How Palm Beach Central football finally shook off Jupiter in playoff opener

WELLINGTON — In David vs. Goliath matchups, sometimes the mythical underdog indeed comes up short. Such was the case on Monday night, as heavily-favored Palm Beach Central defeated visiting Jupiter 46-7 in a FHSAA 4M playoff game.

Palm Beach Central head coach Kevin Thompson indicated before the game that he had a plan to keep his Broncos (10-1) from getting overconfident.

"We want to treat it like the start of a new season," he said. "Our guys are really excited for the opportunity. They're a good team, but we will be ready."

First-year Jupiter head coach Jason Kradman also had his Warriors squad ready.

After Broncos kicker Ethan Dagostino gave Central a 3-0 lead on its opening drive, Jupiter frustrated Broncos senior starting quarterback Ahmad Haston into two first-half interceptions. His 79-yard bomb to senior wideout Javorian Wimberly in the second quarter gave the Broncos a tenuous 10-0 lead that they couldn't extend before halftime.

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In the third quarter, however, the Broncos opened the floodgates with 30 points. The team goes as Haston goes, and the quarterback ran for a TD and completed touchdown passes to Wimberly and fellow senior receiver Junior Luby to give Central an insurmountable 31-0 lead.

On defense and special teams, the Broncos' star was senior safety Justin Bostic, who intercepted a pass, returned a punt for a touchdown, and even recovered a deep onside kickoff that the Warriors thought would go out of bounds.

Jupiter's primary offense involved junior starting quarterback Luke Douglas and his younger brother Preston Douglas, the sophomore tight end who tallied 152 yards on five receptions, including a 41-yard third quarter TD for the Warriors' only score.

Kradman praised his retired predecessor, Timothy Tharp, and called the season a success despite the disappointing loss.

"Coach Tharp built a great foundation," he said, "which allowed us to come in, add our own spin, and make the playoffs for the first time since 2004."

An offensive machine...

Rescheduling the game from last week because of Hurricane Nicole only seemed to delay the conclusion.

Jupiter achieved a 5-5 regular season despite being outscored by 20 points; Palm Beach Central averaged 41 per game and only missed going undefeated by losing to Pahokee in mid-September. If they can avoid penalties, they could go deeper this season.

With a dual-threat quarterback...

Senior quarterback Haston certainly didn't sneak up on the Warriors on Monday night, but to paraphrase a popular ESPN saying, they couldn't stop him, they could only hope to contain him.

They could do neither, as the dual threat totaled 301 combined yards after a regular season leading his team in both passing (22) and rushing (10) TDs.

And a defensive-minded coach

Thompson became head coach this season after spending two years as the Broncos' defensive coordinator. Lost among his team's offensive onslaught was the fact that his swarming defense had only allowed opponents slightly more than 14 points per game on average in the regular season.

Kradman praised the Broncos' balance, including special teams.

"They're a well-coached team," he said, "and they certainly have playmakers in all three phases."

Box score

Central — 3 7 30 6 46

Jupiter — 0  0  7  0  7

Palm Beach Central

Rushing: Haston 8-48, TD; Young 6-23, Williams 4-21, Laloi 5-41, TD

Passing: Haston 11-22-253-2, 2 TDs

Receiving: Young 1-18, Wimberly 6-146, 2 TDs, Luby 3-85, TD, Boldin 1-4

Punts/avg.: 3-31.33

Penalties: 15-150

First downs: 18

Fumbles/lost: 3/0

Jupiter

Rushing: Morgan 1-3, L. Douglas 11-17, Simonson 6-19, Jakubek 4-(-2), Williams 3-15, Furshman 1-3

Passing: L. Douglas 10-22-181-2, TD, Williams 0-3-0

Receiving: P. Douglas 5-152, TD, Furshman 1-(-2), Jakubek 1-(-4), McCain 3-35

Punts/avg.: 2-39

Penalties: 3-25

First downs: 11

Fumbles/lost: 3/1

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach Central shakes slow start, blasts Jupiter in playoff opener