Plantation @ Stranahan
WEEK 2 | 2023 SEASON
September 1, 2023
by Josh Zedner
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | “Mighty Dragons Extinguished by Colonels”
Florida Man Sports is back with a Week 2 showdown between the Plantation Colonels (1-0) and the Stranahan Mighty Dragons (0-1). The two teams kicked this game off with a massive bang. After the Colonels pinned the Dragons deep in their own territory because of a muffed kick return, 2024 QB Rueben Toombs Jr. laced a missile down the field to 2024 WR Nicholas Smith Jr. (FIU commit), igniting the crowd just seconds into the game with a long TD on the Dragons’ first play from scrimmage. But Plantation didn’t just lay down. The Colonels marched right down the field, culminating in 2024 QB Jorge “JT” Tabora delivering a nice touchdown pass to 2024 DB/WR Jaden Williams. Both teams converted 2-point conversions after their initial scores, leaving the tally at 8-8.
Stranahan’s passion early on led them to an extremely positive offensive start. After Toombs got injured and had to leave the game for a play, 2025 ATH Tyler Jackson came in and dropped a dime to 2024 WR Jovanny Alquisiras for an electric touchdown. Toombs then came out running onto the field with some fire and pep to his step, celebrating with his Dragon brothers. This celebration did not last long, however, as 2024 WR/KR/PR Brian Lane blazed through the Stranahan special teams unit, taking the ensuing kickoff to the house. A missed 2-point conversion left this game at 16-14.
Tyler Jackson’s heroics didn’t stop at just throwing touchdowns. He also made multiple explosive plays as a receiver all night long. He even took an end around on a fake punt late in the first quarter, which was an incredibly gutsy play call that worked in Stranahan’s favor. This eventually led to Toombs throwing another touchdown pass to 2024 WR Joshua Hoggins.
Shortly after, the game completely changed. After another risky call, which resulted in a failed onside kick from Stranahan, the Colonels’ rushing duo of 2024 RBs Tyjuan Gourdine-Moran and Reginald Johnson gashed through the interior of the Dragon defense, with the former scoring an easy touchdown on an HB sweep. Stranahan’s offensive tactic became very one-dimensional, with no use of the running game, and the inexperience of the offensive line seemed to catch up to them midway through the 2nd quarter.
A shoddy Dragons defense didn’t help either. Plantation’s JT Tabora displayed great movement in and out of the pocket and delivered solid accurate passes, coupled with an outstanding catch by 2025 TE Timothy Munroe. Gourdine-Moran followed with a short touchdown run, and Plantation took their first lead of the game.
The Colonels never looked back following this point. After an interception by 2025 DB Taurus “TJ” Damon, Plantation drove right back down the field and Tabora tossed a touchdown to Lane, who took the top off the Dragons’ secondary, as time expired in the half.
Things only got worse for Stranahan out of the break, as Tabora slung a perfect ball to 2024 DB/ATH Lewis Hodge for a touchdown, making things look bleak for the Dragons at 42-22, who gave up 28 unanswered points. The Dragons looked ready to retreat, but after a few nice plays by 2025 DB Janaris Foster, the do-it-all Jackson was back again, this time with an incredible pick and return that set the Stranahan offense up nicely on the goal line. With a new found spark, Stranahan’s boosted morale and attitude led to a Toombs touchdown pass to 2024 ATH Cris Thornton to bring the Dragon faithful some hope.
This hope was short-lived, however, as the Colonels once again stormed down the field, Johnson gashed through the defense, and Gourdine-Moran punched it in for his 3rd touchdown of the night.
To bring some positive momentum into next week, Stranahan drove down the field and looked to have an easy touchdown, but 2026 S/ATH Naijah Arnasalem jumped the route, picked off Toombs, and took it to the house, flipping into the endzone like he was playing Superstar mode on Madden. Arnasalem actually injured his back after he landed on it flipping (he’s ok though). The game unfortunately was called early with 5 min left in the 4th when Stranahan’s Nick Smith Jr. was injured and carted off with the game already decided. Prayers up for him and his family.
As we look forward, the now 2-0 Colonels have marched along thus far, as they have a diverse offense with good talent on the offensive side of the ball. Also, we need to acknowledge how good the offensive line play was tonight, led by 2024 OL Giovanni David. They were creating lanes and blocking impeccably down the field tonight. The now 0-2 Stranahan Mighty Dragons didn’t look so mighty after the first-quarter fireball they delivered. They need to establish the run game, but perhaps that begins with the development of a currently inexperienced offensive line, which looked outmatched and led to too many shots taken by Toombs.
FINAL SCORE:
Plantation beats Stranahan 56-28
About Josh Zedner:
Joshua Zedner is a beat writer covering high school football for Florida Man Sports. A native of Miami Beach, he attended Florida International University before finishing his undergraduate Business Administration degree at the University of Florida. Josh is an avid Miami sports fan, and he also writes a music review blog as a passion project under the @AlbumAnalysisWithZ handle on Instagram.
