The last time the West Boca Raton High football team met district
rival Dwyer, the Panthers ran on all 43 offensive plays in a quagmire
to produce a 9-0 win and clinch the District 14-5A title.
Now, after a 27-7 upset win over Fort Pierce Westwood, the Bulls
(7-4) have another crack at the Panthers, this time at Dwyer. Kickoff
is at 7 p.m.
“We know them too well,” Bulls coach Willie Dodaro said.
“They’re a dominant team. They play 11 kids and those
11 kids, they’re like a machine over there.”
West Boca could generate little offense in the first meeting, as
quarterback Robert Powell completed just four passes for 47 yards,
and the Bulls ran for only 33 as a team.
“We were both physical in that game,” Dodaro said. “They
just got a little more push, got a couple of breaks and got into the
end zone.”
But as Dodaro knows, this is a new season. And the experience West
Boca gained from last year’s playoff run – when the Bulls
made the regional final – came in handy against Westwood.
“It gave us a little bit,” Dodaro said. “The kids
were excited from the past, they gave the other kids some insight
… it’s a different environment for the playoffs.”
West Boca had a week off prior to the Westwood game, which Dodaro
said was also a big plus.
“It gave us a chance to get rebuilt, and we got fresh and
all of a sudden we had a real good practice the following week and
got ready to play,” Dodaro said.
Nowhere was that more evident than on special teams, where Dodaro
said the Bulls had been “terrible” in the regular season-ending
26-7 win over Olympic Heights.
Against Westwood, the Bulls blocked two punts that led to a 10-0
lead, and West Boca was in control from there.
Dwyer is a different matter though.
Donald Russell gained 109 yards in the last meeting against West
Boca, and quarterback Bradley Wallace gained another 73 and scored
the game’s lone touchdown.
This week, on what should be a dry field, the Panthers will get to
use a passing attack that’s generated almost 800 yards and eight
TD passes from Wallace.
“It’s going to take a whole team effort just like last
week against Fort Pierce Westwood,” Dodaro said.
This week, American Heritage-Delray hosts its second playoff game
against a familiar foe, a Dade Christian team that eliminated the
Stallions in last year’s postseason.
In the wake of last week’s 42-6 win over Archbishop Curley,
Stallions coach Willie Bueno said it didn’t matter who the opponent
was, the important thing was Heritage advanced.
But it must mean more than that to the players who were in the game
last year, in particular the 19 seniors who might be playing the final
game of their high school careers Friday.
The Stallions (10-1) have won nine consecutive games by an aggregate
408-30 score and haven’t been tested since their only loss to
King’s Academy in the season’s second week.
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