WELLINGTON – Through eight games in his senior season, Chris Cirillo has become the standard bearer for all offensive linemen in Palm Beach County.
The Palm Beach Central 2023 center is a leader among his peers in more ways than one.
At 6-foot-2 and 275 pounds, the center and guard has amassed a total of 58 pancakes with only one sack allowed in seven whole games. The emphasis is on seven whole games because Cirillo only played in the first half against Palm Beach Lakes (80-0 team win at home in Week 1) and Park Vista (42-7 team win on the road in Week 3).
Not only that, we have seen Cirillo’s fellow linemen on his team and other teams seek sound advice from him as it pertains to blocking techniques and being a quality lineman as a whole.
Cirillo is a three-time honoree as our New Era Prep Lineman of the Week in Palm Beach County. He came out on top in Week 1, Week 7, and Week 9.
In addition to that, Cirillo has been selected as our No. 1-ranked offensive lineman in Palm Beach County. The Palm Beach Central standout is the only offensive lineman who is in our Top 40 player rankings, as he made his debut at No. 29 overall.
How does Cirillo flatten his competition with such ease?
“Honestly it’s the looks I get in practice,”
Cirillo said. “When you go against the best of the best with Aden Haston, Augustus McKoy and Luis Saldana, it drives you. And having Anthony Terry to push me everyday is mainly why it looks that way.”
Cirillo’s best game this season came in Week 4 against Pahokee, which turned out to be a 34-14 home loss for second-ranked Palm Beach Central (7-1 overall; 2-0 in District 10-4M play). He finished with a season-high 15 pancakes.
“I knew this would be the game to let my name be known,” Cirillo said. “We weren’t in the right mindset and we paid the price. We learned our lesson. It won’t happen again. Pahokee doesn’t affect us that much only due to the fact that beating them wasn’t the goal of this season.”
But for Cirillo and the Broncos, tonight (Oct. 28) is very different.
They will be heavily favored to win this year’s Wellington Cup and District 10-4M title outright against Wellington (5-3 overall; 2-0 in 10-4M).
The kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Palm Beach Central.
“Wellington is a very well-coached team,” Cirillo said. “They look really disciplined on film and we will need to play our best to come out on top. We look forward to a very physical evening on Friday.”
This will be Cirillo’s first Wellington Cup game since he was a sophomore at Palm Beach Central. He made his return this season, as he moved to Texas as a junior and honed his craft at Denton High (Tx.).
How will Cirillo fare tonight against Wellington?
We will find out tonight.
SIDE NOTE: For his college football recruiting circuit, Cirillo has earned offers from the likes of Stetson, Keiser, East Central, Ferris State, Norwich, Bethel College, Mount Marty, Nichols College, and Georgia Christian College.
We will follow his recruiting process very closely from now until the day he decides to sign his letter of intent with a college football program.
