The Palm Beach Central Broncos achieved two big objectives when they defeated the Wellington High School Wolverines, 43-3, on Friday, Oct. 27 in the annual Wellington Cup game.
With that victory, the Broncos maintained possession of the Wellington Cup, which is awarded to the winning team in this annual football game. The Broncos won the Wellington Cup for the seventh straight time.
Meanwhile, the victory also gave the Broncos the Class 4M, District 10 title, which will earn them an automatic bid in the upcoming Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) Class 4M playoffs.
Pam Beach Central moved to 8-1 on the regular season. The Broncos’ win against Wellington was a bounce-back victory following an unexpected 23-14 loss to Palm Beach Gardens High School on Friday, Oct. 20.
According to Palm Beach Central head coach Kevin Thompson, his team learned a great deal from its loss to Gardens.
“My players learned that they can’t take anyone lightly, and they have to be prepared every game,” Thompson said.
The Broncos will close out their regular season on Friday, Nov. 3 when they host Cardinal Newman High School (7-1). It will be senior night for all football players, cheerleaders and marching band members at Palm Beach Central. Kickoff for the game will be at 6:30 p.m. This game will pit two of the top teams in Palm Beach County this season, as Cardinal Newman will enter the game as the champion in Class 1M, District 5.
TKA Lions Clinch District Title — The King’s Academy’s most recent win was by forfeit against Inlet Grove on Friday, Oct. 27. That forfeit win clinched the Class 2M, District 9 title for TKA. The Lions’ most recent on-the-field victory was a 40-34 overtime thriller on Friday, Oct. 20 against True North Classical Academy in Miami. Quarterback Joe Dailey scored the winning touchdown on a quarterback keeper.
The King’s Academy (8-1) is riding an eight-game winning streak and is looking to finish the regular season with a win against the Benjamin School Buccaneers, one of its longtime cross-county rivals, on Friday, Nov. 3. That game will be played at the Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens.
This season, TKA is led on offense by Dailey, who is completing 63.5 percent of his passes and has thrown 16 touchdowns. On offense, the team’s leading rusher is running back Marion Victor, who is averaging 139.5 yards per game. In the game against True North, Victor eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing on the season. The team leader in touchdowns scored is Reggie Workman, who has scored 12 touchdowns.
Seminole Ridge Fights to the Finish — Seminole Ridge High School (6-3) will conclude the regular season with a winning record, even if they lose their regular season finale at Wellington (2-7) on Friday, Nov. 3. With a victory against the Wolverines, the Hawks will, most likely, not qualify for the upcoming Class 3M state playoffs. What’s hurting their chances are that two of the Hawks’ three losses have been against Class 3M, District 9 opponents — a 43-13 loss to Atlantic High School on Oct. 13 and a 34-14 defeat to William T. Dwyer High School on Oct. 26. The Hawks’ most-recent victory was a 34-12 win against Park Vista High School on Friday, Oct. 20.
Wellington Looks to the Future — For Wellington High School’s first-year head football coach Ross Pryor, the 2023 season has been a learning experience for him, his coaching staff and his entire playing squad.
Going into the season, 49 football players from last year’s team were no longer on the Wolverine roster. While some of them were seniors who graduated, many were underclassmen who decided to continue their high school education and football playing careers at other schools.
After nine games this year, the Wolverines stand at 2-7. Wellington’s two wins were a 16-15 home win against Royal Palm Beach High School on Sept. 14 and a 28-6 home win versus John I. Leonard High School on Oct. 12.
The highest point-production performance by Wellington this season was scoring 34 points against Palm Beach Lakes High School on Oct. 20, but the Wolverines gave up 60 points against the Rams in the loss.
Wellington concludes its regular season on Nov. 3 at home against Seminole Ridge High School. It will be senior night and homecoming for Wellington. The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m.
Wellington will be ready to play, Pryor said.
“It’s our homecoming this week,” Pryor said. “The big thing is to finish off the season strong. We have had a lot of ups and downs this season. It has been a tough one, but we want to send our 10 seniors off on the right foot.”
The game against Seminole Ridge will be a steppingstone into spring practice, and then next year.
“This will also build momentum going into the off season for us,” Pryor said.
This season, some of Wellington’s statistical leaders are underclassmen — specifically sophomore linebacker Julian Riaboukha’s 6.3 tackles per game, junior defensive end Aiden Kelley’s team-leading eight sacks on the season and sophomore running back Tyree Pearson’s 47.4 yards rushing per game.
Royal Palm Beach Perseveres — There’s no “giving up” on the Royal Palm Beach Wildcats (2-7) football team. The Wildcats, led by head coach Chuck Kenyon, picked up their second victory of the regular season on Friday, Oct. 27, when they rallied with three fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat Palm Beach Lakes High School, 27-20.
Kenyon was proud of his team’s impressive fourth-quarter performance.
“We didn’t start out the game how we wanted, but we finished strong,” he said.
Kenyon said two of his standout performers were junior quarterback Landon Earl and freshman Trey Rolle.
“Landon had some big runs, and Trey was, by far, our best player,” Kenyon said.
The Wildcats conclude their regular season on Friday, Nov. 3 at home against winless John I. Leonard High School (0-9) from Greenacres. It will be senior night for Royal Palm Beach.
Berean Notches A Win — After opening the regular season with eight consecutive blowout losses, where the Berean Christian School Bulldogs gave up an average of 41 points a game and they only scored a total of 20 points all season, the Bulldogs finally found the win column. On Friday, Oct. 27, Berean traveled north to Winter Park to play Trinity Prep in a Sunshine State Athletic Conference (SSAC) post-season game. The Bulldogs came away with a big 21-0 win, which propels them into another SSAC post-season game on Friday, Nov. 3 on the road against the Cedar Creek Christian Saints (1-8) from Jacksonville.
