WELLINGTON – All it took was one catch in the end zone.
For Jose Rosa Perez, this moment of glory could not have come at a better time. It happened for the Wellington senior tight end in his team’s 21-11 road win last Friday night (Oct. 15) over Jupiter.
Perez’s fourth-quarter score was a 15-yarder from junior quarterback Ryan Anthony that effectively sealed the win for Wellington (5-2).
This was enough for the 6-foot-1 tight end to secure our Breakthrough Player of Week 8 honor.
“It’s great,” Perez said. “It’s something that I didn’t expect. It was a great team win. We needed to keep our streak going and lead on to today’s game against [Palm Beach] Lakes. I’m just trying to get better every week and perform to the best of my ability.”
Perez spoke specifically about how the touchdown catch from Anthony was made possible.
“It’s a play we’ve practiced a lot,” Perez said. “Coach [Danny Mendoza] made the call on third down and it just worked perfectly. It’s actually the same play I scored on during the spring game. Once the play was called, I knew Ryan had two options. Once I started running, I saw the safety come down and knew the ball was coming my way. And as Ryan does always, he put the ball on the perfect place for me to make the catch.”
Wellington senior wide receiver Reece Larson spoke of Perez’s breakout moment.
“That’s my brother,” Larson said. “He had come a long way from not playing football his whole life, and what he did against Jupiter is just a piece of what he can do. He’s a dog.”
Wellington senior running back/linebacker Josh Miloch chimed in.
“Jose stepped up big against Jupiter,” Miloch said. “It’s nice to see a player that works hard everyday in practice get recognition.”
Wellington head coach Danny Mendoza shared his thoughts on Perez as well.
“It feels great that he made the most of his opportunity to seal the game against a tough Jupiter team,” Mendoza said.
And with that, Perez played a role in helping Wellington secure our Team of Week 8 honor – the program’s first of this season.
TEAM OF WEEK 8 COMMENTARY: WELLINGTON
Wellington is mission focused right now. After a 1-2 start, the Wolverines have won four straight, including last week’s thriller over Jupiter.
“It feels nice to know we’re on the right track,” Larson said. “But the train’s gotta keep moving. We have a lot more games to win this year.”
Anthony concurred.
“It’s good to get some recognition, but we gotta keep rolling and putting in the hard work,” Anthony said. “We have more to prove.”
Wellington’s next game is tonight at Palm Beach Lakes (0-7). The kickoff for this Week 9 tilt is set for 6:30 p.m.
“We take it week by week and go 1-0 for the week,” Larson said. “But when that week comes, we will be ready to win the week and take what’s ours.”
Anthony summed up Wellington’s mission for at least the next three weeks ahead.
“We just gotta focus week by week and win it,” Anthony said. I have a lot of confidence in our team.”
