Palm Beach Central football may have catapulted themselves back into the playoff conversation by taking down an Ocala powerhouse program.
Quarterback Chance Routson ran for three touchdowns, including the finals score and the ensuing two-point conversion to help the Broncos stun Vanguard 29-28.
“It was a Friday night classic,” Palm Beach Central head coach Kevin Thompson said.
The teams traded scores throughout the game, with Palm Beach Central (4-4) matching the Knights (6-2) blow for blow.
Vanguard scored for the final time with three minutes left in the game, leading to the Broncos’ game-winning drive that featured a decisive play call on 4th-and-goal from the four-yard line with just 25 seconds left in the game.
“We ran an A-lead, basically a quarterback lead, and the running back led us up in the hole on fourth-and-4, and he found a hole,” head coach Kevin Thompson said. “[Chance] went straight and scored. And for the two-point conversion, we ran a jet sweep, where it looked like he was going to hand it off, but he kept it and ran it in.”
The gutsy call to go for the 2-point conversion came down to a lot of factors — pace of game and momentum chief among them. But in addition to wanting the game to be decided by his offense, Thompson cracked a joke about where the game was being played.
“That was so we didn’t have to go to overtime,” Thompson said. “Ain’t nobody want to stay in Ocala longer than they have to.”
In addition to three rushing touchdowns by Routson, Travis Jackson ran a kickoff back for a score as well, helping Central keep pace as they battled back for the go-ahead score.
Vanguard graduated a number of Division I talents last year but the program has effectively reloaded, setting up a difficult matchup for Friday. Prior to Friday’s loss to Central, Vanguard had lost just one game all year, a one-score Week 1 defeat to Buchholz.
For Central, the statement victory will likely stand out in the playoff rankings as brackets are finalized in the coming weeks ahead of the regional tournament, and it’s also a program win that stands out as its own success story.
“It was a huge,” Thompson said. “It’s a big, big program win. It’s not just about this year or playoff wins, it’s huge for our program because Vanguard is a traditional power.”
It also keeps the winning streak alive. After a slow start to the year, the Broncos have now reeled off three straight wins, and all of a sudden no one wants to face a resurgent Central squad.
Part of Central’s newfound success has come via the legs of Routson, rather than just his arm. In addition to scoring three touchdowns on the ground on Friday night, the senior quarterback has been among the leading rushers for the Broncos in each of the last three games.
“We decided to run a little bit more,” Thompson said. “We explained to him, ‘You’ve got to take what they’ve giving you.’ If they’re playing two high safeties and dropping off, just take what they’re giving you. If it’s a wide box, take off running. Get what you can and keep the chains moving.”
The difference has been one of mindset, Thompson said, a shift in momentum that started during the bye week this year.
“We had to keep preaching that winning is hard,” Thompson said. “Winning is purposeful. After the bye week, a lot of guys we’re like, ‘Man, we’re not going out like this. We might be losing, but we’re not losers.'”
Far from it, and because of the turnaround continuing this week in Ocala, Friday night’s long ride home for the Broncos will be filled with high spirits and maybe — just maybe — some playoff hope.
Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: How Palm Beach Central football escaped Ocala with a last-minute win over Vanguard
Reporting by Alexander Peterman, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
