By Dave Brousseau

FORT LAUDERDALE – With starting junior quarterback Josiah Sanchious sidelined with an injury, Coconut Creek coach Chris Yeargin spent the week preparing 5-foot-9 senior wide receiver Everett Butler as the fill in quarterback against Cardinal Gibbons on Thursday.

Apparently, the experiment worked out just fine.

Butler, who passed 140 yards and rushed for another 71 yards, directed the Cougars over the final 1:58 left in the game putting his team into position for a game-winning field goal.

Senior place-kicker Jonathan Hernandez then calmly kicked the game-winning field goal from 34-yards as time expired for a 17-14 victory.

“For me I took the pressure for my team and play out of position to help my team win,” said Butler. “I was confident on that last drive as we practiced the two-minute drill every day. Today was my first day playing quarterback in high school football.”

“He [Butler] has been with us the last four years and knows how to win,” said Yeargin. “I take my hat off to the kid as he had practiced at quarterback for three days.”

Creek led 14-0 in the half following a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown by Isaiah Calixte with 1:39 left in the first quarter and a 5-yard scoring pass from Butler to Javian Francois just before the half.

The Chiefs (2-2) rallied from a 14-point deficit with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Senior quarterback Tyler Chance threw scoring passes of 22 and 16 yards to Jesse Azar and Javian Norwood respectively that tied the game at 14 with 1:58 to play. Chance finished the game with 242 yards passing.

Then Butler put the Cougars (3-1) into position to win and relied on Hernandez for the game winner.

Hernadez kicked the game-winning extra-point in a 33-32 victory over True North in the season opener with zeroes on the clock.

He did it again against Gibbons.

“That’s my first game winning field goal,” said Hernandez. “I trusted the kick from my training and pressure wise. I was just thankful for the opportunity.”

Dave Brousseau is a veteran journalist who worked at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a longtime BCAA Correspondent. Need to reach out to him? Contact him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.