The Royal Palm Beach High School football team hosted district rival West Boca Raton High School on Friday, Oct. 12. Still looking for their first win of the season, the Wildcats fell short, losing 7-0 in overtime to the Bulls on homecoming night.
Neither team had notched a win for the 2018 season and looked to earn their first, after officials delayed the game due to bad weather conditions.
The Wildcat defensive unit impressed through the night, pressuring the West Boca quarterback often. Royal Palm Beach stopped the Bulls on their first possession of the game. The Wildcat offense moved the ball on Royal Palm Beach’s opening drive but could not get past midfield.
With both teams struggling to reach the red zone, neither seemed content on punting, attempting to convert on fourth down through the first half.
The first real threat of the first half was when West Boca drove to the Royal Palm Beach 40-yard line, but the Wildcats forced a fourth-and-six situation. In lieu of a field goal, the Bulls elected to attempt to move the chains, but the stubborn Wildcat defensive unit negated the attempt. The play turned the ball over to the Royal Palm Beach.
Royal Palm Beach looked poised to possibly take the lead, reaching the Bulls’ 30-yard line, but penalties pushed them back to midfield. Quarterback Peyton Mainolfi connected with Kenarvis Bowles on a huge pass play to set the Wildcats up inside the West Boca 20. The team continued to drive to the Bulls’ 13, but miscues and penalties again pushed them out of the red zone. With the Wildcats just out of field goal range, the West Boca defense stalled the fourth down conversion attempt.
It wasn’t until 6:52 in the second quarter when the Wildcats finally forced a West Boca punt when faced with a fourth and long. On the Wildcats’ next possession, they drove to the West Boca 36-yard line but were again denied entry into the red zone by the Bulls’ defense.
The second half was much of a replay of the first, with both teams struggling to move the ball, and when they did, could not convert a drive into points. Regulation play ended with the game scoreless, and the contest entered overtime. The Bulls were able to score on their possession and steal the game 7-0. It marked the first victory of the season for the Bulls and left Royal Palm Beach still in search of an elusive win.
Christian DiCristino recorded a sack for the Wildcat defense, and Elijah Doriscar was instrumental for the defense with two tackles, one for a loss and a pass breakup. Linebacker Andy Petit-Homme had a forced fumble. Hadley recovered a fumble, and receiver Latorrius Terry had an interception and 100 yards receiving.
The Wildcats had another district contest on the road against William T. Dwyer High School on Thursday, Oct. 18, but results were not available by press time.
