The Miami Killian Cougars took the field Thursday night facing a team they last saw in 2005. The Knights from Sunset Senior High. Unfortunately, for Sunset, it happened to be the same result. The Cougars, led by a Lamar Miller kickoff return and a decent passing game, will move onto the second round to face the winner of Miami Palmetto and Miami Southwest.

Killian coach Steve Smith knew very well that the Sunset Knights had only given up six points in the first quarter the entire season. He had his Cougars marching right down field in the 1st quarter, but they were denied inside the 10-yard line and turned the ball over on downs. "Our kids have to know how exactly where they need to get to in order to pick up that first down," Smith said. "Our focus wasn't there and we need to improve on that, plus the little things."

The scoring began when Sunset took a 7-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run early in the 2nd quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Miller turns on the afterburners and gave Killian their first score of the game with a 93-yard kickoff return. Killian has had kicking issues all year, and they continued as the extra point attempt faltered. "He's on and off, I am not quite sure what it is, but there isn't much we can do about it," coach Smith said in reference to his kicker. "We just have to deal with it."

The Sunset band showed up half way through the first half, but it didn't seem to help them much. Ricky Rowe, who finished the game with 157 passing yards, completed a touchdown pass, which should not have counted, to Jelani Berassa for the 11-yard score. The two-point conversion succeeded and Killian went into the half with a 14-7 lead.  Rowe's pass to Berassa in the corner of the endzone was a bit high. For those standing close enough to the field, it could clearly be seen that Berassa's feet were out of bounds before coming back into the endzone to make the catch. The referees clearly missed the call.

Early in the 3rd quarter, Sunset had a big 45-yard run on a fourth down situation which moved them into the redzone. It wasn't but two minutes later that the Knights found themselves on the 1-yard line looking to get in. A delayed call by the referees, which took every bit of 30 seconds, wound up tying the score and possibly making this a ballgame again.

Miami Killian answered back at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run which gave them the lead for good at 21-14. Sunset did have an opportunity to get in the endzone with 4:48 remaining but did not convert on a 4th-and-7 from Killian's 26-yard line.

After the game was finished, Lamar Miller huddled up with the rest of his teammates as coach Steve Smith let his team know that they "were not focused and thought (they) could just walk out on the field and win." Miller was seen with his left knee wrapped up while in the huddle. "He'll be fine. He'll be OK," coach Smith stated.

 I will be personally recapping the game during a segment on my show this Saturday at 11am on 640AM Fox Sports. For more information on the show, be sure to check out the show's website, www.theslatershow.com