Week 9 football: Martin County ends Vero's perfect season with 28-21 win

Martin County 28, Vero Beach 21

From the opening kickoff Friday night, it was destined for Martin County to find a way to come out on the winning side of the scoreboard.

Recovering a squib kick to begin the game and take an early lead, the Tigers withstood a spirited comeback by Vero Beach in the second half and Pauly Boisvert’s 2-yard touchdown run with 6:25 to go was the difference as Martin County handed Vero Beach its first loss of the season with a 28-21 victory.

Martin County’s Zach Chapman picked off Vero Beach reserve quarterback Jake Whiteley with 5:07 to go and a critical 17-yard run by Boisvert on a third and eight with 2:06 remaining secured the victory.

Rochny Many started Martin County’s night off by recovering John Connolly’s kickoff and after the Tigers drained almost half of the first quarter with the ball, Dominic Lucci scored from a yard out to make it 7-0.

Vero Beach (8-1) responded right away as three passes from starting quarterback Tyler Aronson to star wide receiver Vandrevius Jacobs with the final one a 9-yard touchdown catch tied the game.

The Tigers (6-2) regained the lead early in the second quarter as Boisvert scored from a yard out to make it 14-7.

Martin County’s Antwan Mitchell intercepted a pass from Aronson with 2:08 left in the first half and the Tigers drove 48 yards and Lucci scored on a 2-yard run with 28 seconds left in the half to make it 21-7.

Aronson left the game late in the first half with a thumb injury that forced Whiteley into action for the remainder of the game.

Whiteley drove Vero Beach down on their first possession of the second half and Jaquone Jean bowled his way into the end zone from a yard out to bring Vero Beach within 21-14.

After Vero Beach’s defense got their offense the ball back shortly after, Vero tied the game up as Whiteley lofted a long ball up top to Jacobs, who made a highlight-reel 36-yard touchdown catch over two Martin County defenders to make it 21-21 at the end of the third quarter.

In the end, Boisvert, Lucci and Denzel Alexander behind Martin County's offensive line all had a big hand in controlling the tempo of the game churning out yardage and keeping Vero Beach's offense off the field and the Tiger defense forced three turnovers at critical times Friday night.

With the win, Martin County despite two losses in District 12-4S play will surely bump up in the next FHSAA RPI to increase its at-large chances while Vero Beach has to win at home against Treasure Coast to win a district title but still will rank high in Class 4S thanks to its resume from the start of the season.

Treasure Coast 40, Centennial 7

Needing a win to keep their hopes for a District 12-4S championship alive, Treasure Coast got the best punch of a city rival.

The Titans answered the bell as 26 unanswered points turned a tight game in the second half into a comfortable victory as Treasure Coast raced by Centennial 40-7 and put itself in a position to earn a state playoff spot next week.

Two touchdown runs from quarterback George Roberts III in the first half helped Treasure Coast lead 14-0 at halftime.

The Eagles (5-3) got a big play from Mason Fields early in the third quarter as he came away with a strip of the football and grabbed it and ran the fumble back for a touchdown to draw Centennial to within a score at 14-7.

After the Eagles stopped Treasure Coast on a fourth down play in the red zone, the Titans quickly forced a punt and Jamison Davis raced 54 yards for a touchdown shortly after to restore the Titans’ two-score edge with 3:11 left in the third quarter.

Treasure Coast faced a fourth and 11 to start the fourth quarter from the Centennial 31-yard line and the Titans made a perfect play call as Roberts hit Emonte Brown on a swing pass and the senior went in untouched to make it 28-7.

Shomari Pettigrew added a 49-yard scamper for a score and Jahari Grant returned a fumble forced by Christian Ware-Terry 15 yards for a touchdown to help the Titans improve to 3-4 on the season.

With a road trip to Vero Beach next, Treasure Coast head coach Irv Jones knows an angry team will be waiting on the other side after last year’s 42-21 win by the Titans to earn the district title and Vero coming off their first loss of the season falling 28-21 on the road at Martin County Friday.

"I expect to see the best Vero in a few years regardless of what happened to them tonight," Jones said. "Being that we won last year, Lenny (Jankowski) is going to have those guys coached up. He’s a great coach and it’s a great program so we’ve got to make sure we’re up to the task."

John Carroll Catholic 48, Victory Christian 20

Dawson Maehl threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns and Tony Colebrook added three rushing touchdowns and finished the night with 185 yards on the ground to lead the Rams to an impressive win at home.

Colebrook scored on a 1-yard run and a 12-yard run, Josh Reynolds added a 1-yard touchdown run and Maehl scored on a 5-yard keeper to give John Carroll a 27-13 halftime lead.

Rashad Orr scored on an 85-yard run to begin the second half for the Storm but the Rams (6-1) answered as a long pass play from Maehl to Aidan Singleton on the next possession set up Colebrook to score from three yards out putting John Carroll back up two scores.

Anthony Ferraro recovered a fumble for the Rams on Victory Christian’s next drive and to begin the fourth quarter, Maehl hit Marion Frederick on a 35-yard touchdown pass on fourth down that all but sealed a win for the Rams.

Maehl connected with Singleton on a 93-yard touchdown pass in the final minutes and for the night, Singleton finished with 189 yard receiving yards.

Jensen Beach 35, Sebastian River 0

Dennis Palmer, Jr. scored three rushing touchdowns and Dylan Fatovich grabbed two touchdown catches from Gio Cascione to send the Falcons to a shutout win at home.

Jensen Beach ran out to a 28-0 halftime lead with Palmer scoring all three of his touchdowns in the first half.

The Falcons improved to 7-1 and have won three straight games entering a road matchup at Bayside in Week 10.

Fort Pierce Central 19, Fort Pierce Westwood 18

Showdown 43 provided another classic as a stop by Fort Pierce Central’s defense on a two-point conversion with 3:44 remaining proved to be the difference in a second consecutive 1-point win for the Cobras.

After Todd Jackson connected with Jaylyn Monds on a 7-yard touchdown pass to bring the Panthers within a point, Fort Pierce Central’s Devyn Ingle, who earned a safety for the Cobras in the first half, hit Jackson as he threw towards Monds in the end zone and the pass fell incomplete.

Malankov Daceus scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter that gave the Cobras (2-6) a 19-12 lead that they were able to hang on to.

Fort Pierce Central held a 10-0 lead thanks to a 6-yard rushing touchdown from Jemar Paul and a 34-yard field courtesy of Tyler Patterson.

Fort Pierce Westwood’s Amar Reynolds was the beneficiary of a fumble return in the end zone that gave the Panthers (5-3) their first points midway through the second quarter.

Jackson scored on a 2-yard run that tied the game at 12 on the first play of the fourth quarter for the Panthers.

Port St. Lucie 14, South Fork 0

Two touchdown runs by senior Saleem Felder in the first quarter and five takeaways from the defense propelled the Jaguars to their second straight victory.

Gervon Desire, Clayton Yearby, Chris Findlator and LJ Lane all had an interception for Port St. Lucie, who pitched its second straight shutout.

The Jaguars improved to 4-3 and host Fort Pierce Westwood next week for homecoming.

Master's Academy 36, The Classical Academy of Sarasota 16

Thursday's results

Palm Beach Christian Prep 42, St. Edward’s 0

Omar Armstead had a touchdown run and a touchdown pass to help the Saints race out to a 28-0 halftime lead that they built upon in a convincing shutout win on the road in Vero Beach.

Jadarius Patterson took back an interception for a touchdown to put the Saints (5-1) ahead early in the first quarter.

The Pirates (3-4) will await their placement in the SSAC postseason brackets with first-round play beginning next week.

Jupiter Christian 56, Tradition Prep 0

Gideon Douglas had two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to send the Eagles (5-3) on their way to a shutout win.

Alex Rosario added a rushing touchdown and quarterbacks Champ Smith and Joel Sacerio added touchdown passes as Jupiter Christian built a 34-0 lead at halftime.

Camaree Willis added an interception return for a touchdown for the Eagles.

The Pirates will await their placement in the SSAC postseason bracket and will play their first playoff game in program history next week.

Lake Placid 22, Okeechobee 16

Three touchdown runs by Keveon Mason, including one on the last play of the game send the Dragons to a thrilling home victory.

A low-scoring game at halftime with Lake Placid up 8-0 turned into a nail-biter late.

Michael Burgarelli threw a touchdown to Devin Louis and Carriss Chisolm-Johns scored a touchdown on the ground to help Okeechobee tie the game late in the second half.

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 Treasure Coast Newspapers: Week 9 football: Martin County ends Vero's perfect season with 28-21 win