WEST PALM BEACH – It was simply about the best of the best at last night’s Lou Groza Award Ceremony – at least in the eyes of the voting committee.

Many at the Dec. 3 event were thinking King’s Academy would come away with at least the top award as ESPN West Palm’s Team of the Year. It makes a lot of sense, considering the Lions are our area’s only team that qualified for the FHSAA state title game this year.

But what everyone needs to know is that the Lou Groza team and individual high school football awards are primarily based on the regular season. This helps to explain why Atlantic (Delray Beach) won the year’s top honor, which is it’s second in four years (2015 and 2018).

Let’s consider these facts.

Atlantic was the only Palm Beach County team that finished the regular season with a 10-0 record. If only one school doesn’t lose a game in the pivotal 11-week fall period that counts, it definitely should count for something.

Also, our area’s No. 1-ranked public school program and repeat District 10-8A champion opened the season with a 14-0 win over fellow Team of the Year nominee and District 9-8A champion Palm Beach Central. Then the Eagles took down our area’s No. 2-ranked public school and District 13-7A champion Dwyer by scoring a 30-13 home win in Week 2.

What impressed the voters the most about Atlantic is that this powerhouse got it done with mostly underclassmen, a feat that doesn’t happen too often. This year was a foundational one, which will set Atlantic up beautifully for at least the next two to three seasons.

Moving on to the individual honors, Palm Beach Central senior defensive back and Under Armour All-American Akeem Dent (No. 1; Preseason New Era Prep Top 100) beat out fellow contenders Mark Antony Richards (Wellington senior athlete; No. 2 in Preseason NEP 100) and Ka’iir Elam (Benjamin senior defensive back; Under Armour All-American; No. 5 in Preseason NEP 100) for the Lou Groza High School Player of the Year.

Santaluces head coach Brian Coe beat out fellow nominees in King’s Academy head coach Keith Allen and Atlantic head coach T.J. Jackson for the Lou Groza High School Football Coach of the Year honor.

Finally, the Lou Groza High School Football Placekicker of the Year is Benjamin senior kicker Lowell Carr. He beat out fellow nominees Tanner Nairn (Palm Beach Central senior kicker) and Morgan Suarez (Wellington junior kicker).

The prestigious awards ceremony was held at the Kravis Centre and hosted by the Palm Beach County