COCONUT CREEK — Coconut Creek senior quarterback James Hayes accounted for four first-half touchdowns as the host Cougars jumped out to a 42-0 halftime lead and rolled to a Region 3-3M regional quarterfinal victory over Piper on Friday night.
Hayes threw TD passes of 18, 29, and 66 yards and ran in another from 8 yards out to grab the 42-6 win and move on to next Friday’s regional semifinal where they will host West Boca Raton, a 23-22 upset winner against Atlantic in another quarterfinal.
“The coaching staff put us in the right positions to make plays and me and my teammates went out and executed the game plan,” said Hayes, who finished the game 11 of 16 for 190 yards, all in the first half. “It was really big for the defense to get those early takeaways because defense wins championships. We just fed off their energy and matched it by scoring each and every drive.”
The host Cougars (9-2) seeded third in the region, scored on their first six possessions and coasted to the victory.
“We beat West Boca before, but it just goes to show we can’t take any team lightly,” Hayes added. “Everybody is locked in now. Everybody prepares with film study, and it starts with the man above. We believe in God, and we believe in the process too.”
Coconut Creek coach Johnnie Sloan said his team played to their standard. A bit concerning is that three defensive starters left the game with injuries during the contest.
“Regardless of our opponent, I just want us to play our ball,” Sloan said. “We still got a little sloppy even though our dominance, so there are some things I’ve got to correct. Also, I got some boys banged up that I got to get healthy by next week. They are all dawgs. They’ll be back, so I ain’t worried. Overall, we did what I expected us to do.”
Coconut Creek opened the scoring by driving 8 plays, for 53 yards capped by an 8-yard run by Jamarie Hostzclaw for a 7-0 lead with 5:41 to go in the first quarter. The Cougars then capitalized on back-to-back turnovers by Piper (6-5) to break the game open.
A fumble recovery by Zanni Miller led to an 18-yard scoring toss from Hayes to Godson Sinelien just one play later to up the margin to 13-0. The Cougars’ Jaxon Norkunas intercepted a pass on Piper’s next series and Hayes scored on an 8-yard run for a 20-0 lead.
Hayes pushed the lead to 27-0 on a 29-yard TD pass to Eirik Simmons with 9:55 left in the first half. Hayes struck again, this time on a 66-yard TD toss to Sinelien for a 35-0 lead.
Coconut Creek added a 2-yard scoring run by Diovani Dominique with 2:51 left in the first half to extend the lead to 42-0 and force a second half running clock.
Piper avoided the shutout on a 30-yard TD pass from Christian Mata to Tyrik Caldwell with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
The Cougars topped West Boca Raton 42-28 earlier this season after rallying from a 12-0 first-half deficit.
“I already told them, next week we play Creek,” Sloan said. “It is always Creek versus Creek. I could care less who the opponent is, if we play our game, we’ll be alright. The only team that can be us is us. If we are locked in and focused, we’ll handle all of that stuff on the back end.
“My boys are mature now, where they weren’t two years ago,” said Sloan, whose team defeated Plantation 21-7 during the season and lost in the playoffs the second time around 42-7. “There is no celebration tonight. We’ve got to get back to work. All season long we’ve been putting on our boots and playing. This is not a week-by-week thing. I know we’ll be ready.”