Late Interception Keys South Dade Win
By Rudy Rodriguez-Chomat
September 4, 2003

The battle between Charlie Jones and Peter Medrano lived up to the hype, but only for a half as South Dade held off Braddock 26-13 before a rain-soaked crowd of 1,000 at Harris Field.

Jones and Medrano went back-and-forth in the 1st quarter with Jones rushing for 88 yards on 10 carries and Medrano rushing for 51 yards on 3 carries, including a 43-yard touchdown run.

However, Jones’ night ended late in the 2nd quarter when he mildly sprained his foot. The injury is not serious and Jones expects to play next week against Coral Park, but he was kept out for precautionary reasons and could have played.

“I could go right now, but coach kept me out,” Jones said, while icing his foot in the 2nd half. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”

Jones finished the night with 16 carries for 106 yards.

But the hero for the night was Bucs cornerback, Marcus Snow, who intercepted Braddock’s Mauricio Urbina with 55 seconds to play with a 20-13 lead at the Braddock 42-yard line. Snow returned it to the 1-yard line before being pushed out-of-bounds. The ball was tipped into Snow’s hands after it went through the hands of the Braddock receiver.

South Dade’s Cedric Warren punched it in to ice it.

“That’s the exact reason I hate receivers wearing gloves,” Braddock head coach Frank Rojas said.

The Bucs did not miss a beat without Jones as Warren picked up the slack, rushing for 86 yards on 16 carries and 3 touchdowns on runs of 18, 15 and 1 yard.

Sophomore running back Lambert Edwards added 70 yards on 6 carries.

South Dade started off strong, but Braddock helped out committing 2 consecutive personal fouls to open the game. Warren capped the 6 play drive with an 18-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

“We did a real good job on the first drive,” South Dade head coach Don Drinkhahn said. “After that first drive it was a matter of who was going to dominate on the defensive end.”

Braddock came right back with a 5-play 61 yard drive, capped by a 43-yard touchdown run by Medrano. Medrano broke three tackles on the play bursting through the line and cruised to the end zone. The extra point was blocked and South Dade led 7-6.

On the ensuing drive, South Dade took it to the Braddock 21-yard line before turning it over on an interception by Simon Choren on the 9-yard line.

The Bucs blew another golden opportunity to score getting to the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line, but had a touchdown called back on a penalty on 4th and goal from the 1, then had a false start called pushing them back to the 11-yard line. They attempted a 27-yard field goal, but it flew wide left.

“We simply blew opportunities to score,” Drinkhahn said. “And after we took a 20-6 lead in the 3rd quarter after stuffing them, we let them right back in the ball game.”

South Dade did push the lead to 20-6 on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Alan Simmons late in the 2nd quarter and a 15-yard touchdown run by Warren midway through the 3rd.

But Braddock came right back on a 14-play 50 yard drive capped by a 1-yard run by Urbina.

“We can’t hang our heads,” Rojas said. “All we can ask for is an opportunity to win the game in the 4th and we had that opportunity.”

After Medrano’s big 1st quarter however, South Dade made him disappear rushing for 24 yards on 11 carries in the final three, constantly pounding him every time he touched the ball. He finished with 75 yards rushing on 14 carries.

“We have better team speed than they do, and we had real good flow to the ball,” Drinkhahn said. “They had a few tendencies that we picked up on in their motions. Overall, I am very pleased with the win.”

Picture 1: Charlie Jones Breaking a Tackle
Picture 2: Charlie Jones with a Head of Steam.
Picture 3. Braddock's Simon Choren celebrating a fumble recovery below.
Picture 4: David Kirskey going under center.