LAKE WORTH – Park Vista escaped as Palm Beach Gardens tried to play spoiler on its senior night.
With an outside chance at the berth in the Class 8A playoffs, Park Vista had to give everything it had tonight. It wasn’t only for playoff hopes; it was also primarily to send its seniors out the right way.
Palm Beach Gardens had nothing to lose tonight, but still played like a team on a mission with its late-game heroics.
Early on there was a constant struggle for one team to score as Park Vista had a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. It came after kicker Daniel Castaneda made two field goals to give the Cobras a slight edge over the Gators.
Junior defensive back Miles Hughes became Park Vista’s catalyst and intercepted the Palm Beach Gardens quarterback with 9:05 left in the second quarter. A Hughes turnover would set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Park Vista quarterback Tyler Thomas to make it 13-0 midway through the second.
The score would also hold at halftime.
Running back Nick King would keep the Cobras rolling in the second half as he broke out down the left side line of the north end zone to increase Park Vista’s lead to 20-0 with a little over seven minutes left in the third.
It seemed as if the contest was over, but a strong cold breeze came over the stadium that seemed to suck all the humidity out of the place. But Gardens would heat things up late in the third and score on a short run by Antonio Outler to cut into the Cobras lead and make it 20-6.
Park Vista seemed to be settled and poised to have a premature senior celebration. But Outler found the end zone again late in the fourth to chop lead down to 20-13 with a little over four minutes left in the game.
The Gardens offense would get the ball back with 2:29 left in the game. After a three-and-out by Park Vista, it was Outler who broke out and ran to get Gardens within striking distance.
Cole Polnasek would alter Gardens plans as he came up with a big interception to stop a promising and potential game-tying drive.
Polnasek would come up big again with another interception with seconds left in the game as Gardens tried for a desperation touchdown pass to make it a final score of 20-13.
“It’s awesome man,” Polnasek said. “Two minutes left on the clock and they were driving down the field. I just came up and made a big play for the team. I did it for the seniors.”
Thomas would comment on the Cobras playoff hopes.
“It was a great year for us,” Thomas said. “All we can do is hope we get in the playoffs. We can’t do anything from here but wait for the results.”
Park Vista finishes the regular season at 7-3, 5-1 in District 10-8A play. Its playoff hopes are up in the air until Sunday (11 a.m.), when the FHSAA will announce the playoff seedings in all classifications.
Meanwhile, Palm Beach Gardens will not make the playoffs this year. This team finished its season at 4-6, 1-3 in District 9-8A.
