High school football roundup: Santaluces surprises No. 8 Atlantic

Friday, September 21, 2012
by The Palm Beach Post

Senior quarterback Sean Steele threw for three touchdowns as Santaluces stunned district rival and eighth-ranked Atlantic 26-13 Friday night.

"Everybody has doubted us, but this proves we're better than a lot of people expected," said Steele, who threw for 143 yards. "We couldn't have won this game, though, without the offensive line and the job they did."

Steele connected with Darrell Langham on 44-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, and teamed with Ricco Jean Louis on a pair of second-half scoring passes.

"I can't say enough about him," Santaluces coach Darryl Drinkwater said of Steele, who passed for 143 yards. "Ever since fall camp started, he's gotten better every day."

Bernard Eberhardt's 78-yard interception return midway through the second quarter accounted for the other Santaluces (2-2) touchdown.

Atlantic (2-2) scored on a 3-yard run by Tevin Spells on the Eagles' first possession and a 4-yard pass from Thomas Owens to Warren Robinson with 19 seconds remaining in the game.

No. 2 Dwyer 58, Spanish River 0: Using reserves throughout, the Panthers (4-0) cruised past the Sharks (0-4) in Palm Beach Gardens. Not even a wet field slowed Dwyer down. Running back Cortney Lowery scored the Panthers' first three offensive touchdowns, and defensive lineman Mark Kelly added a score on a fumble by Sharks quarterback Mike Jorgensen, to put the Panthers up 27-0 after one quarter. Dwyer held Spanish River to zero first downs and pass completions, and minus-58 yards of total offense.

-- Bill Meredith

No. 4 Palm Beach Gardens 27, Jupiter 7: The Gators (3-1) scored 20 second-half points to pull away from the Warriors (0-4) in a District 9-8A matchup in Palm Beach Gardens. Running back Jermaine Carn led Palm Beach Gardens with 179 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns. His 1-yard run was the only score in the first half. A high snap on a Palm Beach Gardens punt in the third quarter put Jupiter on the Gators' 1-yard line, and quarterback Steven Demeo tied the game at 7 with Jupiter's only touchdown. Palm Beach Gardens answered with three touchdowns, including a Carn 27-yard rush that came one play after Dakwon DePolo intercepted Demeo. "We knew we had to come out and put it away," Carn said about coming back after halftime. "We knew that they were gonna fight since they knew they were in the game, and we just felt like we had to put them away early." Rain limited both quarterbacks. Demeo ran for 26 yards on nine carries, and Palm Beach Gardens quarterback J.P. Caruso was 4-for-10 with a 14-yard touchdown pass.

-- Jessica Gillespie

Olympic Heights 14, Palm Beach Lakes 8: The Lions (4-0) rushed for 162 yards on 39 carries and held off a late rally by the Rams (0-4) in Boca Raton. After a scoreless first quarter, running back John Cleristor made two cuts and scored from 16 yards out to give the Lions a 7-0 lead. Just before halftime, Heights quarterback Richard Thompson found running back Jim Derival on a dump-off and Derival did the rest, going 19 yards for a touchdown. After a fourth-quarter safety put Lakes on the board, the Rams pulled within a score when quarterback Isiah Snead found Julio Johnson for an 11-yard scoring strike. Heights sealed the win when Thompson broke free for a 21-yard run late and the Lions were able to run out the clock. Adrian Peoples rushed for 93 yards on 16 carries for Lakes.

-- Brandon Wise

John I. Leonard 28, Lake Worth 0: Adam Johnson rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns and also threw for 48 yards and another score, leading the Lancers (4-0) to the rout of the Trojans (0-4) in Lake Worth. Johnson's first touchdown came from 16 yards out in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Johnson scored on a 6-yard run and another 5-yard quarterback sneak before halftime. As a team, John I. Leonard rushed for 240 yards as a team. Johnson threw a touchdown pass to Winsen Juste in the fourth quarter. Bradley Cenelien rushed for 48 yards for Lake Worth.

-- Zach Duarte

No. 7 Cardinal Newman 55, Fort Lauderdale-Calvary Christian 14: Travis Rudolph had a rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown, an interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery for a touchdown as the Crusaders (4-0) rolled past the Eagles in Fort Lauderdale. Devonte Brown rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries for Newman.

No. 10 Glades Day 41, Jupiter Christian 0: Kelvin Taylor ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns and Josh Carr threw for 158 yards and a score to lead the Gators to the rout of the Eagles in Belle Glade. Taylor pushed his state rushing record to 10,414. He also has 16 rushing touchdowns on the season and a state-record 164 for his career. Nigel Allen scored the final touchdown of the game in the third quarter on a 5-yard run. Kyle Konopassek rushed for 37 yards for Jupiter Christian.

Boynton Beach 41, Suncoast 12: The Tigers (3-1) raced to the victory over the Chargers (1-3) in Riviera Beach.

Pahokee 14, Inlet Grove 0: Bam Adeyemi had five tackles, including two sacks, but the Hurricanes (2-1) fell to the Blue Devils in Riviera Beach.

Benjamin 10, Coral Springs Charter 3: McKenna Johnston rushed for 87 yards on nine carries and added a two-point conversion as the Buccaneers (3-1) edged the Panthers in Coral Springs. James Theofilis had a quarterback sack for a safety for Benjamin.

Berean Christian 20, Oviedo-Master's Academy 7: The Bulldogs improved to 3-0 with the win over the Eagles (1-2) in Wellington.

Boca Raton Christian 60, Princeton Christian 0: Quarterback A.J. Puente passed for 225 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for two scores, leading the Blazers (4-0) to the rout of the Panthers (0-2) in Boca Raton. Boca Raton led 41-0 at the half and added second-half scoring runs by K.J. Clark, Hunter Knox, and Sam Smith.

Sebastian River 19, Okeechobee 10: Zach Wingfield scored on a 16-yard pass from LaVonte Spivey, but the Brahmans (1-3) fell to the Sharks (2-2) in Sebastian.

West Boca Raton suspended: The Bulls (1-2) led the Pirates (3-0) 10-7 when the game was suspended by weather with 1:05 left in the first half. Zachary Miner scored on a 1-yard touchdown run for West Boca Raton. No immediate word on when the game will resume.

South Fork 48, Forest Hill 7: Marcus McClain rushed for two touchdowns and Cody Labanowitz ran for a score and threw for another, leading the Bulldogs (3-0) to the rout of the Falcons (1-3) in a game shortened by rain. Brett DeMarco ran 5 yards for Forest Hill's only score.

Treasure Coast game suspended: Davie-University led Treasure Coast 6-0 in the first quarter when the game was stopped by lightning. It will not be made up.

Pope John Paul II 54, John Carroll 44: Jarious Smith rushed for three touchdowns and returned an interception for another score, all in the fourth quarter, to help the Eagles (4-0) rally to top the Rams (2-2) in a wild matchup in Boca Raton. Bryce Segui had two touchdown catches for Pope. Jordan Watkins rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another for John Carroll.

Palm Bay-Heritage 28, Port St. Lucie 10: D.J. Juste had a 10-yard touchdown run, but the Jaguars (1-3) fell to the Panthers (4-0) in Port St. Lucie.

Jensen Beach 10, Fort Pierce Westwood 6: Alex Ogle threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Corey Preston as the Falcons (2-2) edged the Panthers (0-4) in Jensen Beach.

Martin County 35, Clewison 0: The Tigers (2-2) led 28-0 at halftime and rolled to the victory over the Tigers (0-4) in Clewiston.

Volleyball

Palm Beach Central earns two wins: Melisa Romero had two aces, six service points and a kill to lead Palm Beach Central (5-3) to a 25-14, 25-21 win over Miami-University in the second match of a doubleheader in Key West. The Broncos won the first match as well, defeating Key West 25-14, 23-25, 25-15, 25-17.