Seven from county reach second round

It’s Park Vista vs. Atlantic, PB Central vs. Davie-Western after upsets shake Class 8A.

Out of 13 Palm Beach County teams competing for a Florida High School Athletic Association state title, seven survived the first round.

Here are the County teams still alive in the playoffs:

Park Vista: Beat Miramar 28-20.

Palm Beach Central: Beat Seminole Ridge 32-0.

Atlantic: Beat Plantation 29-14.

Dwyer: Beat Mater Academy 43-13.

Oxbridge Academy: Beat King’s Academy 42-7.

Benjamin: Beat Homestead-Everglades Prep 43-6.

Pahokee: Beat Williston 41-17.

With seven Palm Beach County teams still alive, that’s two more than last year. Part of that may have to do with the lack of area matchups in the first round, but it also has to be a testament to the teams coming out of Palm Beach County this year. We’ll see how many get through to the third round.

Our four takeaways:

1. Park Vista gets huge win: The Cobras were bigtime underdogs going into the playoffs. They had to travel to south Broward County and face Miramar, a team coming off a huge win against Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas. Most people didn’t give them much of a chance ( Jodie and I predicted they would lose by 20 and 18 points, respectively).

Instead, the Cobras shocked South Florida high school football with the victory. It’s a massive win for the program, which has had trouble winning in the playoffs. Entering Friday’s game, Park Vista had gone 2-9 in playoff games, with both of those wins coming 10 years ago. But this time the Cobras proved they belong in the postseason.

2. King’s Academy gets overwhelmed: The Lions have played excellent football the past two seasons, winning 20 consecutive games before falling to Benjamin last week. They earned the chance to play Oxbridge now that they are eligible for an FHSAA title again.

Friday’s game showed why King’s originally moved to an independent conference. The Lions stuck with the ThunderWolves briefly before Oxbridge’s talent took over.

3. Everyone runs for Pahokee: The Blue Devils’ offense this season has been based around running the ball. Jatarie Washington has been the premier back this year. He showed off in last week’s Muck Bowl, scoring the game-winning touchdown and rushing for more than 200 yards. But he missed Friday’s game with an injury.

Sophomore TaMichael Boldin stepped up and ran for 188 yards. Earlier in the year, in a similar situation against Boynton Beach, junior LaVonski Williams did the same thing. Pahokee has several players who can carry the team on the ground, and that could pay off during its postseason run.

4. Wacky Class 8A: Nothing is going according to plan in this corner of Class 8A. In addition to Park Vista’s upset of Miramar, Davie-Western took down No. 1 Deerfield Beach 20-17.

This could prove huge for Palm Beach County teams, as the baddest 8A teams on the block are both eliminated. Now it’s assured that a local team will make it to the regional finals. Atlantic and Park Vista will duke it out Friday on their side of the bracket, while Palm Beach Central will play Davie-Western.

While I am sure Western won’t be an easy team to beat, I imagine the Broncos are happy they don’t have to face an extremely talented Deerfield Beach team. How did Jodie do? Record: 10-1.

Best pick: Once again, Jodie picked right in the sole game we differed on, predicting that Atlantic would take down Plantation. How did Adam do? Record: 9-2.

Best pick: I had Chaminade-Madonna putting up 38 on American Heritage, which it did, but I also had the Stallions scoring a pair of touchdowns, which they did not.