DELRAY BEACH – Earl Miller performed the best game of his senior season against his team’s toughest opponent to date.

This assessment comes from American Heritage (Delray Beach) Stallions head coach Nick Martinez, who has been impressed with Miller’s level of leadership on defense.

“He played his most complete game of the year,” Martinez said of Miller, who tallied 10 tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks, and a blocked punt in American Heritage’s 33-27 home loss to defending Class 2A state champion Champagnat Catholic.

“He consistently disrupted plays in the back field,” Martinez continued. “He spent time at DT (defensive tackle) and at DE (defensive end) and was productive at both. He did this, all while playing RT (right tackle) at a high level on the offensive side.”

Miller, who is our No. 2-ranked defensive end and No. 6 overall player in Palm Beach County, set the tone in the early going of American Heritage’s home finale against Champagnat Catholic.

On the very first play, the South Dakota verbal commit used his athleticism and instincts to take down Lions senior quarterback Tyous Taylor for his first of three sacks.

Miller touched on his performance against Champagnat Catholic.

“My performance was amazing,” the 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive end said. “I had to step it up. But there is room for improvement. I’m going into this week with the same dog mentality. I’m looking forward to putting up even better numbers.”

American Heritage (Delray Beach) currently has a 1-2 record, with its other loss coming against Bishop Verot in a 19-0 home defeat. The next and final two regular season games will be tough ones, both on the road against Clewiston (4-1) on Friday, Oct. 23 and Cardinal Newman (3-2) on Friday, Oct. 30.

“The game of football is a team effort,” Miller said. “Everyone must contribute and play their best ball game, despite someone having a great individual performance.”

PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde