The Palm Beach Central High School varsity football team defeated Santaluces High School 49-36 in front of a homecoming crowd on Friday, Oct. 4 in Wellington.
Though the Broncos got off to a rocky start, they managed to push back against the Chiefs and pull out a win. Early in the game, the Chiefs pulled off several spectacular plays to get on the board early. But this only served to light a fire under Palm Beach Central, which rebounded to take the upper hand.
With just over two minutes into the game, the Chiefs picked up a long pass to run in a touchdown and a two-point conversion, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. Then, with only a few minutes left in the first quarter, Santaluces again put in a touchdown and extra-point kick to make the score 15-0 with 3:43 on the clock.
This seemed to awaken the Broncos, who wasted no more time. Only 20 seconds later, quarterback Kemar Downer ran 24 yards to score. A two-point conversion was put in by Tommy McDonald to cut into the Santaluces lead 15-8.
Palm Beach Central scored again with just over a minute left in the first quarter when Jhnard Dorsett picked up the ball at the 19 yard line and ran unchallenged into the end zone. An extra-point kick tied the score at 15.
In the second quarter, both teams struggled to make moves.
Midway through the quarter, Palm Beach Central called in its field goal team to attempt to take the lead, but the kick was blocked.
With only three seconds left in the half, Santaluces managed to score again. An extra-point kick made the score 22-15 going into halftime.
But the Broncos emerged from halftime a different team, determined to win.
Though the Chiefs managed to score two more touchdowns, Palm Beach Central dominated the second half, scoring five touchdowns to finish the game 49-36.
Palm Beach Central travels next to John I. Leonard High School on Thursday, Oct. 17 for a 7 p.m. game.
