DELRAY BEACH — In the state of Florida, let alone in Palm Beach County, very few teams have had as tough a journey as the American Heritage-Delray Stallions.

After having multiple games canceled due to various reasons, the Stallions (1-2) continued their season on Friday (Oct. 16) against Champagnat Catholic, the defending Class 2A state champions.

Although American Heritage-Delray fell 33-27 to Champagnat Catholic, it was the team’s strong second half which showed promise for interim head coach Nick Martinez and the Stallions.

The Stallions entered halftime down 33-7, thanks in large part to two early touchdowns from wide receiver Benson Prosper on the goal line. Despite the rough start, however, theybegan to claw their way back in the fourth quarter.

Wide receiver Brandon Schabert opened up the second-half scoring for the Stallions, when he punched in a designed run from the 5-yard line. Several minutes later, quarterback Dylan Rizk connected with Brandyn Butler to put the Stallions within two scores.

Immediately following an onside kick recovery, the Stallions saw a miracle put themselves with six. As Dylan Rizk heaved a pass deep, a Champagnat defender tipped the pass, which directed the ball towards Tavares Parker for a 55-yard touchdown.

The Stallions would eventually get Champagnat Catholic to a fourth down-and-8 play. But a Tyous Taylor first-down throw put the Lions in position to kneel the football and win the game.

The Stallions, who have already had one of the tougher schedules in the county, don’t get to let up yet. They will finish their regular season with games against Clewiston (4-1) and Cardinal Newman (3-2), before preparing for Avon Park in the FHSAA Class 4A play-in game.

“They have the blind pick or whatever it is. It didn’t really matter who we faced, we knew we were going to be battle tested going into it,” Martinez said about the team’s schedule.

“4A is still an extremely loaded classification,” Martinez continued. “We got a ton of teams to the south, and you got teams to the north. We’re just trying to figure out where we end up. The only way to do that is to compete, compete against these teams that are going to make the playoff runs and get ourselves ready to play these powerhouses that are playing around us.”