West Broward caps historic regular season; Palmetto survives Bishop Verot
West Broward entered this football season with high expectations coming off its first ever advancement to the regional finals.
The Bobcats are aiming even higher this year.
And performances like the ones West Broward has delivered consistently for the past two months should give reason to believe it can achieve its goal of truly competing for a state championship.
The Bobcats put together another impressive effort on Thursday night, scoring all of its points in just over two quarters on their way to a 35-7 rout of host Western at the Wildcats’ home field.
After starting the season with two losses to out-of-state opponents Corner Canyon (Utah) and Camden County (Ga.), West Broward (8-2) won eight consecutive games and is projected to be the No. 2 seed in the Region 4-6A playoffs.
The Bobcats are not far behind top-seeded Miami Southridge, which eliminated them from the playoffs last season.
The balance on offense and playmaking ability on defense that West Broward has shown this season has it believing this time around could be different should the two sides meet again.
“Now it’s the playoff run, we’re one and done and we just have to go 1-0 every week for five weeks,” West Broward coach Brian McCartney said.
The Bobcats got contributions from all three phases on Thursday night.
But two-way starter Amir Sears, a sophomore defensive back/wide receiver made a key impact on both sides.
After West Broward scored on its first two drives, Western (4-6) finally found some offensive rhythm and marched into the red zone. But that’s when Sears jumped the route on a deep pass over the middle by Wildcats quarterback Jack Spaeder and picked it off. Sears then found an opening and sprinted 90 yards to the end zone to give the Bobcats a 21-0 lead.
Sears then caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandin Mincy with 4:07 left in the second quarter to push the advantage to 28-0.
The Bobcats prompted a running clock at the start of the third quarter when an errant shotgun snap got past Spaeder and trickled into the end zone. Junior Marquece Sherill recovered in the end zone to give West Broward a 35-0 edge.
Mincy completed 7 of 10 passes for 133 yards, one interception and threw a second touchdown pass to Cedric Mitchell Jr. in the first quarter.
Senior running back Daquan Adderley Jr. ran for 76 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries to lead West Broward on the ground. The Bobcats were led by the combination of Adderley and Izaiah Lopez. West Broward also has junior Amos Bradford, who did not play on Thursday, but is expected to return from injury in time for the playoffs.
“Our offensive line are the leaders and we don’t even have one of our best running backs in there yet,” McCartney said. “People don’t know, but (Sears) is one of the best players in the country.”
Western’s lone score came late in the fourth quarter when Spaeder found junior Russell George in tight coverage in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Despite the loss and finishing with a sub-.500 record in the regular season, the Wildcats will try to rebound over the next two weeks as they are also postseason-bound. Western entered the week as the No. 7 seed in the Region 4-7A playoffs and is a lock to make the playoffs having won the District 15-7A championship.
Palmetto 20, Fort Myers Bishop Verot 10: With the No. 1 seed in Region 4-7A already locked up, Thursday night’s contest for Miami Palmetto against a quality out-of-town opponent was nothing more than a tune-up for the postseason.
And during the first half, the Panthers looked the part of a top seed as they dominated Fort Myers Bishop Verot enroute to a 20-0 lead at the break.
Then it seemed like the Panthers practically took the second half off as the offense never recorded a single first down on four different possessions and the Vikings started to move the ball up and down the field after they themselves had less than 50 yards of total offense against the Palmetto defense in the first half.
But in the end, led by cornerback Wynton Jones, the Palmetto defense made enough big plays to hang on. Jones recorded an interception and a late-game fumble recovery to seal the win as the Panthers finished the regular season at 8-2.
Quarterback Andre Bailey tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Butler to open the scoring and then scored a touchdown himself with a 3-yard run just before halftime. In between those two scores, running back Varian Terry scored from 10 yards out late in the first quarter.
BILL DALEY
Goleman 26, Monsignor Pace 8: With both teams having playoff berths secured, Friday night’s contest was more about trying to improve and hang on to a seed number.
Goleman’s impressive dismantling of the Spartans at Pace High School locked up at the very least a No. 3 seed for the Gators in Region 4-7A and perhaps a No. 2 spot if they can jump Boca Raton Spanish River when the official pairings are announced on Nov. 6.
Meanwhile the loss might’ve been a more expensive one for Pace as the Spartans entered the evening in the No. 7 slot in Region 4-2A and were barely behind district foe Carol City for the No. 6 seed. A win might have jumped the Chiefs and given Pace the district championship and a date with No. 3 Killian in the first round.
Instead, Pace (4-6) will likely travel to Ft. Lauderdale to take on No. 2 Cardinal Gibbons.
Goleman (6-4) dominated from start to finish, taking its opening possession and marching 62 yards in seven plays to take a 6-0 lead on 20-yard touchdown pass from Timothy Potts for Franki Sosa Jr.
In the second quarter Potts found Darryl Bell III in the right flat. Bell broke several tackles, changed direction and turned it into a 40-yard touchdown pass to make it 12-0.
Bell, a Florida State commit, wasn’t done. Early in the third quarter, he scooped up a blocked punt by Adrian Morales and bolted 30-yards for a score. He then ran in the two-point conversion. Potts then tossed his third touchdown pass of the night, a 10-yarder to Malik Meza late in the third quarter to make it 26-0.
BILL DALEY
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 11:30 PM.
