ROYAL PALM BEACH — West Boca Raton junior quarterback Trey Moran accounted for three touchdowns as the Bulls cruised past host Royal Palm Beach 31-0 in a District 12-6A contest on Friday night.
West Boca (6-1) scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the contest. The Bulls jumped out to a 19-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and had a 25-0 advantage at halftime.
“We made plays when we needed to and got a district win right here,” West Boca coach Dylan Potts said. “I thought we came out and were executing our game plan. We just came out in the second half and just were not finishing the drives. We rely on being efficient offensively, and I didn’t think we were that efficient in the pass game in the second half.”
West Boca registered its third consecutive shutout on defense and fourth overall this season. The Bulls have allowed 34 points through seven games.
“Defense came out and played lights out,” Potts said. “They were flying around. We hang our hat on that unit. We believe it’s the best unit in the state.”
University of Miami head football coach Mario Cristobal was in attendance and on the sideline during the first half. West Boca junior defensive tackle Jamar Thompson and junior safety Damari Jerry both delivered strong performances to help lead the Bulls defense. The two players both have previously received offers from the Hurricanes. West Boca senior running back Javian Mallory, a Miami commit, was held out of the game due to an ankle injury.
The Bulls scored on just five plays on the opening possession of the contest. On fourth-and-1, Moran rushed for a 53-yard gain. On the next play, Moran rushed up the middle for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 6-0 with 9:13 left in the first quarter.
“It was my longest run of the season,” Moran said. “I should have had the touchdown. It was amazing and felt good to score on the next play.”
Moran fired a 21-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Billy Clancy III in the right corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 12-0 with 4:53 remaining in the first.
Junior running back Anderson Gracilien had a 51-yard touchdown run on third down to push the lead to 19-0 with 30 seconds left in the first.
Royal Palm Beach senior Raoul Brown recorded an interception in the second quarter for the Wildcats.
The game was stopped with 7:19 left in the second quarter due to a lightning delay for nearly 70 minutes.
Junior running back Quinton Miller Jr. rushed for a 62-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 25-0 later in the second.
West Boca junior Amari Ford recorded an interception late in the first half for the Bulls.
Royal Palm Beach senior running back Tyree Pearson stepped up with a long run deep into Bulls territory on the opening possession of the second half. On fourth-and-goal at the 6, the Wildcats (5-2) failed to convert after an incomplete pass.
Royal Palm Beach junior Demetrice Rolle had an interception in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls defense stepped up with a fumble recovery.
Moran connected with junior running back Jayden Lockhart on a 9-yard scoring pass with 5:30 left in the fourth to extend the lead to 31-0.
West Boca junior Delorean Airall Jr. recorded an interception in the end zone with 4:14 remaining.
West Boca will play on the road at Cardinal Newman next Friday.
“Cardinal Newman is a good team,” Moran said. “We know we have to go into this week and practice hard.”
