Coconut Creek @ Cardinal Gibbons
WEEK 5 | 2024 SEASON
September 24, 2024
by Josh Zedner
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. | “Chiefs Narrowly Evade Cougars”
Florida Man Sports is back with Week 5 South Florida high school football coverage. Tonight we had a big time showdown between the Coconut Creek Cougars and the Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs. Both teams in this matchup were coming off losses. Creek came in at 0-2, with a blowout road loss to Baylor (Chattanooga, TN). Gibbons’ record was at 1-2, after a tough loss to West Broward in a high scoring affair last week. It is fair to say that the winner of this game would be on the road to get their season headed in the right direction.
The game started off with a bang. 2025 DB and Temple commit Jamarcus Pierre took a kick off to the crib to give Gibbons an early 7-0 lead. But Creek responded and quick with a first down gallop by 2025 RB Tim Johnson and a first down connection between 2025 QB TJ Wilcox and 2025 ATH Kamari Huggins. Johnson eventually booked it to the endzone for a score that evened the game at 7.
But the Gibbons offense was humming early and often. 2026 QB Jayden “Torpedo” Torres was locked in, delivering two first down passes to 2025 WR Brian Williams. Mixed in with some Cougar penalties, the Chiefs got their run game going as well, with a first down run by 2025 WR Tyler Jackson and a drive finishing touchdown by 2025 RB Shakur Williams. When Creek got the ball back, Johnson had another nice carry, but was stripped by 2025 DB Ethan Miller, with a recovery by 2025 DB and Buffalo commit Jonathan Rousseau (brother of Buffalo Bills and University of Miami alum DE Gregory Rousseau).
Torres locked right in after the turnover, with first down tosses to 2025 WRs Trent Debuc and Jonathan Chalmers. He finished off the drive with a pass to Williams who took a short pass and ran into the endzone to give the Chiefs a 20-7 lead. Wilcox finally ripped it on the next drive for Creek. He delivered first down passes to 2027 WRs Javian Francois and Isaiah Calixte. Wilcox then handed it off to the monstrous 2026 RB Jordan Thompson, who bulldozed into the endzone and cut the lead back down to a touchdown.
The second quarter was highlighted by a bunch of defense. 2025 DL and FAU commit NimariBrantley was wreaking havoc in the Chiefs backfield. Fumbles galore. Three straight fumbled plays. An aborted Creek snap recovered by 2027 DT Joey “The Hammer” Cammarata. A pass breakup by 2025 ATH Sebastian Marrero. The next play was a great interception by 2028 ATH Carlton Jackson. Pierre had a tackle for loss that eventually led to a goal-line stand led by 2025 DB Terence Johnson. At the end of the first, Torres made some great plays again with his own legs and a couple of first down completions to Jackson, but the Chiefs missed a long field goal to end the half.
At the beginning of the 2nd half, there were more defensive highlights. 2026 DL Alejandro Romay had a tackle for loss. Brantley was a monster, with 1.5 TFL’s on one drive, splitting the second one with 2025 ATH Dylan McCarthy. Cammarata had a tackle for loss that forced a punt from the one-yard line. 2026 DB Preston Stebbins had one of his own on the next Creek drive.
Finally, Torres got the offense going again at the end of the 3rd quarter. He delivered first downs to Williams, 2026 WR Merrick Todich and 2027 WR Sean Nowlan. And it culminated with a strike of a touchdown to Todich to get that lead back out to 2 scores. It was do or die at this point for Creek and they needed something big. 2025 RB Jermaine Gordon was able to get the job done with a huge return into Gibbons territory. Thompson bulldozed for another 1st. Wilcox found Francois for a long first down. And even with incoming pressure by 2027 DE Justus Del Pino, Wilcox took a run of his own to the endzone to cut the lead back down to 27-19. The Cougars went for 2 given their kicking issues throughout the game, but the pass was batted down by Rousseau in the endzone.
Creek then got a stop with over 3 minutes left led by the defensive effort of Thompson and 2025 S Keon Roy. Wilcox had the clutch gene. He delivered first downs to Thompson, Calixte and 2025 WR Standley Louis in the 4 minute offense. An incredible highlight play from Thompson where 2 defenders were juked out followed shortly. Wilcox found Gordon on a pop pass, in which Gordon scooted out to the edge and cut the lead down to 2 points. With less than 2 minutes left, it was time for a huge play. Wilcox dropped back, escaped pressure, and delivered the ball to the endzone, but it was batted down by Miller when Gibbons needed it most.
Unfortunately for Gibbons, given the presence of Brantley, this game was not over just yet. The Chiefs offense went 3 and out, but 2025 K/P Brent Fardette III delivered a fantastic punt inside the Creek 5 yard line. After a couple of Gibbons penalties to get the ball to around the 30 yard line, Cammarata delivered some big time pressure on Wilcox forcing an incomplete pass. And with 6 seconds left, Wilcox dropped back again and was sacked by 2026 LB Alex Carry to end the game. Final score, Gibbons 27, Creek 25. What a game.
Gibbons moves to 2-2 on the season with this huge victory. Torres was solid throughout the game, minimizing the mistakes to just the one turnover. He’s got some good weapons with Williams, Todich and Debuc. Also defensively, Rousseau, Cammarata and Pierre made a big impression tonight. This is overall a very solid team to look out for. They’ll go up against Calvary Christian Academy next Friday night in what is sure to be a very interesting matchup.
Coconut Creek is still winless at 0-3 after this one. Granted, they’ve had a tough schedule to start the year, but this program expects more and tonight was a very winnable game. Given the fact that they have Thompson and Brantley, who are absolute studs on each side of the ball, this team should have definitely won a game already. Wilcox needs to show a bit more consistency in the first 3 quarters in the way that he did in the 4th tonight, because he almost led an improbable comeback when the team really needed it. Definitely a talented squad still. They’ll take on Boyd Anderson next Friday night.
FINAL SCORE:
Cardinal Gibbons beats Coconut Creek 27-25
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.
