Emilee's Pick 6: Palm Beach County football teams hit the road for best matchups of Week 2

OK, so season opener predictions could've been better. But hey, practice makes perfect, and that's our goal for Week 2.

Taking into heavy consideration that it is so early in the season — and this week the better half of Palm Beach County's top teams are out of town — "goal" is the key word.

Reviewing Week 1: 3 takeaways from King's Academy football's walk-off win over St. Andrew's

More Fall Sports: 'Queens of the court': King's girls volleyball off to successful start, seeking state title in 2022

Take a look at six matchups that I think will be worth spending the gas money to make it to this Friday.

1. Palm Beach Central at Lakewood-St. Petersburg

In 2021, whether Palm Beach Central could compete against out-of-county competition wasn't determined until the postseason, starting with a wake-up call win against Vero Beach and ending with a 34-0 smackdown from No. 2 seed Treasure Coast the following week.

Bad weather in the preseason took what would've been some very valuable experience against Atlantic from the Broncos. Going from playing starters for just the first quarter versus Palm Beach Lakes in Week 1 to facing last fall's Class 4A Final Four finalist Lakewood in Week 2 is ... bold.

Lakewood's Week 1 opponent was 2021 postseason contender Northeast. In turn, its 28-point shutout of the opposition is a little more meaningful than the Broncos' depth-exhibition against a Lakes team fresh off of a 2-8 finish.

With Class 4M Central and Class 2M Lakewood both returning a majority of their best talent from deep playoff runs — namely three-star quarterbacks Ahmad Haston for Central and Anthony Colandrea for Lakewood — this one will be a gritty battle.

Prediction: 28-21, Palm Beach Central

2. Palm Beach Gardens at Vero Beach

Class 4S Vero Beach's home game atmosphere only welcomes visiting wins from battle-tested squads, which means Gardens has a good shot on the road this week.

Showing guts and improvement in stopping the run since a near-victory in the preseason over a star-studded Benjamin crew, the Gators proved they can go the distance against Atlantic. Even if that means posting a comeback from being down two scores in the fourth quarter.

Deep passes from Atlantic quarterback Lincoln Graf in Week 1 were great preparation for Gardens' secondary against the forces of pro-style QB Tyler Aronson. This week, the Gators know they have to pick up the pace to get to the ball and a 2-0 start.

Prediction: 26-21, Palm Beach Gardens

3. Wellington at Martin County

Martin County's preseason brought a high-scoring shutout on Seminole Ridge while Week 1 for Wellington saw the Wolverines execute a 41-point blanking of Park Vista. However, Ridge and Vista aren't the teams they once were, hemorrhaging star players to graduation and other varsity programs.

Martin County's Week 1 win against Bartow doesn't give a good tell of where the Tigers stand before hosting Wellington this week, either. Yet, the suburban squad has allowed a total of just seven points so far despite having replaced every single defensive starter from a 9-1 run in 2021. The Tigers also traded senior quarterback Jaxon Scott for sophomore Jayden Vega.

Wellington is upperclassmen-strong but had to make some replacements on the offensive line –— arguably the strongest component of Martin County's team. Should the trenches pull through for the Wolverines' senior quarterback Ryan Anthony and company the way they did last week, Wellington will extend its undefeated start — but not without a fight.

Prediction: 21-14, Wellington

4. Boynton Beach at Santaluces

A Santaluces team that left much more to be desired still gave Boynton Beach a run for its money in 2021, falling 35-26. This year won't be any different except that Santaluces now has the coach — and the players — to put together enough scoring drives to win.

Returning brothers Bobby Smith Jr., a senior, and Bobby T. Smith, a junior, are some of the biggest threats Boynton Beach is busing to Lantana. The elder a linebacker and the younger a corner on defense, both serve as dynamic rushing scorers for the Tigers.

Should the Chiefs' defensive line continue to lock up the run game the way it did in Week 1 against Inlet Grove, allowing physical guys like Jacory Brown and Sebastien Christian limited yards, the win will be Santaluces' to take this year.

Prediction: 28-14, Santaluces

5. Benjamin at Pahokee

This should be a really good football game. But at this point, with the quarterback situation yet to be solved for Benjamin and solutions lacking on special teams for Pahokee, it could just as well be bad. Something I wouldn't have expected from this matchup as recently as July practices.

Week 1 also sent the two into their Week 2 matchup with bitter 0-1 starts: Pahokee's a blowout from Cardinal Newman and Benjamin's a crushing 24-21 loss to John Carroll that was eerily similar to the Bucs' season-ending upset from Lakeland Christian last fall.

Both region final contenders in 2021, Pahokee and Benjamin are taking the field to prove they've still got it this week. However, Benjamin's defensive performance against the run from Gardens raises concern for how the Bucs will hold back Jashon Benjamin in the Muck.

Furthermore, I think former Benjamin receiver Hardley Gilmore IV's desire to show his old teammates how well he fits opposite four-star quarterback Austin Simmons at Pahokee will be the edge the Blue Devils need.

Prediction: 30-28, Pahokee

6. Cardinal Newman at American Heritage-Delray

Newman made a believer out of me. Heritage-Delray? That has yet to be determined — and probably will be against the Crusaders this Friday.

Heritage running backs Jaxson Patterson, Tyler Gross and Aidan Howard will meet the forces of Newman's defensive line, which didn't give Pahokee much of an option to do more than pass the ball in Week 1.

Quarterback Joshua Ramos completed every pass attempt against Tradition Prep, tossing seven for 114 yards and a couple touchdowns, but I'd imagine it's a little easier to do that against a first-year secondary than a stacked one like Newman's, highlighted by four-star Josh Philostin and an under-the-radar Kevin Levy.

Prediction: 35-17, Cardinal Newman

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

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Emilee's Pick 6: Palm Beach County's best matchups of Week 2