Southwest Miami @ Coral Gables
WEEK 11 | 2023 SEASON
November 2, 2023
by Josh Zedner
Miami, Fla. | “Cavaliers Slay Purple Eagles”
Florida Man Sports is back with coverage of the final week of the regular season of the South Florida high school football year. Tonight’s matchup at Tropical Park featured a battle between the Southwest Purple Eagles and the Coral Gables Cavaliers. Both teams were coming off blowout losses. Southwest was a disappointing 1-8 after a year of expected improvement and slightly higher expectations. Coral Gables was 4-5 and coming off a home thrashing to South Dade. With playoff hopes gone, this was the last game of the season for both teams. Both teams gave it their all. And Gables lived up to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ motto, playing complementary team football: “All for one, one for all.”
After a couple of early punts, the Cavaliers got their offensive attack going through the moxie of 2024 QB Andreus Rios. He delivered a first down screen pass to 2024 WR/DB Ahmed Fambro, then picked up another first with his legs. He then raced to the endzone, again using his legs, to get his guys out to the early lead. Rios got it going again in the second quarter on a windy night. He got a first down catch-and-run from 2026 WR Santiago Paez, then delivered a deep dime to 2024 WR/DB Jordan Cooper to extend the Gables lead to two touchdowns. 14-0 Cavs.
But this time, the Eagles had a response. They earned a first down through a tough carry from 2024 ATH Derrick Ferguson, before 2025 QB Deandre Pique delivered a ball to 2024 WR/DB Antwan Delancy Jr. One move was made, then Delancy was off to the races, cutting the lead down from 14 to 8 in a heartbeat. 14-6.
The Eagles defense started to get stops as well, through tackles for loss by 2025 OL/DL David Torres and 2025 LB Marikevies McNichols, the latter being a factor in the backfield all night. 2024 OL/DL Santiago Lopez added a sack to force the Cavaliers to punt the ball back to the Southwest offense twice.
After a shanked punt, Pique threw a jump ball that was somehow caught by Delancy in traffic to get Southwest into the redzone. On the following play, Pique showed his own running ability and got to the edge and into the endzone. Pique then delivered a pass to a wide-open 2025 WR Jorge Fernandez in the endzone for the two-point conversion to knot the game at 14-14 going into the half.
As we started the second half, the Eagles offense kept rolling. Pique found his main man Delancy again for a first down, and Ferguson got another first-down carry to get the ball to the goal line. Pique then found… guess who? Delancy again. For an easy touchdown. Southwest had rather shockingly scored 20 unanswered and took the lead for the first time in the contest.
A whole lot of defense took place for a while after this. 2026 Ruben Quiros and 2026 DL Nealan Perez delivered tackles for losses for the Cavs. McNichols and Torres once again made their presence felt for the Eagles defense. 2024 DB Leion Gonzalez and 2024 LB John St. Cloud also delivered punishing hits on Southwest skill players. Pass breakups from Eagles defenders Delancy (two-way dawg) and 2027 ATH Andres Contreras were added in.
It came down to Rios, who was giving it his all in the last game of his high school career. As the Cavs’ punter, Rios was roughed by an Eagles special teamer, which led to a chain of events. It started with 2026 RB/WR Johnny McGee making a big first-down run near the goal line. Rios then took it upon himself to get to the edge, try and find the pylon, and with a dive, he had done it. A Herculean effort to give the Cavs the lead back at 21-20.
On the ensuing possession, it was clear that the momentum was with Coral Gables. Quiros picked off Pique about 3 plays into the drive on a jump ball thrown up to Delancy. Rios then raced and slid down near the goal-line to stay inbounds, keep the clock rolling, and consequently get Gables back into scoring position again. But Southwest had one more stop in them to force a chip shot field goal. 24-20 Gables.
With about 1:30 left, the Eagles had one more chance to go and win the game. Pique threw another pass high in the air that was scoped out and snatched once again by Quiros. The defensive hero. Saved an under .500 season and what would have been a devastating loss for the seniors on Senior Night at Tropical Park.
The Coral Gables Cavaliers finish the season at .500, at 5-5. The tears were flowing with many seniors playing their last games in a Cavalier uniform. A hard-nosed bunch led by Rios that never gave up in a close contest to a team desperately trying to hold on for a massive upset. Contributors such as Rios, Cooper, and St. Cloud will be missed, but this team will now look to carry this positive momentum into next year.
A disappointing end to a disappointing season for the Southwest Eagles. They only slightly improved from their 0-10 record last season by 1 game at 1-9. They were juiced up for this game and came ready to play. They have some good defenders that should be coming back next year in McNichols and Torres in their front seven, along with Pique returning to play QB. The hope is that they can attempt to improve on yet another tough season, and retain some talent.
Another great showdown. The squads played their hearts out. Only greatness with South Florida Football (not to mention the overall energy and trash talking in this game despite the lack of stakes).
FINAL SCORE:
Coral Gables beats Southwest Miami 24-20
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.
