Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
SEIZING CONTROL
St. Thomas Aquinas receiver Marcus Rosemy, left, catches a touchdown pass against Dwyer during the first half of their Class 7A regional final Friday night.
Top-ranked Deerfield Beach, looking for its first state football title in school history, moved within one victory of getting back to the state championship game Friday night with a 21-6 Class 8A regional final victory over Palm Beach Central.
The Bucks improved to 8-1 in regional finals in school history but have just made it to the state title game once (2005).
Deerfield Beach (12-1) will take on Miami Columbus next Friday in the state semifinals. Columbus took down South Dade, 54-28, on Friday in the regional finals.
"This is where we expected to be," Deerfield coach Jevon Glenn said. "This is what we set our sights on. We've been working at this for a long time.
"We're peaking at the right time. Obviously we've got a ways to go, but we're playing really good football right now both sides of the ball."
Junior running back Jaylan Knighton -- an Oklahoma commit -rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in the victory. Knighton has rushed for 2,045 yards and scored 28 total TDs.
The Bucks' only loss was a 38-6 defeat at the hands of St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Deerfield defense has allowed only 118 points all year.
Palm Beach Central's season ends at 11-2. The Broncos had won 11 straight coming into the game. Their lone loss previously was to Atlantic the first week of the year.