PALM BEACH COUNTY – Just as we all predicted before the season started, the Pahokee Blue Devils were the last team standing in our area.
They were less than two minutes away from snatching a Class 1A state title game berth from two-time defending state champion Madison County.
But as the Blue Devils seemed to be on their way to celebrating perhaps the state’s biggest win of the season, Cowboys senior wide receiver Derrion Staten turned a short screen pass into an 85-yard touchdown catch, which led to the ensuing extra point and eventual 37-36 win for the home team in North Florida.
Pahokee (6-6 final record) may have lost by one-point loss to the nationally-ranked small school. But it doesn’t take away from its truly impressive effort in any way, shape, or form.
Pahokee reached the end zone five times against Madison County, four of which came from senior running back Corey Polk, who scored on touchdown runs of 80, 1, 3, and 26 yards in all four quarters this past Friday night (Nov. 29). The other one was a 68-yard touchdown pass from senior athlete Jermaine Roberson to senior wide receiver Johnny Jones.
Let the record show that Pahokee literally went toe-to-toe with the probable three-time 1A state champion. Let the record show that Pahokee deserves to finish close to the top of our final Top 10 team rankings as well.
And one other thing: Pahokee has a lot of young talent coming back next year with a solid coaching staff that’s led by first-year head coach D.J. Boldin.
Code Blue is in effect for now, as well as next year and possibly beyond.
Here’s your entire final Top 10 team rankings.
FINAL TOP 10
1. Palm Beach Lakes (10-1) [PR: 1]
2. Delray Beach Atlantic (8-4) [PR: 2]
3. Palm Beach Central (9-3) [PR: 3]
4. Pahokee (6-6) [PR: NR]
5. Boca Raton (8-3) [PR: 4]
6. Benjamin (8-4) [PR: 8]
7. Santaluces (7-3) [PR: 5]
8. Cardinal Newman (7-3) [PR: 6]
9. Palm Beach Gardens (7-3) [PR: 7]
10. Seminole Ridge (6-4) [PR: 9]
Dropped from rankings: Former No. 10 Delray Beach American Heritage (5-6)
QUICK TAKE ON ENTIRE TOP 10
Palm Beach Lakes finished this year at No. 1 because of its pure dominance in the regular season. And since none of our area’s teams reached the FHSAA state finals this year, it’s easy to justify keeping Palm Beach County’s only one-loss team on top.
As for Atlantic? There’s no way it would drop below No. 2 for at one particular reason. A 40-13 blowout win over No. 3 Palm Beach Central in Week 1 has been – and still will be – everything when it comes to how we view our No. 2 and No. 3-ranked teams in Palm Beach County.
Also, Atlantic had a much tougher schedule than Palm Beach Central. And Atlantic advances father in the playoffs than Palm Beach Central did.
Enough said.
For all the aforementioned reasons we mentioned earlier, Pahokee will go from unranked to a No. 4-ranked finish. We considered moving the Blue Devils up even higher, but this is a good spot for a .500 team that had Palm Beach County’s toughest schedule this season.
To close out the top five, we went with Boca Raton because of its truly inspiring regular season run that culminated with a late five-game winning streak and surprise 8A playoff berth.
Benjamin finished at No. 6 because of its own late-season rally. After falling out of our Top 10, the Buccaneers went on a four-game winning streak, including a 33-16 playoff win over No. 8 Cardinal Newman.
Between Benjamin and Cardinal Newman is Santaluces, which won a district title for the first time since 2009. With its inspiring run to the 8A playoffs, we decided to have the Chiefs end the season as our No. 7-ranked team.
The final two spots go to Palm Beach Gardens (No. 9) and Seminole Ridge (No. 10). Both teams made the playoffs, even as they were viewed as underrated much of the way.
Out of the Top 10 is American Heritage because it ended the season with a four-game losing streak and a 5-6 record. It’s simple as that.
