Longhorns get 3 TDs from Ivy Munns in 26-20 win over Palm Beach Gardens that set school season wins mark
Jada Bloodworth scored one touchdown and set up the game-winner with an interception as Harmony overcame a two-touchdown deficit in the second half to hold off Palm Beach Gardens, 26-20, in the Region 3A-3 flag football regional semifinal Monday.
In winning a school-record 18th victory, Harmony (18-1) will host Fort Pierce Central Thursday at 7 p.m. for a regional championship and a trip to the FHSAA Final Four in Tampa.
“It was typical of the type of game we’ve played against better competition,” Harmony Coach Paul Strauch said. “We’re a young team – especially on defense – and we have a freshman quarterback, too. It’s not that we play scared early in games like this but I think it’s just a confidence thing. We generally figure it out by the second half.”
They really did have to figure it out, as Palm Beach Gardens – who eliminated Celebration 21-20 in overtime in a quarterfinal game – came out red hot against the Longhorns.
Quarterback Myla Alligood used her arm (18-of-23 passing) and legs (24 rushing yards) to lead the Gators on two long first-half touchdown drives on their first two possessions to chew up the clock and take an early 13-0 lead.
Getting the ball back with under two minutes to go, freshman quarterback Ivy Munns led Harmony on a 6-play, 64-yard drive capped by a 6-yard touchdown toss to Khloe Cook-Osani to cut the gap to 13-7 before half.
Things started off rough for the Longhorns in second half. A quick three-and-out was followed by a third touchdown reception by Janiya Hollins – as the Gators took a 20-7 lead.
Two plays after the score, Harmony rallied thanks to a beautiful 61-yard bomb from Munns to Bloodworth.
“It was a stop and go route and I got behind the defender,” Bloodworth said. “Ivy just hit me in stride like she always seems to do and I was able to win the footrace to the end zone.”
“That was a big-time deep ball,” Strauch added. “Into the wind, if she throws a yard short it gets knocked down and a yard long its incomplete. The play really energized us.”
After allowing a couple of first downs, the Harmony defense stiffened and they took over on downs as the third quarter ended.
From there, Munns directed a nine-play drive and tied the score on an 8-yard pass to Khloe-Cook to even the game 20-20. The Longhorn drive was aided by illegal contact play that negated a fourth down incompletion to keep the drive alive.
On the next series, Bloodworth undercut a pass route, intercepted Alligood and returned it 18 yards down to the Gators’ 12-yard line. On third-and-goal from the 1, Ellah Husbands took a direct snap and scored.
Still, Palm Beach Gardens had time to pull out a tie or win. But after an initial first down, the Longhorn defense forced the Gators into a 4th-and-16. Alligood fired a deep pass to the sideline that fell incomplete.
“Offensively, they really didn’t do anything that surprised us,” Strauch noted. “We were a tick late making the plays early and they built a lead but our defense really started to show up in the second half and we kept those short passes from becoming big gains after the catch.”
Munns was 23-of-34 passing for 232 yards, firing passes to players like Bloodworth, Yamielyz Santiago-Torres (six for 58 yards) and Khloe-Cook (7-45).
“Honestly it’s been a bit of a surprising season,” Strauch added. “We lost a lot of good players to graduation, we were breaking in a freshman quarterback and starting a lot of young players on defense. At the beginning of the season, if you told me we would win 18 games and be one game away from a Final Four, I would not have believed that.”
