Glades Central football rallies over Bishop Verot to snap district championship drought
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Glades Central football's district title drought is over at long last.
The Raiders rallied with back-to-back touchdowns in the second half to beat Bishop Verot 14-12 on Oct. 10 in Belle Glade. The game was delayed two hours due to inclement weather and played with sloppy, muddy conditions.
Glades Central (7-0, 1-0) clinched an automatic regional playoff bid by winning District 10-2A, which featured just the Raiders and Bishop Verot (3-4, 0-1).
It's the first district championship since 2015 for Glades Central's storied football program, winner of the sixth-most Florida state titles (6) of all-time.
Bishop Verot took a 5-0 lead into halftime thanks to a short field goal. Glades Central's quarterback then kicked a fumbled snap out the back of the end zone for a safety.
Glades Central quarterback Taj Barnes got his team back in the game with a go-ahead touchdown pass to Algernod Crawford late in the third quarter. Running back Ar'Maud Stinfort then provided the game-winning score with a rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Bishop Verot rallied with a touchdown in the final three minutes and forced a quick Glades Central punt on the ensuing possession to get the ball back with less than 30 seconds remaining.
The Vikings threw an incomplete pass on first down, allowed a sack by Glades Central's Sauverson Paul on second down and managed to spike the ball on third down with 1.5 seconds to play. Bishop Verot's final play was lateraled backward into a muddy scramble out of bounds.
Glades Central had recently come close to ending its district championship drought before Friday's breakthrough.
In 2022, the Raiders tied with King's Academy for the best district record but lost the title on a three-way tiebreaker due to Glades Central's low MaxPreps state ranking, a product of a 2-8 finish with many lopsided losses.
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Glades Central football rallies to first district title since 2015
