PALM BEACH GARDENS – On Friday, No. 3 seed American Heritage will travel to Palm Beach Gardens and battle against No. 2 seed Benjamin.
For both Palm Beach County private school teams, they share hopes of advancing to the regional final of the Class 3A Region 4 bracket where a matchup against the winner of Chaminade-Madonna and Palmer Trinity awaits.
Delray Beach American Heritage
After finishing the regular season with a 7-3 record, the Stallions earned a playoff spot and an opening week game against Calvary Christian. In a 43-13 rout of Calvary Christian, the Stallions used a combination of a strong rushing attack and a strong defense. The win itself turned the Stallions’ ongoing win streak to three games, which dates back to the late part of October.
Running back Dallis Small and the rushing attack will look to keep the same momentum from last Friday’s game. In a game where the Stallions ran for 233 total yards on the ground, Small accounted for 85 yards and two touchdowns on just eight total carries.
While the Stallions tend to not rely on the passing game, quarterback Zach Bohannon has shown the ability to make the impact through the air and on the ground. Bohannon finished with 149 all-purpose yards (100 passing, 49 rushing) against Calvary Christian and opened up the second half with a touchdown pass.
On defense, look for Michigan commit Mike Morris to lead the defense from the EDGE position. Last Friday, Morris had a sack and was a key component in the Stallions’ containment of Calvary Christian quarterback Gabe Contento.
Benjamin Despite a last-second loss to King’s Academy to finish off the regular season, the Benjamin Buccaneers showed the ability to impact the game on both sides of the football and finished the regular season with a 9-1 (7-1) record and earned the second seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
For the season, the Buccaneers averaged 34 points on offense with a majority of the production coming from under center with Santino Marucci producing highly as of late. Look for the rushing attack to be involved as well with Joseph Labovick and Josh Pierre-Louis getting a majority of the production.
While the offense scores in bunches, it’s the Buccaneers defense that will be the key for a win. In four games, the Buccaneers defense allowed less than 10 points to the opposing team and twice the Buccaneers prevented the other team from scoring anything.
In total, the Buccaneers allowed just 95 points over the course of the season.
The Buccaneers will likely gain major production from wide receiver and cornerback Ka’iir Elam. Elam, who is currently undecided on where he will attend college, holds offers from Georgia, Florida, and Auburn. He has been a major factor in a majority of the Buccaneers performances and is one of many reasons that the Buccaneers hold one of the county’s best records.
Common Games:
Between American Heritage and Benjamin, a total of just two opponents are shared: Key West and Calvary Christian. Both American Heritage and Benjamin are undefeated in these games with Benjamin outscoring the opponents 78-31. In those same games, American Heritage has outscored the opponents 62-14.
Score Prediction: We’ll reveal ours tomorrow. Stay tuned.
