WEST PALM BEACH – All it takes is one moment to define a high school football player’s level of impact on his team.

We got that last week from Forest Hill sophomore quarterback Miche Estime, who led his offense to a 16-10 comeback win last Thursday night (Oct. 20) over previously unbeaten Park Vista.

Late in the third quarter, we got a short touchdown run from Estime, who gave his team a 14-10 lead. And then senior captain Dmitry Peters finished it off with a two-point conversion run at the 1:35 mark.

The 16-10 margin held until the final buzzer.

For his overall leadership and comeback effort, Estime was selected as our MVP of Week 8.

“Miche is a very disciplined kid,” Peters said. “He knows how to take criticism and coaching well. He never loses his composure. He’s just a very smart kid that has a lot of potential to be a great football player.”

Forest Hill assistant coach Dwayne McClendon chimed in.

“He’s a very high-energy kid, as you can tell,” McClendon said. “He’s young, so he’s still learning. But he’s a natural leader. He knew we had to have this game. Even though we started with Peters at quarterback, he didn’t get upset or pout. He stayed dialed in and motivated the team until it was his turn.”

Estime shared his thoughts on how he led Forest Hill (4-2; 3-0 in District 8-8A) to victory over Park Vista (5-1; 2-1 in District 8-8A).

“It’s the exhilaration,” Estime said. “It was the energy I was trying to give to these guys. The energy I got from my linemen. I was just trying to do it all for them. That’s what it is.”

Estime spoke on his team’s mission to win the District 8-8A title, which will happen if it scores a road victory tomorrow night (Oct. 22; 6:30 p.m. kickoff) over Santaluces (1-5; 1-1 in District 8-8A).

“The game is up here [mentally],” Estime said. “They [our opponents] playing checkers. We playing chess.”

PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde