Florida QB ties county TD record on his birthday

Michael Gray delivered an early birthday present to himself last Friday night when the Highlands Christian (Pompano Beach) senior quarterback set a Broward County single-game record by throwing eight touchdown passes in a 62-21 win against Westminster Academy (Fort Lauderdale).

Gray, who turned 18 on Saturday, told the Miami Herald that he "had no idea" he had set the record until Highlands coach Jordan Adair informed Gray of the accomplishment on the team bus after the game.

"I was just having fun out there," said Gray, who also completed a pair of two-point conversions.

It's the third time in the past year that a quarterback from a Broward school has thrown at least seven touchdowns in a game. Javan Shashaty of Calvary Christian and Willie Tindal of Stranahan each threw seven touchdowns in a game last season.

2. Trying week for nationally ranked team: What was intended to be an historic week for the Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) Panthers, ranked No. 12 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 presented by the Army National Guard, instead became a stressful ride that gained national attention. Dwyer, making its first appearance on national television, had to swallow a tough 26-22 loss to No. 11-ranked Glenville (Cleveland) on Monday when replays on ESPN clearly showed officials failed to award the Panthers a touchdown twice in the final two minutes of the game at Ohio Stadium. Two days later, the Florida High School Athletic Association issued a two-game suspension to Dwyer standout Nick O'Leary, the top-rated tight end prospect in the nation, for an obscene gesture by the grandson of golf legend Jack Nicklaus directed at Glenville players following the controversial game. Dwyer rebounded from the loss in Ohio with a resounding 35-0 win Saturday night against crosstown rival Palm Beach Gardens.

3. Milestone victory: Coach Cindy Strauss of Braddock (Miami) notched her 300th career volleyball coaching victory last Wednesday when Braddock rallied from a two-game deficit to defeat rival Sunset (Miami). Strauss, who is in her 21st season coaching, was mobbed by her players following the match. "It's always been more about the team accomplishment than individual, so I didn't want a lot of the attention to be on me," a somewhat overwhelmed Strauss told the Miami Herald. "To me, it's always been about (the players). It was heartwarming and really neat."

4. Record-setting day on the links: Senior Tommy Hurst shot a Broward County record-tying 8-under-par 64 and his American Heritage (Plantation) boys golf team carded a county-record low round of 7-under 281 last Thursday. "This type of stuff doesn't happen a lot. Not in high schools, anyway,” American Heritage coach Brandt Moser said of his team's performance.

5. Not the way the coach drew it up: Norland (Miami) won its football game last week despite itself. Norland was flagged for 210 yards in penalties, fumbled five times and had a key player ejected in its game against Edison (Miami). Despite those blunders, Norland won the game 31-6.

TOP PERFORMERS
Among outstanding performances last week:

— Quarterback Jovani McCray completed 15 of 23 passes for 287 yards and a career-best four touchdowns and no interceptions to rally South Dade (Homestead) to a 35-20 win against Coral Gables.

— Everglades (Miramar) quarterback Matt Vincent passed for 244 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-14 win against South Sumter (Bushnell).

— Douglas (Parkland) tailback Orville Reynolds rushed for 238 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 60, 9 and 54 yards in a 20-13 win against Coral Glades.

— Lake Worth quarterback Evan Moore passed for 216 yards and three touchdowns and also had 109 yards rushing and touchdown in the Trojans' 43-3 win against Wellington.

— Boca Raton senior David Bicknell, one of the top-rated kickers in South Florida, booted a 49-yard field goal in a 23-10 win against Palm Beach Lakes.

ON DECK
South Florida's top football games this week:

— The most intriguing matchup in Miami-Dade County has Jackson (Miami) meeting Norland at Traz Powell Stadium in a showdown of unbeaten teams that could be a playoff matchup come November.

— Broward County powers St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) and Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes), both unbeaten, meet in Fort Lauderdale for a Thursday night showdown.

— Another intriguing matchup in Broward has unbeaten Everglades at defending Class 6A state champion Miramar, which lost in overtime at DeSoto (Texas) last week.

— The marquee matchup in Palm Beach County has defending Class 1A state champion American Heritage (Delray Beach) visiting 2A powerhouse Glades Central (Belle Glade), the state runner-up last year, Friday night in Belle Glade.

RECRUITING NEWS
St. Thomas Aquinas quarterback Jacob Rudock, who has made a verbal commitment to Iowa, took his official visit there last weekend and watched the Hawkeyes rout instate rival Iowa State 35-7. ... Highly touted safety Wayne Lyons of Dillard (Fort Lauderdale) took an official visit to Notre Dame. ... Wellington offensive lineman Bryn Gudmundsson has made a verbal commitment to South Florida.

DORSEY'S DIGS
The debate between fans from Florida and Texas as to which state is the ultimate hotbed of high school talent continued last weekend, with the Sunshine State gaining the upper hand in the latest round of debates. Three teams from Florida — Central (Miami), Glades Central and Cocoa — defeated teams from Texas in the inaugural Texas vs. Florida High School Football Showcase, and the Sunshine State teams did it on the road in the Lone Star State. Another Florida team, Miramar, came within a two-point conversion of making it a Florida sweep when it lost in overtime to host DeSoto. St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale defeated Dallas-Skyline on Labor Day in the Kirk Herbstreit Classic in Texas and Glades Central also beat Skyline the week before, giving the Raiders two wins over Texas teams to start the season. Based on those results, Florida has earned top bragging rights for now.

Steve Dorsey is a freelance writer based in West Palm Beach, Fla., who has covered the South Florida high school sports scene for the past 29 years. He also is a contributing writer for American Football Monthly and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.