Defense helps Palm Beach Lakes take down No. 6 Boca Raton

Friday, September 11, 2009
by Cristina Ledra

WEST PALM BEACH — Morris Moore set his eyes on Boca Raton quarterback Eddie Sullivan and took off, twice hauling him down for loss of yards on a crucial drive.

That had been the story for Moore and the Palm Beach Lakes defense all night — big plays at big times and eventually a 19-17 win over the Bobcats (1-1 and No. 6 in The Post) on Friday night.

'We really got in there and tore it up,' said Moore, a senior defensive lineman. 'Our coach told us that they were going to take the game away from us if we didn't go get it. So we had to go out there and get it.

'They weren't going to give it to us.'

The Rams (2-0 and No. 10) held Boca Raton to 24 rushing yards and 96 passing yards thanks to constant pressure with little blitzing.

Palm Beach Lakes also had two interceptions in the first quarter, from Eddie Lovett and Rakeem Addison. Dexter Richardson added a sack, and Johnnie Simon blocked a Bobcats field-goal attempt early in the second period.

'We just wanted to play our regular defense and we thought if we did that we would have a good chance of winning the football game,' Rams coach Alonzo Jefferson said. 'All the kids have been working hard, and it just turned out that the defense is what did it today,'

After Simon's block, Deon Charles opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run for Lakes at the 6:33 mark of the second period.

With the game tied at 10 and about seven minutes remaining in the game, Moore got his first of two sacks for a 4-yard loss, then the defense held for another 5-yard loss on the run. Boca Raton took a false start penalty, then Moore rushed in for his second sack, an 8-yard loss.

As the Bobcats went to punt, the snap was high and rolled out of the back of the end zone for the safety.

Lakes added an 8-yard touchdown run from Jaun O'Farill with 1:26 left in the game.

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