Miami Palmetto edges Homestead in potential momentum-building victory
Miami Palmetto has been among the upper tier of Miami-Dade County football teams over the past three seasons.
But a championship has continually eluded the Panthers.
Perhaps that is why they’ve heard the doubters this season that don’t think a still-talented squad can lead Palmetto to its first state championship.
The Panthers took a big step Friday night toward proving that belief wrong.
Led by its defense, which kept one of the state’s most potent offenses in check, Palmetto scored an ugly, but satisfying 13-12 victory over Homestead at Harris Field.
“We’ve been a really good program and the kids really wanted this one,” Palmetto coach Mike Manasco said. “I don’t know where all the doubt came from because we’re a very good ball club. I love this team.”
The Panthers have entered the past three seasons with high expectations. But Palmetto lost in the state semifinals in 2020 and has been eliminated in the regional playoffs each of the past two seasons by rival Columbus.
On Friday, the Panthers (1-0) avenged a loss in last year’s opener to the Broncos (0-1), who went on to reach the Class 3M state final for the first time in school history.
Could Friday’s win be a similar springboard for Palmetto?
“We stayed focused and locked everything else out,” Panthers linebacker Char’quez Lee said. “This is just step one and we have to get better, but we’re going to make it to state.”
Lee, a transfer from Miami La Salle, and defensive tackle Davion Dixon, a transfer from Belen Jesuit, are part of an influx of talent that has the Panthers dreaming big again heading into 2023.
Another is wide receiver Fadrelle Andrus, a transfer from Columbus, who made a leaping catch at the goal line and scored for a 23-yard go-ahead touchdown on a pass from quarterback Lucas Goenaga with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter.
Homestead methodically moved the ball into the red zone, before a couple of penalties contributed to the drive stalling and ending on an incomplete pass with 1:21 to go.
Penalties mounted on both sides, but especially for the Broncos, who committed 25 infractions overall for 220 yards.
Palmetto committed 14 penalties for 150 yards, but had only one for 15 yards in the fourth quarter.
“We were terrible on penalties and we lost our composure, but that’s not us,” Manasco said. “That’s not what this team is about and we have to clean that up. The defense was tremendous especially against a team as talented as theirs which has some of the best players in the county.”
Homestead’s Joshua Townsend completed 21 for 30 passes for 273 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Townsend lobbed a pass deep to Cortez Mills, who outleaped a defender, caught it and scampered 67 yards for a touchdown. The Broncos still trailed 7-6 after a missed extra point.
Townsend’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Gatewood James with 5:35 left in the third put Homestead ahead 12-7.
Goenaga, who only played one series in last week’s preseason win over Doral Academy, entered the game at quarterback in the second half after Palmetto started receiver Jacory Barney, a Nebraska commit, behind center. Barney amassed 51 total yards in the first half, but ran for an early 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
Goenaga completed 6 of his final 7 passes for 80 yards including the winning score. On the prior play, Goenaga delivered a strike to Cameron Sapp for 31 yards - Palmetto’s longest play of the game.
The game was delayed with 2:55 left in the fourth for about 10 minutes on Homestead’s final drive due to a disturbance in the stands. But after play resumed, Palmetto’s defense remained sharp and held off the Broncos’ last-ditch comeback try.
“You just had to know how to push and know how to finish,” Lee said. “We had a lot of transfers this year, but as soon as everybody came into this team we just clicked.”
