PALM BEACH GARDENS – Up and down the season, No. 10 Atlantic (5-3) was able to put it all together Friday night (Oct. 21) to be crowned as the District 9-3M champions.
The Eagles punched their first-class ticket to the FHSAA playoffs by way of an automatic berth against No. 5 Dwyer (5-3) in a must-win game for both squads.
Da’marion Alberic got Atlantic on the board first with a short run. This moment was special because Alberic lost his mother recently, but decided to still play the rest of the season with the Eagles despite the adversity.
Head coach Jamael Stewart comment on the resiliency of Alberic.
“He came out and ran the ball hard for us,”Stewart said. “He’s going to be having a funeral to attend in a week, but he’s playing lights out football right now.”
Through the adversity having four deaths surrounding the Eagles program in the last six to seven months, it has brought the program closer.
“We’ve met this adversity and it’s really brought us together,” Stewart said. “They are like brothers now. They have created this bond.”
The brotherly love on this Eagles squad has been evident all season.
The sophomore duo of quarterback Lincoln Graf and wideout Kamare Williams connected with each other twice for touchdowns.
This is the pair’s first district title together and maybe more to come with how they are developing a chemistry this season.
“Our coaches have been making awesome game plans,” Graf said. “We’ve been sticking to it and you see the product.”
Williams added: “It feels good to win. We are taking things one step at a time,” he said.
Adversity struck for the Eagles in the second quarter as they muffed two punts that led to scores for the Panthers.
Junior quarterback Shyeia Deveaux connected with fellow junior Mikail Lee midway through the second quarter. His final touchdown of the night to Kyle McNeal came with 10 seconds left in the second quarter, tying the game at 14-14 going into halftime.
The second half was owned by the Eagles defense.
Senior Mi’kel Hendrix put on show, as he recorded four sacks, a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown for Atlantic.
“Going into any game, I always feel like I’m unblockable,” Hendrix said. “The fear in the offensive tackles eyes and the quarterbacks eyes.”
Hendrix expanded on his fumble recovery that he scored on, which gave Atlantic all the momentum it needed to seal its 32-14 victory over Dwyer.
“Soon as I seen the ball on the ground, I said I got one,” Hendrix said. “Then I just ran like I had a pit bull running behind me.”
Atlantic’s last touchdown killed any hope of a comeback by Dwyer. It came late in the fourth quarter on a kick-six by sophomore defensive back Tavius Horne Jr.
“I saw how the quarterback was lobbing the ball the whole game,” Horne Jr. said. “I baited him waited for number seven to go. By then, I came up and picked it off and ran downfield for the touchdown.”
The issues of being consistently inconsistent seem to be solved right now as Stewart addressed how they have adjusted their coaching and practices.
“We wasn’t finishing games,” Stewart said “We changed the way that we scripted our practices. We went to four-minute drills to see what we can do when we’re up and when we are down. We drilled this everyday.”
Stewart explained exactly how he has been able to get his team in the mindset of finishing games.
“We’re practicing our ones versus ones, “iron sharpens iron” and they are showing it now,” Stewart said. “We are never comfortable, even if we are up 32-14 or in practice.”
Atlantic proved that it can finish games. It looks to be in postseason shape as it prepares to make a playoff run after being doubted by many, provided that this squad could even put together a winning record this season.
The Eagles next game will be at home against non-district opponent Glades Central (1-6) with a start time of 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.
