The top ranked Mainland Buccaneers defeated the reigning 5A state champion American Heritage-Plantation Patriots 42-30 at Municipal Stadium on Friday night.
Trailing 30-28 with just 45 seconds left in the game, sophomore quarterback Denzel Houston tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to senior Will Collins to give the Bucs (5-0) a four point lead. After a successful two-point conversion, Mainland led 36-30. The Bucs then added a defensive touchdown on the games' final play to provide the 12-point victory margin.
A 58-point second quarter was sandwiched in between scoreless first and third quarters. Houston threw for three touchdowns in all, two of them thrown back-to-back to senior Kaylo Hannah in the third quarter.
Mainland's vaunted defense opened the scoring when senior linebacker Kyle Oliver returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
The Patriots drop to 2-and-2.