BOYNTON BEACH – Pahokee spoiled Boynton Beach’s homecoming in last night’s 47-23 victory.
But it didn’t seem that way early on, as Boynton Beach stunned the Blue Devils with a nice drive that resulted in a short touchdown run by Guenson Alexis midway through the first quarter. With the extra point, Boynton Beach took a 7-0 lead.
Pahokee’s offense would turn the ball over on downs, but its defense would come up with a big play to get the ball back for the offense.
How did it happen?
The Blue Devils forced a fumble that defensive lineman Taquan Kinsler would scoop up for a touchdown to make it 7-6. The score stayed the same, as Boynton Beach blocked the extra point with a little over three minutes left in the first.
Boynton Beach would make a costly mistake by fumbling the ensuing kickoff return, and Pahokee’s Alvin Dean would recover for his team.
Lavonski Williams would give Pahokee its first lead of the game on a short touchdown run, which was followed by a two-point conversion run to make it a 14-7 lead.
Pahokee’s next score would come on a pass from quarterback Jaeze Tracy to wideout Jasteven Jordan to make it 20-7 with a little under eight minutes left in the second quarter. An extra point would extend the lead to 21-7.
The Tigers found some life in the second as they were able to recover a muffed punt by the Blue Devils. They would go on to kick a field goal and to cut Pahokee’s leads to 21-10 with 1:42 left in the second.
The Tigers would come up with another fumble by the Blue Devils with 1:06 left in the second quarter, but couldn’t capitalize before halftime.
Tracy would throw his second touchdown of the night in the second half on a pass to Dioby Cherisme. With the extra point, it would extend Pahokee’s lead to 28-10.
Williams scored his second rushing touchdown of the night with 7:14 left in the third quarter. And with another extra point, the score would be 35-10.
Boynton Beach scored with 5:12 left in the fourth quarter on a pass from Alexis to Verwayne Alexander, which cut Pahokee’s lead to 35-17 after the extra point.
Tracy and Jordan would connect for their second touchdown of the night to make it 41-17 in favor of Pahokee.
Alexis would throw his third touchdown of the night on a pass to wideout Nathan Brown with 1:46 left in the fourth, which cut the lead to 41-23.
But Pahokee would get a touchdown once more on the ensuing onside kick, as Jordan picked the ball up and took it right into the end zone.
Emerging sophomore Geoffrey McKelton ended the game on a interception and ran the ball back to the Boynton Beach 1-yard line to preserve the final score of 47-23.
Pahokee head coach Orson Walkes would comment on his team’s victory.
“I wouldn’t call it successful,” Walkes said. “We played a good overall team, but it’s still a lot of mistakes. We still have some cleaning up to do. We’re looking for a mistake-free football team. We already know we’re talented once again, but the reality is we have to be more discipline.”
