It was a week of frustration for the three biggest prep football teams in the Keys, and a week of celebration for the county's newest gridiron squad.

While Key West, Marathon and Coral Shores each fell at home to state-ranked opponents, Island Christian School's first-year six-man program picked up its inaugural victory.

The Eagles (1-2) topped Westwood Christian, 43-31, on their home field Saturday afternoon to set off a frenzied party at the school's Islamorada campus, which hadn't hosted a football game in 13 years.

"It was great to be part of this inaugural victory," ICS coach Robert Lucas said. "These guys have worked hard all season, have faced adversity of losing a player with a broken collarbone and have competed with only six or seven players each game. Yet they have not complained or given up.

It has driven them. It was great to see their smiles after the game and to see the smiles on the fans. It truly was a total 'school' victory."

Matt Cavenagh threw for 146 yards and three TDs in the win, and Jon Cruciger and Daniel Pratt each broke the century mark on the ground.

Cruciger finished with 120 rushing yards with one score on the ground and one through the air, and Pratt rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns, while also catching a score and tossing a 75-yard touchdown to 6-foot-5 Christian Ledwith, who had 115 yards receiving to go along with two touchdowns.

"Our running game set up our passing game," said Lucas, whose team will return to action Saturday afternoon at 2:30 against Donahue Academy, the last team the Eagles lost to three weeks ago. "Westwood would try to stuff the box with five and six players creating play-action pass opportunities. Time after time, we would burn them for big plays."

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The mood was a lot less celebratory in Key West, where the Conchs suffered their first loss of the season, a 38-7 defeat at the hands of Booker T. Washington in their District 16-3A opener.

The Tornadoes (6-0, 1-0) showed why they are the top-ranked 3A team in the state and in the top 20 of several national polls. Their offense came up with big plays seemingly whenever they needed it, and their defense held Key West out of the end zone until midway through the third quarter.

Worse for the Conchs (4-1, 0-1), tight end and linebacker J.P. Mallot and quarterback Stephen Jones both were knocked out of the game with injuries.

Jones suffered a bruise to his right throwing shoulder early in the third quarter, and Mallot went down on the same series with a left leg injury that forced him to be carted off the sideline on a stretcher.

Key West coach Jerry Hughes said both players will be checked out today and he won't know their status for this Friday's home game against South Dade until this afternoon at the earliest.

On the field Friday night, not much went right for the Conchs on offense, defense, or special teams.

One of Key West's most costly plays came on a punt attempt midway through the second quarter with the Conchs already trailing, 21-0. Cale Hartle got off a booming kick from around his own 20-yard line that would've put

Booker T. at its own 19. Key West was flagged for a chop block, however, and the Tornadoes chose to have the down replayed. On Hartle's second attempt, the defensive line got a hand on the ball and recovered it at the Conchs' 12, resulting in a net loss of 69 yards on the penalty.

Phillip Young had a standout game for Key West, as he took over at quarterback and led the team 75 yards for its only score. He finished with 61 passing yards, including a 16-yard TD pass to Christian Stewart, and also rushed for 29 yards and picked off a pass on defense.

Paul Leatherwood came up with the defensive play of the game in the first quarter for the Conchs when he broke free and blasted Booker T. quarterback Jeremiah Hay, causing Hay to lose the ball. Leatherwood quickly got up and pounced on the loose ball, setting up the Key West offense at the Tornadoes' 47. Unfortunately for the Conchs, they were unable to move the ball from there, going three-and-out and losing the field position when Hartle fumbled the snap on the punt attempt.

The Conchs will return to practice at 9:30 this morning to prepare for 6A South Dade.

"You just put it behind you and start working on South Dade," Hughes said Sunday of the loss. "Nothing you can do to change it now."

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For Marathon, which played without starting quarterback Nyran Ross, offense was tough to come by Friday night in its 30-0 loss to District 8-1A rival Parkway Academy. The Dolphins were only able to amass 82 yards on

the ground and did not complete a pass in the game.

Senior tailback A.J. Freeman had a majority of the yards for Marathon, carrying the ball 17 times for 62 yards, while quarterback Trevelle Beckford, who was filling in for Ross, was 0-for-7 through the air with one interception and ran the ball 13 times for 16 yards with two fumbles. He was also sacked four times for a loss of 19 yards.

However, it was the Dolphins defense that kept the team in the game for the first three quarters, as they entered the final 12 minutes down by only two scores. Tyler Roussin had the only Marathon sack, while Beckford, playing his natural position of cornerback, intercepted a pass in the end zone.

By opening its district schedule with two losses, Marathon's postseason hopes have taken a significant hit, and if the Dolphins are to make the 1A state tournament they will need Dade Christian or Parkway to also lose a pair of games to district opponents, as only the top two teams will make the playoffs.

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Coral Shores continued to take its bumps and bruises under first-year coach Kelly Clark, as the Hurricanes received no sympathy from District 8-2B foe Gulliver Prep on Thursday night. The Raiders continued to throw well into the second half, taking a 61-0 lead on two passing touchdowns by starting quarterback Michael Strauss. Defensively, Gulliver continued to blitz its linebackers throughout the game, getting to 'Canes quarterback John Munshower three times for sacks. The Hurricanes were only able to pick up 43 yards of total offense.

Defensively, Courtney Dixon led the way for Coral Shores with half a dozen tackles, as the Hurricanes were only beaten in the turnover category by a 2-0 margin.

Coral Shores will return to action Friday night at home against LaSalle.