South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Broncos put on a clinic, roll
WELLINGTON — Palm Beach Central senior quarterback Ahmad Haston accounted for six touchdowns in the first half as the host Broncos cruised past Palm Beach Lakes 80-0 in the season opener on Friday night.
Haston, a UMass commit and Sun Sentinel Super 11 selection, passed for three touchdowns and also rushed for three scores.
“We did a lot of things well,” Haston said. “Our run game was strong. We have a lot of seniors. We took that loss personally last year to Treasure Coast. We are trying to come back this year as strong as possible and stay healthy as we can to try to make this run to states.”
Palm Beach Central (1-0), which reached the regional final last year, delivered an impressive performance under first-year head coach Kevin Thompson to begin the season. The Broncos jumped out to a 28-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and held a 59-0 advantage at halftime.
“I think we did really well,” Thompson said. “We definitely have to clean up a lot of penalties in the second quarter. We preach at the beginning of the year consistency and that is definitely something we have to work on for next week. We emphasized this week getting turnovers, attacking the ball and trying to get our offense more opportunities to be on the field and that was a major point of what we tried to do.”
The Broncos scored on eight of nine possessions on offense in the first half. The starters were pulled from the game on the final series of the first half after taking possession deep in Rams (0-1) territory.
The Broncos opened the scoring on the first drive of the contest as Haston rushed up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown run.
“I always have been able to run the ball,” Haston said. “I guess I just took advantage of what the defense gave me today and that is what I am going to be doing this whole season.”
The Broncos recovered a fumble after a punt deep in Rams territory. Junior running back Leon Williams rushed for an 11-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0.
After the Broncos blocked a punt, Haston scored on the first play of the ensuing possession as he bounced out to the right for a 16-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to21-0.
Haston tossed a 3-yard scoring pass to senior tight end Christian Pickhardt to push the lead to 28-0 late in first quarter.
The Broncos defense recorded a safety on the first play of the second quarter. On the following drive, Haston fired a pass to the flat to senior running back Tyler Young as he turned upfield for a 33-yard score.
Haston fired a 15-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Nedrick Boldin to make it 44-0. Haston added a 1-yard touchdown run on his final series of the game with 3:57 left in the first half.
Williams rushed for his second score of the game late in the first half. After a mishandled snap, Justin Bostic fired a two-point conversion pass to Javorian Wimberly.
Senior running back Xavier Jovan rushed for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Britton-Lawrence Holmes Jr. and Williams both scored on fumble recoveries late in the fourth quarter.