West Boca Raton Snaps Cardinal Newman's 20-Game Palm Beach County Winning Streak

Five years to the day since Cardinal Newman last lost to a Palm Beach County football opponent, West Boca Raton brought the Crusaders’ streak to an end.

Between the Hashes

West Boca's defense held Cardinal Newman to one touchdown in a 24-7 victory Thursday night, avenging last season's 26-20 overtime loss and improving the Bulls to 3-0.

After a scoreless first quarter, West Boca capitalized on a Cardinal Newman turnover and took a 10-0 lead into halftime. Tristan Lamb got the Bulls on the board with a 32-yard field goal and WBR reached the end zone for the first time on a 2-yard run by Terriel Hammon, while Lamb tacked on the extra-point. Defensive back Larry Morgan added an interception late in the half to shut down another Crusaders possession.

West Boca extended its lead to 17-0 on a Trey Moran touchdown run in the third quarter before Cardinal Newman answered with a 71-yard touchdown run by Janarro Sumpter.

On Cardinal Newman's next possession, Georgia Tech commit Jamar Thompson recorded a sack that helped force a punt on fourth-and-20.

Anderson Gracilien put the game away with a 27-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, extending West Boca's lead to 24-7.

Streak No More

Cardinal Newman entered Thursday averaging more than 40 points per game during its 3-0 start, but the Crusaders never found an answer for West Boca's defense. The seven points marked Newman's lowest scoring output of the season.

The performance continued a dominant defensive start for West Boca. The Bulls have allowed just 14 points through three games, holding American Heritage to seven in the opener before shutting out Spanish River last week. West Boca held Spanish River to minus-38 yards of total offense.

Thursday’s victory carried even more significance due to the history shared between the two programs.

Cardinal Newman's previous loss to a Palm Beach County opponent came exactly five years earlier, when Benjamin defeated the Crusaders 17-7 on Sept. 10, 2021. Newman followed with 20 consecutive victories against county opponents.

The victory also reversed the result of last season's meeting, when Cardinal Newman defeated West Boca 26-20 in overtime.

This time, there was no overtime — and no extension of Cardinal Newman's streak. West Boca improves to 3-0 with the victory, while Cardinal Newman falls to 3-1.

West Boca (3-0) returns home Sept. 18 to face St. John's (D.C.), while Cardinal Newman (3-1) hosts Jensen Beach that night.

The Crusaders' next opportunity to begin another Palm Beach County winning streak comes Oct. 1 at Atlantic.

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