Miami Palmetto outlasts gritty Goleman to advance to state semifinals
A week after overcoming a longtime nemesis, Miami Palmetto’s coaches were weary of having a letdown against Goleman, an opponent in the midst of a historic season for its program.
The Panthers took heed, scoring the game’s first 28 points.
But the real lesson came when the upstart Gators punched back and entertained the thought of a massive comeback.
Palmetto, though, has learned to handle any situation during its own remarkable 2025 season as it outlasted Goleman for a wild, 65-41 win in the Region 4-7A final on Friday night at Tropical Park.
“We knew they weren’t going to stop fighting and luckily we can score with this team,” Palmetto coach Mike Manasco said. “Our offense looked great aside from a few turnovers, and special teams came up with two big touchdowns, which was great to see.”
The Panthers (11-2) advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since the 2020 shortened season due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Palmetto will next have to travel, very likely, to Vero Beach for the state semifinal next Friday. The final state semifinal pairings will be announced on Sunday morning by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
For the Panthers, whose advancement to the state’s final four this time around was even more challenging, and included a convincing win over longtime rival Columbus, the victory was gratifying.
“It means everything and the culture of our program is working and means a lot,” Manasco said. “Tonight was wild. I don’t think anyone expected 106 (combined) points, I mean, Good Lord. And I’m a defensive guy so yeah, this is gonna be terrible for me to go back and watch. But (Goleman coach) Ariel (Cribeiro) and those guys did a great job and they had a great season.”
The Gators (8-5) had never played in a regional final and were coming off back-to-back playoff wins in the same season for the first time.
At first, they looked like a team, which had never made it that far.
Palmetto took advantage of a pair of Goleman special teams miscues to build a 28-0 lead after the first quarter.
After Andre Bailey’s 53-yard touchdown pass to Connelius Miller Jr. opened the scoring, a high snap on a Gators’ punt gave the Panthers the ball at the Goleman 15 and set up Aiden Butler’s 15-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Butler finished with four rushing touchdowns overall and ran for 220 yards on 16 carries.
After Butler scored again on a 48-yard run down the sideline, Goleman punted once more. This time the ball took a high bounce at its own 35 and Braylen Green snared it on the run and returned it for a touchdown.
But instead of collapsing and allowing Palmetto to increase its lead to 35, which would have prompted a running clock in the second half, the Gators battled.
Timothy Potts threw three of his six touchdown passes in the second quarter including a 35-yard connection with Florida State commit Darryl Bell III to cut Palmetto’s lead to 35-21 at the break.
Potts threw for over 400 yards and one interception to lead the Gators offense.
But Goleman’s special teams let it down again in the second half. Another errant long snap allowed Palmetto to take possession at the Gators’ 17, leading to a field goal and a 38-21 lead.
And still, Goleman remained resilient, cutting the deficit to 38-27 on a Potts 25-yard touchdown pass to Adrian Atoa, who finished with over 100 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
But Palmetto sealed the outcome with a run of 21 more points.
Butler’s 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter was followed by another costly special teams mistake when Bell III hurled a lateral on a kickoff return that was picked off by Kevin White and returned 10 yards for a touchdown. Butler’s fourth and final score from 35 yards out gave Palmetto a 59-27 edge.
