3 takeaways: Jensen Beach football rolls to 2-0 start with win at Dwyer

PALM BEACH GARDENS — "Little old" Jensen Beach football didn't look so little against Dwyer on Thursday night, bringing a 24-10 road win from Palm Beach County back to the Treasure Coast.

The Falcons saw a similar start in 2021: a home opener dub against South Fork and another in Week 2 against Fort Pierce-Westwood. Jensen would only post one more victory that season.

That fall, Jensen went on to run through a gantlet of competition including Boynton Beach, district opponent American Heritage-Plantation, Benjamin and Martin County. On Dwyer's stomping grounds, the Falcons looked better for it.

In Week 3, Jensen returns south for a trip to Wellington, hosts Stoneman Douglas next in Week 4 and will board the bus again for Benjamin in Week 5.

"We don't dodge anybody," Jensen Beach head coach Tim Caffey said.

More Thursday Night Football: How Semaj Demps sparked Glades Central football in key district win over King's Academy

Free: Check out our weekly high school sports newsletter!

Caffey said he always tells his team, "'If you can play the Wellingtons and the Dwyers and compete on a high level,' the Falcons will be a well-seasoned team come districts."

"Palm Beach County teams are tough anyway. They're tough all the time — so for us to come out here and squeak out a win against Dwyer, I'm really happy about it," Caffey said.

Defeating that series of opponents and rolling to their best start since 2019 will demand that the Falcons rise to the competition.

Here are three takeaways from how they did it against Dwyer:

Dwyer special teams nearly spurn Jensen

Despite the 14-point margin of victory, the lead wasn't Jensen's to take until there were about three minutes to the end of the first half.

Dwyer's senior duo in quarterback Shyeia Deveaux and receiver Kyle McNeal connected for an 18-yard touchdown pass as a result of a lost fumble on a punt for Jensen, which was recovered by sophomore Xanai Scott for the Panthers.

Senior Jamari Marshall responded around five minutes into the second quarter with a 22-yard rush to the end zone. Jensen went for two, but a Dwyer sack barred the Falcons from taking the lead.

Thereafter, Jensen started making the most out of plays on third and goal — namely a one-yard touchdown punch before the half to give quarterback Gio Cascione another opportunity at securing the lead with a two-point conversion.

"We just tried to minimize the mistakes, capitalize on the opportunities and field position," Caffey said, hoping to minimize penalties during practice this week.

TCPalm Super 11's Nick Venezia hopped up for the catch and ran the scoreboard up to 14-7 for Jensen.

Speedy, physical defenders

After the half, Jensen defense emerged with a second wind and held it down for the next two quarters. The Falcons' physicality proved so damaging three Panthers were carted to the hospital, including key receiver Elijah Hopkins and Deveaux.

"Defensively, we fly around the ball. We're not big, but we're fast," Caffey said.

Three-sport senior athlete Dylan Fatovich batted down critical passes in space and the end zone from all three quarterbacks in Dwyer's rotation, made tackles for three-and-out and also caught a late interception in the fourth quarter — marking his fourth in two games.

Given his first sport is baseball, Fatovich, standing at 5-foot-10, weighing 170 pounds, runs a 6.4-second 60-yard dash. In diamond metrics, that's pretty speedy.

Carlos McCormack proved to be a "monster" on the end, playing well above his 6-0 billing. The sophomore's hits were key throughout the night, but the most vital when clearing the way to cause a fumble recovered by Julius Puryear that made Palmer's lead-stealing score possible.

Run-game primes Falcons for win

While first downs were hard to come by, the Falcons taking the only two of the first half, Palmer's efforts at chunking away yards wound up extending Jensen to a 21-7 lead.

"D.P. is one of those types of running backs that you have to account for him every single play," Caffey said.

The 5-10, 185-pound junior is a three-down back. He can block. He can catch. And, most importantly, he can run. Palmer touts a 4.44-second record in the 40-yard dash.

"He's very physical for his size. He can run between the tackles," Caffey said. "In fact, he prefers running between the tackles if you ask him."

For those seeking to take a bite out of a hot Jensen Beach in the coming weeks with a target on Palmer, Caffey warned: "We have enough weapons on the outside that if you focus on him too much, the weapons on the outside hurt ya."

More scores

Port St. Lucie 28, Chatfield Co. 17

Senior running back Saleem Felder ran for three touchdowns, including a 65-yard dash to ice the game with 2:14 remaining to lead Port St. Lucie to a 28-17 win over Chatfield Co., the defending AAAA state champions from Colorado.

Felder scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter capped off a long drive to begin the game and put the Jaguars on top 7-0.

In the second quarter, senior quarterback Santiago Rodriguez  threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to senior Robert Tatum that put Port St. Lucie ahead 14-0.

Chatfield hit a field goal to close within 14-3 but Felder punched in 1-yard touchdown run on the final play of the first half to put the Jaguars ahead 21-3.

A long kickoff return for the Chargers to open the second half led to a Jake Jones 1-yard touchdown run and Jones threw a touchdown pass to Drew Rohlman late in the third quarter to bring Chatfield within four at 21-17.

Tatum had a key interception to halt a Charger drive midway in the fourth quarter and Felder ripped off the dagger busting up the left side of the Chatfield defense after picking up a key third down conversion on the previous carry to seal the deal.

Clayton Yearby wrapped up the win for Port St. Lucie with a final interception to squash any potential late drama.

St. Edward's 40, S.L.A.M. 14

St. Edward’s senior Dylan Redmon threw two touchdown passes, ran in a 98-yard touchdown and added an interception return on defense to lead the Pirates to a 40-14 win over S.L.A.M.

After a disappointing performance in their season opener with Jupiter Christian coming to Vero Beach and leaving a 53-7 winner, the Pirates jumped all over the Cobras in their second year of playing varsity football.

Amare McCoy’s 5-yard touchdown run two minutes in was followed by a Grant Domenech 15-yard touchdown catch from Redmon to put the Pirates on top 13-0 just over three minutes into the night.

Reed Sternberg scored on a 10-yard touchdown run and Redmon connected with Sam Thomas on a 15-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

Playing safety on defense, Redmon returned an interception, his second of the game, for 23 yards and a score before halftime.

Capping the night off, Redmon gashed the Cobra defense and outran everybody for a 98-yard rumble and the senior accounted for 261 yards of total offense on the night.

Pirate head coach Rich Schofield was pleased with how his kids responded from the bitter taste in their mouths being battered by Jupiter Christian.

"Little bit better tonight but we’ve got to keep cleaning stuff up," Schofield said. "We’re getting young kids reps and we’re starting to develop depth. Just getting guys lined up, getting guys healthy, we hoped to have 42 kids to start the year and I don’t think we’ve come close to dressing that many yet. It’s a process and we’re starting to get that buy in."

Domenech and Patrick MacMullan both recovered a fumble on defense and Andre Ferguson picked off a pass for St. Edward’s.

Running back Jaelon Brinson ran in both touchdowns on the ground in the fourth quarter for the Cobras.

Emilee Smarr is the high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached at esmarr@gannett.com. 

Bryan Cooney is a high school sports reporter at TCPalm, part of the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at bcooney@gannett.com and also on Twitter at @Bryan_Cooney.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jensen Beach football rolls to 2-0 start with win at Dwyer