Stunner! Miami Central upsets IMG Academy in season opener

BRADENTON — Jan. 23.

That’s the day Miami Central four-star edge rusher Rueben Bain and his teammates found out the Rockets would open the season at national power IMG.

As soon as he heard, Bain started focusing and planning for what it would take to beat a team that often is seen as unbeatable.

“I told them that was my coming-out party,” Bain said. “Even though I had a coming-out party all last year, this is my true coming-out party. This is to show people that no matter who the opponent is, I’m going to shine. I’m always going to shine. I’m never going to stop.”

Bain’s words may as well be the mantra for Central.

The Rockets stunned IMG, ranked No. 4 in the nation by MaxPreps, 20-14 on Friday night.

Recent: Cardinal Mooney football team has its own Band of Brothers

Coverage: Preview capsules and predictions for Week 1 area high school football games

Central defensive back Shawn Smoak returned an interception for a touchdown, which proved to be the game-winning score with 11:09 left in the fourth quarter. It was one of three turnovers forced by the Rockets in the fourth quarter.

“I’m reading (No.) 2 (IMG receiver Devin Hyatt),” Smoke said. “I saw him go out, so I broke on the ball and I made a play.

“It was just greatness. It was a blessing. I do this for my team, for my hood, for the community. This was for the community right here. This was a big win.”

First-year Rockets coach Jube Joseph preached the message all week that football is a game for IMG players but it’s a way of life for Central players. He repeated that same message after the game.

And as much success as Central has had — three consecutive state titles and the No. 15 ranking in the nation on MaxPreps — this game had a different feel to it.

The Rockets were in the unusual role of the hunters rather than being the hunted. And the final result felt different, too.

Central coaches did their best in the waning seconds to tell their players not to celebrate like they didn’t expect to win. But Joseph’s own words showed the true significance of the outcome.

“They’ve been preparing since Monday for this,” Joseph told his team after the game. “You’ve been preparing all your life since you were playing 7U for this moment. Everybody that’s invested in you, took you to practice or brought you to school, everybody, your teachers, your administrators, for this moment right here.”

The Rockets' defensive line dominated for much of the game, and Bain was outstanding despite often being matched up against Francis Mauigoa, a Miami Hurricanes commit who is the No. 2 player on the USA Today Florida Network Top 100.

Bain recorded at least three sacks and Central’s defense did an outstanding job of bottling up IMG junior running back Jerrick Gibson in the second half. The Ascenders (0-1) played almost the entire game without junior quarterback Jayden Bradford, who injured his left shoulder on IMG’s first play from scrimmage.

“They’re young, but they’re talented and intelligent,” Joseph said of the defense. “And they have a want-to. That can’t be rated by 247Sports. That can’t be rated by Rivals. That can’t be rated by On3. That right there is an invaluable trait that you can’t teach.”

Central opened the scoring with a touchdown pass from Keyone Jenkins to Cataurus Hicks in the first quarter.

IMG quickly scored two touchdowns just before halftime on a 1-yard run by Gibson and a long pass from Ryan Downes to tight end Jonathan Echols.

The Rockets tied the score late in the third quarter on a short pass from Jenkins to Sekou Smith and the ensuing two-point conversion. It was a big performance for Jenkins, who connected on multiple deep balls to Hicks and made some strong throws in the face of heavy pressure.

Jenkins, an FIU commit, hopes the strong performance against a defense stacked with five- and four-star recruits will impress colleges.

“That means wake up,” Jenkins said. “They’ve been sleeping on Lights Out (Jenkins’ nickname) because I’m not 6-2 — the average-size quarterback. But they know deep down inside the film shows that I’m the best quarterback in the Class of 2023 — especially in the state of Florida.

Central will certainly have a target on its back for the remainder of the season, but that’s nothing new.

And Joseph wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When you play football for Miami Central, you know you stand up to play the best of the best,” he said. “You tell us we’re playing the Miami Dolphins, we’re ready."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: IMG Academy stunned by Miami Central in football season opener