PALM BEACH GARDENS – In what may go down as this spring’s marquee football series of games in Palm Beach Gardens, the first true 561-305 Jamboree featured four South Florida programs on Saturday, May 22.
Teams on the gridiron were Palm Beach Gardens (host school), Atlantic (Delray Beach), Miami Edison, and Miami Southridge.
For Palm Beach Gardens, something similar occurred two years ago, when it hosted Miami Southridge and Olympic Heights for a three-team spring jamboree series.
And for all four schools, this is the first time in two years a spring game has happened. In a sense, this was a welcome return to normalcy.
EARLY RETURNS
The 561 (Palm Beach County) is on its way back.
After many years of toiling in the shadows of the 305 (Miami-Dade County) and the 954 (Broward County), Palm Beach Gardens and Atlantic (Delray Beach) combined to go 3-1 (unofficial record) against Miami Southridge and Miami Edison. The only 305 win occurred in the first of four two-quarter games, when Southridge got by Gardens in a 12-10 victory.
“We know they play a brand of football down there that we have to get used to competing against,” Palm Beach Gardens head coach Tyrone Higgins said. “When I came to Palm Beach Gardens, I told my guys the very first meeting, “We’re going to try to find the best of the best teams as possible. Once you play those type of teams, no game is really big. Miami Edison definitely lives up to that stature, and also Miami Southridge.”
The plan for next year’s 561-305 Jamboree with Palm Beach Gardens would be either to host more Miami teams or do it somewhere in Dade County.
“If they would host something down there and do it like a big thing, I’m with it,” Higgins said. “But every coach that was a part of my jamboree was amazing. They’re Class A guys. They’re always welcome here.”
Here’s how the four games turned out:
Game 1: Miami Southridge 12, Palm Beach Gardens 10
Game 2: Atlantic 22, Miami Southridge 6
Game 3: Atlantic 8, Miami Edison 0
Game 4: Palm Beach Gardens 14, Miami Edison 8
“Every time somebody plays a team from Miami, there’s a hype,” Atlantic head coach Jamael Stewart said. “They have good players. They have multiple D-1 recruits on their teams. We just wanted to go out there and play. I told them that one guy won’t beat us at all. Our boys just went out there and played with a team that we basically practiced everything we’ve doing for the past couple of weeks.”
JAMBOREE STANDOUTS
The best player overall was Atlantic junior athlete Reese Dobard.
Playing primarily at the wide receiver position, he hauled in two amazing end zone catches, one of which he showed great concentration by catching the ball in coverage while keeping both feet inbounds. This occurred at some point during Atlantic’s 22-6 win over Miami Southridge, as junior quarterback Zachary Waters aired out the touchdown throw that made Dobard’s awesome play possible.
In two games, Dobard combined for 250+ total yards, two touchdowns, and two two-point conversions.
“The whole offseason, we’ve been working for this,” Dobard said. “To y’all, this is new. But we have been working hard for real. It showed.”
Stewart marveled about Dobard’s overall play.
“He really has his coming out party,” Stewart said. “We knew the talent level that he had. But right now, he’s really showing it. We just gotta keep that momentum going into the summer and for the upcoming season.”
For Palm Beach Gardens, the best player at the spring jamboree was sophomore quarterback Brand Campbell. He threw a 90-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kevin Levy, who hit paydirt to the end zone after his 7-yard catch on a slant pass.
“On that play, we just knew what we had to do,” Campbell said. “We just executed and we scored.”
Campbell’s leadership stood out as well, particularly when adversity hit in the Southridge game.
“We knew who we were going up against,” Campbell said. “It was a very good team. A lot of big names on that team. We went to the gym after that game and got our heads right. We came out to play the next game.”
Other Palm Beach County standouts were:
ATLANTIC
QB Zachary Waters
RB Omari Mitchell
PALM BEACH GARDENS
LB Vincent Dubose
WR Kevin Levy
DB Josh Philostin
NOTE: These are only a few players that were noticeable at first glance in the spring jamboree. Please let us know about any other standouts we did not mention here by direct messaging us on our New Era Prep Twitter page.
PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde
