In a battle of the top two teams in Palm Beach County on Friday night, the spotlight and pressure was sky-high. And surely, the matchup lived up to the hype.
Cardinal Newman and Atlantic were neck-and-neck for the entire first half. It was the definition of a defensive game.
For the quarterbacks, specifically the starters, the first half wasn’t pretty whatsoever.
Cardinal Newman starting quarterback Luke Warnock, who is arguably the best ’24 quarterback in Palm Beach County, dealt with a bad shoulder injury early on, forcing him to exit the game and not return. So, it was Jyron Hughley’s turn to be at the helm under the Friday Night Lights.
Atlantic starting quarterback Lincoln Graf also got benched in the first half, but it was due to his inconsistent play rather than injury. Mark Hanniford received some snaps at quarterback as the Eagles tried to figure out their quarterback situation.
At halftime, things were scoreless, with the game tied at zero. Based on the first half play from both teams, defense wins championships.
Surely enough, the second play of the third quarter proved that having a versatile, hard-working defense makes all the difference.
Defensive tackle Ta’Narie Locust made a highlight “big guy” moment. The senior picked off Lincoln Graf and took it to the house for a pick-six, the first score of the game, giving the Crusaders a 7-0 lead to begin the third quarter.
“At any position on defense, anything can happen”, Locust said. “Anybody can get an interception. Anybody can get a fumble recovery. As long as there is 11 hats to the ball”.
Following his pick-six, Lincoln Graf moved the ball extremely well to get Atlantic in the red-zone for the first time Friday night. But as soon as the Eagles reached the red-zone, Graf threw yet another interception to Rutgers commit Kevin Levy. Cardinal Newman still led 7-0 with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Thanks to Levy’s interception, the Crusaders had the ball, but that didn’t last long. A bad snap over Hughley’s head resulted in a fumble on fourth down. Atlantic recovered inside the red-zone at the 11 yard line.
This was the turning point in the game as a fight/scuffle resulted immediately after the fumble.
Both sidelines cleared, coming together with pushing and shoving. A few players got ejected as a result, including Cardinal Newman ATH Ricky Knight III, who is an FSU commit.
With Atlantic in great field position following the fumble and an increase in energy thanks to the fight, Graf turned it on. On a quarterback keeper, the junior fooled the entire Cardinal Newman defense to get into the end-zone, tying the game at seven apiece with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
If you said that Atlantic had all the momentum, you were right. The Eagles defense recovered yet another fumble on the ensuing drive with 2:30 left in the third quarter.
However, it didn’t translate to any points. For the remainder of the game, both teams traded off punts with no red-zone appearances. At the end of regulation, Cardinal Newman and Atlantic still had only seven points on the scoreboard.
Atlantic started off with the ball in overtime. On the very first play, Graf threw an amazing pass to WR James Jones, but his foot just went out of bounds before hauling in the catch. Atlantic was literally an inch from scoring.
So, they tried again. RB Damarion Alberic ran up the middle for nine yards, getting tackled on the one-yard line, making it third down.
That is as far as Atlantic got; Cardinal Newman’s defense showed off their clutch gene to stuff Atlantic at the one yard line on both third and fourth down.
It was Cardinal Newman’s turn in overtime in need of only a field goal or touchdown to win.
It only took one play. Jaylin “Jbo” Brown shot out of the gate, scoring a game-winning rushing touchdown to send the Crusaders home with a thrilling win.
While he walked the game off with a rushing score, Brown doesn’t want all the credit.
“I really don’t want all the praise on me because all of my teammates stepped up”.
Brown didn’t let the spotlight in overtime get to him, especially with the implications of being considered the best team in Palm Beach County.
“With the pressure on me it doesn’t really matter because I’m going to perform how I’m going to perform regardless. I put the team on my back. They did their thing for me. I did my thing for them”.
Brown has offers from Kentucky, Charlotte, James Madison, Liberty, and UMass.
Cardinal Newman is now 4-0 as they look to have an undefeated regular season for the second year in a row. The Crusaders stay in West Palm Beach next week to play Miami Northwestern.
Atlantic, meanwhile, suffered their first loss of the season; they are now 4-1. The Eagles get a chance, though, to go back to the drawing board as they have a bye week. After that, they look to bounce back against a tough Pahokee team. The Blue Devils are coming a big win, defeating Palm Beach Gardens 34-18.
