American Heritage's big ‘dudes’ step up vs. Cardinal Gibbons

The Patriots got a big game from Ohio State commitment Brandon Inniss in the victory

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA– American Heritage head coach Mike Smith’s postgame message to his club was loud and clear.

“Dudes got to be dudes in big games like this,” Smith said.

Heritage has plenty of “dudes,” namely wide receiver/defensive back Brandon Inniss, and running back Mark Fletcher.

Both made their presence felt on Saturday afternoon in Heritage’s 21-2 victory over host Cardinal Gibbons.

Inniss came up with a key second-half interception and added a touchdown reception, and Fletcher wore down the Chiefs’ defense and scored the final touchdown with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to seal the 2M District 12 showdown.

“Listen, at the end of the day, and I tell my guys this all the time,” Smith said. “And my assistant coaches do an unbelievable job getting these guys ready. But at the end of the day, dudes got to be dudes. You know what I’m saying?”

Smith’s words were spot on, because the way things started out on Saturday, Heritage (5-1, 1-0) was on the ropes. Despite a 19-point win, this game wasn’t easy.

Cardinal Gibbons (5-1, 0-1) took the opening kickoff and kept the ball for 12 plays. Quarterback Dylan Rizk ran and passed his team down to the 1-yard-line before Heritage’s goal line stand.

“Great defense,” Fletcher said. “That’s our defense right there. We put them in bad positions all game. But that’s what they do.”

Immediately after the change of possession, Heritage went from the shotgun in their own end zone. Quarterback Blake Murphy handed off to Fletcher, who was bottled up, and dropped for a safety.

Gibbons held the 2-0 lead in the first, and controlled the clock almost the entire quarter. Heritage actually ran just two offensive plays in the quarter, but still were in decent shape because the Chiefs weren’t able to capitalize on more than 11 minutes of possession.

“Kind of like the boxer,” Smith said. “Let them punch themselves out. Take the blows early. We were taking some blows. Once again, it’s that one-play-at-a-time-mentality.”

Gibbons continued to control play in the second quarter. And they were in business to extend their two-point lead after defensive end Brandon Tobias used all of his 6-foot-5 frame to block a punt.

Again, the Heritage defense came up big with a fourth-down stop.

The Patriots took over at their 13, and Fletcher went to work with a 28-yard run. Murphy completed a 16-yard pass to Inniss, and Heritage was in Chiefs’ territory and on the move.

Heritage milked the clock down and Murphy scored on a 1-yard sneak with 37.4 seconds left in the second quarter.

At halftime, Fletcher had 10 carries for 59 yards and Inniss had four catches for 40 yards.

“Brandon Inniss, in my opinion, is the best player in the country,” Smith said. “And Mark Fletcher is right there with him.”

In preparation for Saturday’s game, both schools had to make adjustments. The state of Florida was impacted by Hurricane Ian, and due to the storm, the game was switched from Friday night to Saturday afternoon.

“I don’t allow our guys to make excuses,” Smith said. “We got a practice in on Monday. We came out at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning before the storm. Wednesday and Thursday we weren’t there, and then they changed the game time they changed to noon. It’s whatever. We’re trained to do this. We’re trained to make these adjustments, and to go. Guys are not fazed by this. I’ve got 27 seniors. They’re not fazed by any of that. It’s business as usual.”

In the second half, it was Heritage flipping the switch. The Patriots controlled much of the action, and eventually pulled away.

The combination of Murphy to Inniss hooked up a 14-yard touchdown pass play with four minutes left in the third quarter, giving Heritage a 14-2 advantage.

Down by two scores, the Chiefs strung together a nice drive. But after reaching the Patriots’ 12, Rizk’s was picked off by Inniss, who returned the ball to the Patriots’ 35.

“That’s just a football player making a football play,” Smith said. “It’s a dude being a dude.”

Inniss saw some time in the secondary a couple of weeks ago, forcing a fumble in Heritage’s loss to Chaminade-Madonna.

“Listen, that’s high school football,” Smith said of Inniss playing both ways. “You want your best players on the field all the time. They’re not going to break. These guys have been trained. They went through everything through the summer, and all that stuff. They’ve been trained to be in these situations. Football players need to be football players, and the dudes need to be dudes in games like this.”

Fletcher helped wind down the clock, he and bulldozed his way in for a 5-yard touchdown with 4:25 left.

Inniss and Fletcher are both Ohio State commits. SBLive asked Inniss if he remains a strong commit to the Buckeyes, and he responded: “They’ve been loyal to me. I’m loyal to them.”

Inniss, a 5-star talent, added that the University of Alabama and the University of Miami remain in contact.

In Saturday’s clash of two state powers, Heritage put itself in a favorable position to winning the district. It is very possible these teams will meet again in the playoffs.

“This was a huge game,” Smith said. “It’s the first district game that we had. You know we’re going to see these guys again, but it’s only right. This is the way this rivalry has been for all these years. We’re going to have to see them again in the playoffs.

“It’s typical Gibbons-Heritage. Even when it was 21-2, you still feel like, ‘Man, they still have a shot.’ That’s just the way Heritage-Gibbons games go. But it was a big step forward for us, especially coming off the loss two weeks ago to Chaminade. It’s good to get back in the win column.”