CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: West Boca Raton’s balanced approach shuts down Osceola’s one-dimensional offensive attack to win first-ever state championship

MIAMI – Chasing the ghost of the 1998 state championship team, Osceola (Kissimmee) was making their first state championship game appearance since 2020 in hopes of getting that elusive trophy. Instead, it was the first time West Boca Raton, which opened in 2004, stole the spotlight on Friday afternoon at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium.

West Boca Raton (15-0) completed a perfect regular season behind an offensive effort that did what it had to, along with a defensive effort that effectively shut down Osceola’s (12-3) Taveion Swint in a 26-7 victory to take home the Class 6A State Championship.

Here are seven takeaways from the game.

WEST BOCA STARTS HOT

The Bulls came out hot to start the game, forcing the Kowboys to go three-and-out on the first drive and very quickly in two plays when Mason Mallory found Kyle Andrews deep downfield for a 60-yard touchdown pass, and it was quickly the Bulls out front with the lead they would never lose control of, to make it 7-0 with just a little over two minutes taken off the clock in the game.

BULLS’ SPECIAL TEAMS WERE ON FIRE

The Bulls’ special teams showed up early on as well, blocking Osceola’s second punt in the game following their second drive that would set them up with great field position. That blocked punt would turn into points when John Farfan knocked in the first of two field goals of the game with a 23-yarder with 4:51 left in the first quarter. Farfan would knock in another field goal with 3:15 left in the third quarter from a 31-yard field goal. The only blemish for Farfan was a missed point after a try late in the third quarter following Mallory’s first touchdown pass to Mark Hanniford.

SPEAKING OF MALLORY & HANNIFORD (AND MORAN)

Mason Mallory held his own with 147 yards passing on 6-of-11 passing completions with two touchdowns, with one going to Mark Hanniford for 47 yards and Trey Moran throwing the 93-yard touchdown that would eventually seal the deal for the Bulls. Hanniford’s second receiving touchdown 3:19 left to go in the game is what would sealed the deal for the Bulls that would make it 26-7. That 93-yard touchdown pass also set a new passing touchdown record in a state championship game, breaking the old record of 92-yards set by Booker T. Washington in 2015.

TAVEION SWINT CONTAINED

One of the biggest factors for Osceola was going to be how well Taveion Swint would be able to run against the West Boca Raton defense. Averaging 128.5 yards per game coming into the game, Swint, who had rushed for 199 yards in the game last week against Buchholz could only muster up 111 yards rushing on 26 carries. Swint scored the lone Osceola touchdown with 4:25 left in the second quarter that would make the game the closest it would be with West Boca Raton up 10-7.

TACKLES AND SACKS… AND OSCEOLA’S PASSING GAME

West Boca Raton’s defense showed up with three sacks and held Osceola to no passing completions, which would be to the Kowboy’s demise. Jamar Thompson, Grant Edmond, and Demetrius Geathers all got sacks on Camren West. The passing game for Osceola which has been mostly non-existent, proved to be the biggest factor that would hurt the Kowboys in trying to get a second state championship.

STATS DO NOT ALIGN WITH WEST BOCA RATON’S WIN

One look at the stat book shows that Osceola controlled the time possession having the ball for more than half the game for a total of 29:32 compared to West Boca having the ball for just 18:28. When it comes to first downs, the Kowboys had 13 first downs compared to seven for the Bulls. Even when it comes down to third-down conversions, was Osceola even better with 3-of-14 on conversions compared to West Boca Raton converting just 1-of-9 third downs. However, the one stat that did align in West Boca Raton’s favor was offensive total yards with 241 yards compared to Osceola’s 17 yards.

11 YEARS FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY

It has been 11 years since the last time a Palm Beach County team won a state championship when Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) won a state championship. Some will remind us about Pahokee in 2016, but that state championship was rescinded after the Blue Devils were found to have played with an ineligible player. As such, now West Boca Raton joins an elite group of programs that have won state championships in Palm Beach County, including the likes of Glades Central (Belle Glade), Pahokee, Glades Day (Belle Glade), and American Heritage (Delray Beach) just to name a few.

WEST BOCA RATON HEAD COACH DYLAN POTTS AFTER THE GAME

BOX SCORE

Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final
Osceola | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 7
West Boca Raton | 10 | 0 | 9 | 7 | — | 26

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST

WB – Kyle Andrews 60 pass from Mason Mallory (John Farfan kick), 9:57

WB – Farfan 23 yard FG, 4:51

SECOND

O – Taveion Swint 1 rush, 4:25

THIRD

WB – Farfan 31 yd FG, 3:15

WB – Mark Hanniford 47 pass from Mallory, 0:44

FOURTH

WB – Hanniford 93 pass from Trey Moran, 3:19