ROYAL PALM BEACH — Royal Palm Beach junior quarterback Max Griner threw for 210 yards and accounted for five TDs as the host Wildcats blitzed Boca Raton 47-8 on Friday night.
Royal Palm Beach (5-1) scored on the opening kickoff and four of its first five possessions to jump out to a 40-8 halftime lead and coasted to the win and avenged a 9-7 defeat from last year to the Bobcats.
Griner threw three first-half touchdowns and ran for another in the first half as the Wildcats blew open the game. Griner was 8 for 14 for 153 yards and three TDs in the first half. He also carried six times for 14 yards and scored on an 8-yard run.
Griner, who threw for 2,067 yards and 17 TDs last season, has already thrown for 1,162 yards and matched his TD total from last year.
“We lost to them last year and were coming off the loss to Camden County (GA) in an out-of-state game,” said Griner. “We came out ready to grind and ready to win. The O-line blocked great and gave me time to throw the ball.
“To be honest, our offense didn’t play the way we wanted to in Georgia, and it just added fuel for us to play well tonight,” Griner added. “The individual stats will come as long as I do what I am supposed to do on the field. James (Smith) is like 6-4 and is a great athlete, so I just have to throw the ball up and he’ll go get it.”
Royal Palm Beach junior Demetrius Rolle III got things started for the Wildcats as he returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a TD and a 6-0 lead.
Griner then threw TD passes of 31 yards to Rauol Brown and 27 yards to Smith. Griner scored on an 8-yard quarterback keeper, Tyree Pearson scored on a 3-yard run before Griner hit Smith for a second time (from 25 yards out) to extend the advantage to 40-8.
Griner found Smith on a 24-yard scoring toss with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter for their third scoring hookup of the night and forced a running clock at 47-8.
“Max throws a perfect ball every time,” said Smith, who finished with four catches for 78 yards and a career high three TDs in a game. He has 287 yards and five touchdowns on the season. “I just have to go up and get it and make the most of my opportunities. We just had to work on a few little things from last year, and I think it shows.
“Our team has grown a lot, especially our defense,” Smith said. “We can trust each other. I think we can put up points, and our defense has our back the whole time.
Royal Palm Beach coach Samuel Curry said his team preaches getting out to a fast start, and they didn’t disappoint.
“That was huge,” Curry said. “We want to get out fast and keep our foot on the gas. We got the great kickoff return from Demetrius, and after that, the offense was just clicking.
“We started doing this last year and added some pieces this year,” Curry added. “Max already knows the system, and he is very smart. He knows where to go with the ball, and sometimes he is a coach on the field. We got great chemistry between the running backs and wide receivers. We have some explosive players.”
Boca Raton’s lone first-half score came on a 53-yard scoring throw from senior QB Mason Chapman to junior Geron Miller, which had pulled the Bobcats (4-2) to within 12-8 with 1:19 remaining in the first quarter. It was the first points allowed by the Wildcats in three home games this season.
Both teams were coming off their first losses of the season after opening the year at 4-0. Boca fell to Stoneman Douglas last week.
“The defense has been our backbone,” Curry continued. “We were disappointed with not getting the shutout.”