WEST PALM BEACH – Pahokee pulled off a 28-19 victory on the road against a very talented Palm Beach Lakes squad Friday night (Aug. 24).
Palm Beach Lakes would strike first as senior De’amante Oliver put the Rams on the board early in the first quarter.
But Pahokee would answer back on a methodical drive ending with a touchdown pass from quarterback Jason Campbell to Lavonski Williams early in the second quarter. Pahokee would tack on a two-point conversion to take a 8-7 lead.
The Blue Devils (1-0) would find their groove again midway through the second quarter and score again on a run by Ja’tarie Washington, who would push Pahokee’s lead to 15-7 before halftime.
The game began to get away from Palm Beach Lakes as Pahokee’s Lavonski Williams would find the end zone again, but on the ground this time. The score pushed the Blue Devils lead to 22-7 with 8:23 left in the third quarter.
Pahokee defensive lineman Tamarick Best had his coming out party against Palm Beach Lakes (0-1) as he racked up five sacks and seemed to be chasing the quarterback down every play. Two of his five sacks came on back-to-back plays in the third quarter.
Pahokee would let its reserves see some playing time late in the third quarter, and Tamicheal Boldin made the best of it as he scored for the Blue Devils with 44 seconds left in the third quarter to give Pahokee a 28-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Rams would find some life ealry in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by Kevon Purnell. They would add another score late in the fourth on a quarterback scramble by Jalen Hall with 36 seconds left in the game.
The two fourth-quarters scores would close down to 28-19, as the Rams two-point conversion would fail after Hall’s touchdown run.
Pahokee would take a knee to end the game.
“We played together as a team,” Best said. “They really helped me out to get past the linemen. I have to give the credit to my teammates.”
When asked what he saw on the field that made him so successful tonight, Best simply stated, “the quarterback.”
Wiliams commented on his two-touchdown performance.
“The offensive line stepped up,” he said. “We made a few mistakes last game, but we fixed them and got it done tonight. We felt like people slept on us because we lost to Park Vista last week, so we had something to prove.”
Pahokee head coach Orson Walkes was pleased with the team’s victory. But he was not thrilled as he feels the team can be much better.
The Blue Devils lost their starting quarterback to injury, which has slowed them down as they develop the backup quarterbacks.
“Offensively we want to do more than just run the ball,” Walkes said. “Defensively I thought we played well again. We will be using our bye week to get in better shape for the season.”
