ROYAL PALM BEACH- There was a different feeling in the air tonight.
Tonight (September 21), Palm Beach Central hosted Park Vista for their 2023 home opener. Upon arriving to PBC, you could tell that the atmosphere was different from most high school games. Even over an hour before kickoff, fans were pouring into the stadium, fired up and ready to rumble. The energy didn’t stop there, as the Central players were gassed up for tonights matchup.
It was a beautiful night, the weather was perfect, the energy was high, and I was ready for some good football.
On the opening drive of the game, Park Vista struck first as Mikey Palmieri (’25) finds Devin Connally (’24) for a 15 yard touchdown.
Central’s Britton Holmes (’24) takes the return over 75 yards to put the Broncos into scoring position. Throughout the night, Holmes and fellow KR’s Ze’Quan Wright and Nedrick Boldin broke off big, shifty returns to give their offense optimal field position.
Caleb Butler (’26) and his offense capitalizes on the premiere yardage, connecting with Nedrick Boldin (’25) for a 15 yard touchdown. With 8:02 remaining in the first, the score is tied 7-7.
After two back and forth drives by both offenses, Central found themselves on in the end zone again, as running back Ze’Quan Wright (’25) muscles his way to the promised land for a 6 yard TD rush.
On the next drive, Park Vista fumbles, the ball is recovered by linebacker Mario Vitola (’24) and returned for a 25+ yard touchdown. Central extended their lead over Vista to 20-7.
The score would remain the same for the remainder of the first half.
After a low scoring third quarter, highlighted by an Ethan Dagostino (’25) 27 yard field goal, the score became 23-7.
Upon entering the fourth, the Broncos switched into a new gear. In the opening seconds of the quarter, Caleb Butler found Britton Holmes for a 17 yard touchdown to advance the Central lead to 30-7.
After a big interception by Damon Allen (’25) on the opening play of the drive, Central has the ball yet again. Allen dodged and weaved around Vista players, returning the pick to the crib, however it was unfortunately called back due to a penalty.
That did not matter for PBC, as the Broncos still put 7 on the board, when Butler finds Preston Parker Jr. wide open for another easy touchdown. On this play, Parker showed off his elite route running and ball carrier vision, maneuvering himself through traffic to the end zone.
Tonights scoring stopped there. As the clock wound down to the final buzzer, the final score read 37-7 Palm Beach Central.
Palm Beach Central (4-0) will travel to John I Leonard next Friday, September 29, with a 6:30 P.M. kickoff.
Park Vista (1-3) will host Boca Raton on Thursday, September 28, with a 6:30 P.M. kickoff.
