High school football: Leonard, down 12-0 at half, roars back over stunned Royal Palm Beach

GREENACRES — After being down 12-0 to Royal Palm Beach at halftime, John I. Leonard turned it around with a 21-12 comeback win on Friday night.

The Leonard Lancers finished the season 5-5, their first .500 finish in 10 years.

The school hosted senior night to honor all those who played their last game in the black jerseys and will be graduating at the end of the year.

A testament to the seniors

“Extremely happy and proud of these seniors,” said head coach Austin Van Es.

“(I’m) extremely thankful for everything they've done. The last two years since I've taken over this program, it wasn't a smooth road. It got bumpy at times, but I'm so proud of them and the way that they fought this season, and they fought tonight to come back and win.”

Since Van Es started around two years ago, the Lancers had a combined total of two wins and 12 losses. Playoffs felt out of reach and things weren’t looking good. This year was the potential start of something better.

“A lot of our wins this year have been close, and it's kind of been a testament to these seniors. They've been battle-tested and they've been mentally tough, and they did not break. Especially tonight to come back after being down 12-0 at halftime, then 21-12 so extremely proud and excited for these guys.”

The future of the program looks promising and Van Es and his staff are excited to get to work with  upcoming juniors such as defensive end/offensive linebacker Didero St. Germain, wide receiver Kenneth Wiggins, cornerback Gabriel Thomas and many more.

“We got a good group of juniors that are coming up and we got some good sophomores that are gonna be juniors next year that have done well at the JV level. So come spring, we'll see where we're at. We'll evaluate, see if everybody looks good and go from there, but I definitely think things are going in the right direction.”

Leonard offense flips the script after halftime

The Royal Palm Beach Wildcats (2-8) were the dominant side going into the half with a 12-0 lead, a situation that has rarely occurred this season, according to head coach Chuck Kenyon.

"We had the game, it was 12-0 at halftime," Kenyon said.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot on a couple of occasions in the first half. We thought we're going to be able to come back out and reestablish ourselves after halftime, and we muffed the onside kick and then it went downhill from there. It was very, very difficult for us to rally and regroup."

"It's been a long time since we were up at halftime. So it's just a learning experience that we just went through and we're setting our sights high. We're trying to move this program forward, but at the end of the day, we got to execute and when it came to crunch time we didn't execute the way we needed to."

The Lancers took full advantage of the situation.

In the third quarter, senior quarterback Jahtavious Gayle found an open pass to freshman wide receiver Ronari Wilkins right in the end zone.

Senior defensive tackle Jahmal Covington Jr. also contributed to the score sheet with a 3-yard run to give Leonard the lead in the last minute.

"All we had to do was just stay together," said Covington.

"We've been in times like this, especially at home. We just need the offense to get rolling. Went into halftime, our coaches made some adjustments, we came back out if I (and) we shut them on a second half."

Covington talked about his belief in himself, the team and their quarterback and how hope was never lost.

"I put my hand on Jahtavious, (the quarterback), and had to trust him, man... we came back."

"We didn't give up hope. We know in the first half there was nothing but us beating ourselves. So at some point, we just had to turn it around and take what they give and we got to win."

History was made

John I. Leonard did not make it to the playoffs due to results elsewhere, but

they made history on Friday night, getting their fifth win of the season and ending 5-5. The last time the Lancers had more than two wins in a season was back in 2015-16 when they went 4-6.

The last time they ended a season 5-5 was in 2012, 10 years ago.

The defensive tackle, Covington, talked about his emotions and thoughts about his senior season at Leonard, expressing his leadership abilities and commitment to the team, even though he could've played in a different uniform.

"I could've left for my senior season and went to a better team, but you know, I wanted to prove to everybody in Palm Beach County and all the coaches watching me, that I'm a dog for real. I don't need to be around a whole bunch of athletes to do what I got to do. I'm a great leader and, as you can see, I stayed here as a captain. I lead a team of five and five. We wanted to (make the) playoffs but unfortunately, we didn't get it, but for the first time in 10 years went five and five. That's history."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: High school football: Leonard rallies over Royal Palm Beach for first .500 in 10 years