Unconquered: Santaluces rolls Royal Palm Beach to continue undefeated streak

ROYAL PALM BEACH – No. 4 Santaluces (7-0) rolled past Royal Palm Beach (1-7) in a 41-0 rout last night (Oct. 18).

Senior quarterback Will Prichard was a man on a mission Tuesday night as he threw for five touchdowns – four of which came in the first half.

“We came and played our game tonight,”Prichard said. “It was a really basic game for us. We knew what they were going to do and we hit our spots in coverage.”

Prichard commented on how the Chiefs are continuing to win despite the doubts about their play every week.

“Santaluces used to be that team everyone scheduled for homecoming,” Prichard said. “Santaluces is going to be a name in the county for a long time.”

Junior wideout Devon Lenor had a breakout performance Tuesday, catching three of Prichard’s touchdown passes in the first half.

“I came in thinking, ‘Play them like any other game’,” Lenor said. “Get open, catch the ball, and score.”

The Chiefs defense held the Wildcats in check all night.

Junior defensive back Amir Gibson caught an interception to end a Wildcats drive in the first half. That play killed all the momentum Royal Palm Beach as it seemed as if the home team’s offense was poised to score.

Kedrick Burley (No. 7-ranked player in the 2024 class) lined up at defensive end and linebacker for the Chiefs, as he recorded two sacks and multiple tackles to lead his team’s defensive charge.

“We got a shutout by doing our part,” Burley said. “Coach tells us every week to just do our job.”

Burley expanded on how the Chiefs defense is coming together as a unit late in the season.

“It’s really the chemistry of us having each other’s back every play,” Burley said. “People talk about our schedule. But we just go out there and beat whoever is in front of us.”

Chiefs head coach Hector Clavijo has been a key piece in turning Santaluces around from a team that only won one game last year to now being undefeated seven games in.

“The boys are resilient. They are getting better and better everyday,”Clavijo said. “I’m really excited about what’s ahead of us.”

The next game for Santaluces will be this Thursday (Oct. 20) at home against Spanish River for homecoming.

This will mean that the Chiefs will have played three games in seven days, with one day of rest in between the games against Royal Palm Beach and Spanish River.

Clavijo spoke on how the Chiefs are handling having such a jam-packed schedule.

“We haven’t had much rest time. We’re learning how to battle different obstacles,” Clavijo said. “We’re only worried about doing our stuff and executing things the right way, adjust, and play ball.”

Outsiders are looking at Santaluces’ schedule and calling it a “cupcake schedule”, which refers to it being “easy”. But not any team can go 7-0 in a regular season.

Furthermore, Santaluces did not fall victim to the “trap games”, which is defined as a good team losing to a lesser opponent because they did not take them serious.