this win, was big for us.”