7 minute read
Championship Alley
Four Consecutive High School
Class 4A State Football Championships
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Ayear after the Tornadoes let a state championship slip away against Jacksonville Bolles, they never let up during a 35-7 rout of the Bulldogs in the rematch between the two teams in the Class 4A state final Saturday night in front of a crowd of 2,413 at the Citrus Bowl.
Booker T. (13-1) scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to secure its second state title since the school reopened in 1999, and its first since 2007. “Our whole motto this year was finish, finish, finish,” Booker T. junior quarterback Treon Harris said. “Last year, I felt like I was dead after we lost the way we did. This is so much a better feeling.”
Booker T. Washington’s 28-point margin of victory was the largest by any team over Bolles (12-2) in a state championship game, and only the third loss ever in the finals by the state’s leader in championships (11).
Treon Harris anchored the onslaught throwing for two touchdown passes and 245 yards on 11-of-19 passing, and running for three more touchdowns and 74 yards on 12 attempts. Booker T. outgained Bolles 440 to 187 in total yards even though Bolles ran 64 plays to the Tornadoes’ 57. The Tornadoes averaged 12.2 yards per passing play.
Miami Herald
By Andre C. Fernandez December 09, 2012 12:01 AM
National Champions
Big performances from Treon Harris and sophomore running back Mark Walton carried the load in a 40-21 win over Bolles which lead to the schools first mythical national championship.
The nation’s No. 1 team in the MaxPrep Xcellent 25 national ranking finished with a flurry on Saturday.
Booker T. Washington 14-0, piled up 511 yards while winning their 26th straight game and second consecutive Florida 4A state title with a 40-21 triumph over Bolles (Jacksonville) 10-4 at the Citrus Bowl.
Florida State-bound Treon Harris completed 15 of 27 passes for 226 yards and rushed for 86 more while accounting for three touchdowns. Sophomore running back Mark Walton, who has already committed to Miami, added 124 yards rushing and two more scores as the Tornadoes became
the third team from South Florida since 2007 to win a mythical national title.
The others were by Northwestern in 2007 and St. Thomas Aquinas in 2008 and 2010.
“Nothing was going to take me out of this game,” Harris told Miami Herald reporter Andrew Fernandez. Harris injured his knee and missed some time in the playoff. “I would’ve had to break something to get taken out of the game. Anything sprained or anything, I was going to fight through.”
Led defensively by senior defensive end Chad Thomas, Booker T. Washington opened the season with a bang, a 55-0 win over then No. 3 Norcross on National TV. That win caught everyone’s attention and volted the Tornadoes to the top of most National rankings.
Miami Herald By Andre C. Fernandez December 06, 2014
Miami Booker T. Washington is bringing home another state football championship trophy. But this one put the Tornadoes in an exclusive place in the history of South Florida high school football. Led by the sheer skill and determination of running back Mark Walton, who scored five touchdowns overall, and a defense that forced five turnovers, Booker T. defeated Jacksonville Bolles 54-35 in the Class 4A final Saturday night at the Citrus Bowl to secure its third consecutive state championship.
The Tornadoes (14-0), ranked No. 4 nationally by USA Today and MaxPreps, became the first South Florida team (Miami-Dade or Broward County) to win three in a row. Miami Central can join the Tornadoes next week if it wins its third consecutive title.
“I’m so proud of this team,” first-year Booker T. coach Tim Harris Jr. said. “These guys never let anything get in the way of our hard work and preparation. For us to be a part of the first three-peat is unbelievable.” What the Tornadoes can also brag about over Central and most other programs in Florida for the time being is its consistency over nearly three seasons. Booker T.’s victory was its 40th in a row, already a Dade record, and made the Tornadoes only the sixth school in the state to ever win that many in a row.
The Tornadoes beat Bolles (11-3), which owns a state-record 11 state championships, for the third consecutive season.
As his players doused him and his assistant coaches with ice, Harris Jr. took a look into the stands and signaled to his family. Harris’ mother, Chonita, father, Tim Sr. the school’s former coach and brother, Treon the school’s former starting quarterback were all in the crowd along with several former players who have been a part of the
Booker T. dynasty.
Harris Sr., who led Booker T. to its first three state titles, including its first in 2007 and a national title last season, departed to coach at the University of Miami before the season. Booker T. also is likely to be invited to compete in the inaugural national championship series showcase event Dec.27 in Boca Raton that will include six teams from around the country in three bowl games.*
*In a dramatic 34-28 comeback win in overtime, Booker T. Washington defeated Utah’s Bingham High in the inaugural Burger King State Champions Bowl Series at FAU Stadium. BTW extended it’s Dade-County record winning streak to 40 games.
Booker T. Washington running back Mark Walton (2) runs over Bolles defensive back T.J. Floyd (21), after catching a pass, on his way to the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of an FHSAA State Championsip football game in Orlando, Fla., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014. (Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Miami Herald
By Andre C. Fernandez December 06, 2014
They were disregarded as contenders even before the season began.
Their resolve was tested nearly every week on a difficult path back to Orlando. And their final obstacle Saturday night in the Citrus Bowl was nearly too much to overcome. Thanks to an incredibly resilient first-half effort by their defense, the Tornadoes rallied for a 43-23 victory over Jacksonville Raines to secure the Class 4A state championship in front of a crowd of 4,280.
“Believing was the word for us,” said Booker T. coach Earl Tillman, who has spent 13 seasons coaching at the school but won his first state title as the team’s head coach. “There was a lot of adversity through this season. These kids fought through it all. No matter what, they came to practice week in and week out and competed.”
In its fifth consecutive state finals appearance, Booker T. Washington (9-5) became the first MiamiDade County team to win four consecutive state titles and only the third statewide in the playoff era (began in 1963) along with Live Oak Suwannee (1987-1990) and Tallahassee North Florida Christian (1998-2001). Miami Central can become the fourth if it beats Seffner Armwood next Saturday in the Class 6A final.
Booker T. also became the first team statewide with at least five losses to win a state title since Jefferson County in 2011. And much like their topsy-turvy season which had its share of setbacks, Booker T. Washington simply found a way to win its fifth state title overall.
The Tornadoes’ defense symbolized the team’s resilience, spending the majority of the first half bailing out their turnover-prone offense long enough for it to find its rhythm just enough in the second half.
Booker T. turned the ball over five times as freshman
Daniel Richardson — Dade’s leading passer — couldn’t find any rhythm. Richardson threw three interceptions and the Tornadoes fumbled twice. Booker T. had nine first downs for the game and six touchdowns. But despite the horrible start, Richardson threw three touchdown passes in the second half, each time to give Booker T. the lead. Richardson completed 11 of 25 passes for 212 yards, with three touchdowns and four interceptions. During Booker T.’s 16-game playoff winning streak, its quarterbacks have thrown 42 touchdown passes.
Richardson’s 92-yarder to Gustavious Dames gave the Tornadoes the lead for good and broke a state-championship-game record for the longest such play. The score started a stretch of 21 unanswered points that helped the Tornadoes seal the win.
Booker T. stopped Raines five times inside the 20 and four times after the Vikings (12-2) had moved past the 10-yard line.
Photo by Phelan M Ebenhack
