_{October 18, 2025}
by Jake Lazar
Miami, Fla. | “Rockets Soar Past The Spartans”

Florida Man Sports is back with more Week 9 coverage of the South Florida high school football season! We’re coming at you with THE GMAC Championship matchup. Saturday’s contest was the GMAC Championship game between the Southridge Spartans and the Central Rockets. Southridge entered the game undefeated, and Central only had one loss to Miami Northwestern, so both teams had all the makings to be GMAC champions, but only one could come out on top.

​Central got the ball first, but on the very first passing play of the game, 2026 DB Jean Calixte, the South Dade transfer, picked off Central’s QB and put his Spartan offense in amazing field position as they took the field for the first time. 2026 RB Travis Gamble wasted no time and had a couple of nice rushes to set his team up first and goal from the seven. 2027 QB James Perrone then found one of his receivers in the endzone, but the touchdown was negated because of an illegal man downfield penalty. However, none of the above mattered for Perrone and the Spartans because he would end up making the correct read on a read option play, running into the endzone himself for the first touchdown of the GMAC Championship. 7-0 Southridge.

​On the kickoffs, 2027 K Michael Quinones was running “dirty kicks”, a new, unpredictable kicking technique that was difficult for Central to handle, ultimately setting the Rockets up at their own five-yard line. Central was able to get a first down but ended up punting the ball away. Then, the Spartans’ drive was all through the air as Perrone connected with 2026 ATH Montrey Jackson, another South Dade transfer, for 25 yards, followed by a first-down catch made by 2027 WR Javarius Wright, then 3-star 2027 TE Trae Proctor capped off the drive with a 23-yard jump-ball touchdown in the back left corner of the endzone for six. 14-0 Southridge.

​Back on offense, the Rockets started to have a drive going as 2026 RB Jayden Ford ripped a rush for thirty yards and 3-star Purdue commit 2026 WR Brandon Kinsey had a 20-yard reception, setting Central up at the thirty. However, Southridge’s defense stayed disciplined and forced a turnover on downs, holding Central scoreless.

​On the other side of the ball, it looked like Southridge’s offense could not be stopped, as Travis Gamble continued to eat with a 15-yard catch and run to midfield, followed by a 30-yard rush to the 20. Later in the drive, on 4th down and 3 at the 13-yard line, again Perrone took matters into his own legs and scrambled into the endzone for his second rushing touchdown in the game as Southridge looked dominant. A missed extra point meant 20-0 Spartans.

​Central had to answer, and they had to do it quickly. Jayden Ford, aka “MOOK,” was that answer for the Rockets as he bounced one outside, bursting left and right, zigzagging past defenders for a gain of 60 all the way to the 5-yard line. From there, 2026 QB Anthony McQueen and and FLORIDA MAN PLAYER OF THE GAME powered a QB rush into the endzone, but it was called back because of holding, except it didn’t matter because right after, he found Brandon Kinsey over the middle for Central’s first touchdown of the game.

​Southridge got the ball back, but after a weak drive, they punted away to Ford, and he took it all the way from inside his own 20 for the score on the punt return, except that was also called back. Anyhow, McQueen threw an absolute bomb down the left sideline to 2027 WR Kareem Brown for a gain of 55 on the play to the 35-yard line. Then, with 33 seconds left in the half, McQueen went right back to Brown and connected with him for a 24-yard touchdown right before halftime to cut deeper into the Spartan lead. A missed field goal by the Rockets meant a 20-13 lead for the Spartans heading into the break.

​After halftime, Southridge got the ball first but punted away, giving Central a chance to tie after being down 20 in the second quarter. Brandon Kinsey wasted no time as he caught a ball at the 40 and fought a defender all the way down the sideline to inside the 15. Anthony McQueen capped off the drive with a successful one-yard QB power to tie the game at 20. That was pretty much all that was interesting in the third quarter, except that Southridge kept their drive alive with a 4th down conversion, setting them up in the red zone as their drive moved into the final quarter. On that drive, they attempted a field goal from close, but it was dramatically blocked by the Rockets, and Central took over near midfield.

​On offense, McQueen stayed hot, finding 2026 WR Brian McKoy down the right sideline for a fifty-yard touchdown that made the Central crowd say BLUUU! Central scored 27 straight to go up 27-20 in the 4th.

​The following drives were complete madness as Southridge did not convert on a 4th and 6 near midfield, giving Central possession, except Central fumbled, giving the Spartans the ball back, except Southridge threw a pick, giving Central the ball back, except on the interception, the defender fumbled, giving it back to Southridge. Long story short, the Spartans had the ball in opposing territory with just under half the 4th quarter to go. Then, with just under 4 minutes to go, Southridge had ice in their veins as Travis Gamble rushed into the endzone, and then James Perrone extended the play and found 2026 WR Jhakari Johnson on what could have been the game-winning 2pt conversion if Anthony McQueen didn’t have a say. Southridge led Central 28-27 late in the 4th.

​Giving the Rockets great field position was a kick return to the fifty. Then, none other than Jayden Ford had a 20-yard rush to the thirty, followed by an 18-yard catch and run to the 12. To cap off an electric GMAC Championship and game-winning drive, Anthony McQueen snuck one in himself to put his Central Rockets up 34-28 with minimal time left against the Southridge Spartans. The dagger came as 2026 DL Otis Guyton sacked Perrone deep behind the line of scrimmage as the Spartans had no remaining timeouts.

​This GMAC Championship was absolutely insane, with an incredible comeback win from the Central Rockets. Two powerhouse teams facing off in the Mecca of South Florida high school football delivered with things going down to the wire. Soutridge will look to bounce back in their final game before the playoffs against the South Dade Buccaneers on Halloween, as Central will play Somerset Academy this Friday.

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FINAL SCORE:
Miami Central beats Miami Southridge 34-28

Florida Man Sports Player of the Game:

2026 QB Anthony McQueen (3 Passing TDs, 2 Rushing TDs)

About Jake Lazar:
Jake Lazar is a beat writer covering high school football for Florida Man Sports. Lazar is a Junior at Miami Palmetto Senior High, involved in TV Production, and has previously written for sports blog FL Teams.