West Boca Raton, FL- Week one is upon us!
After trekking through an endless summer, high school football is back and better than ever. The 2024 regular season opens with a marquee matchup between the #5 Benjamin Buccaneers and the #2 West Boca Raton Bulls.
Before the game kicks off at 6:30 P.M. tonight, I’d like to take a few moments of your time to breakdown each team’s personal, and predict the outcome of the matchup.
Benjamin
Benjamin lost a lot this off-season, graduating nationally ranked stars, RB Chauncey Bowens (Georgia), DE/TE Amaree Williams (FSU), ATH Jacob Cosby-Mosley (Wake Forest), OL Chase Malmala (UCF) and DB Matthew McKenzie (Bethune Cookman) and many more. On paper, the Bucs look depleted, but in reality there’s more that meets the eye.
Benjamin is returning elite 4-Star LB Adam Bologun-Ali, alongside offensive star’s QB Jayden Vega and RB Phoenix Donghia. The Buc’s also brought in elite 3-star TE/DE Preston Douglas and multi-sport phenom LB/RB Dylan Furshman. This star power, alongside Coach Eric Kresser’s decades of coaching experience will continue Benjamin’s trend of county wide dominance.
I’m very interested to see the two-headed backfield between Furshman and Donghia live in person. This backfield has the potential to cue up an explosive play any given snap. Benjamin’s passing offense was a question mark for me leading into the season, however, Bucs’ QB Jayden Vega has taken strides this off-season, developing as a passer. I love the Vega to Douglas combo, so I’m excited to see that dynamic duo tonight.
West Boca Raton
West Boca’s a program that’s flown onto the scene. Last year, the Bulls shocked the quad county area with a breakout season, defeating some of the top teams in our area. The Bulls’ returned their core nucleus of stars, including 4-Star RB Javian Mallory, 4-Star DB Jaydin Broadnax, 3-Star QB Mason Mallory and elite EDGE rushers Demetrius Geathers and Xavier Reid. West Boca then added 3-Star WR Mark Hanniford and 3-Star DB Damon Allen to the depth chart, further solidifying star power.
Over the past season and a half, it’s been very evident that West Boca is a team to beat in 2024. Bulls’ Head Coach Dylan Potts has revolutionized the game, being one of the top young coaches in our area. Potts’ gotten the most out of his team, by game planning around the natural athleticism of his squad, playing into each athlete’s strengths.
West Boca’s modern, dynamic offense has the potential to be the top offense in South Florida. The Bulls possess a lethal running game with both Javian Mallory, alongside a methodical pass game. While most teams stop there, West Boca gets stronger, as Potts knows how to play into Mason Mallory’s potential for a dynamic QB rushing game. Regardless of how lengthy the defensive film sessions are, theres NO stopping the West Boca offense.
Analysis
I know this is a very cheap answer, but, in all honesty, this has the potential to be either one of the more well balanced games this year, OR, all hell can break loose very quickly. Each team has the star power on both sides to ignite a scoring frenzy, but also have the personal for defensive fortitude.
It’s supposed to be an ugly day full of rain, causing a very questionable environment. End of the day, I think home field advantage is a strong factor in high school sports, and there’s no team with a better student section than West Boca.
My pre-game prediction: #2 West Boca defends paradise, defeating #5 Benjamin in a nail biter.
Cover Photo Credits- Alex Muniz (@EyeDontSpeak), New Era Prep Staff
