MaxPreps Student Section: Park Vista holds off Seminole Ridge

By Banel Paulinis Nov 9, 2009, 12:00am

Park Vista holds on to win 27-18.

LAKE WORTH- A beat-up Park Vista squad pieced together enough offense on Friday night to lift the Cobras to a 27-18 victory over the Hawks, extracting some revenge for last year’s 24-14 loss at Seminole Ridge.

The Hawks (5-3) have always beat Park Vista (6-2). They have owned the rivalry for years and their season depended on it this time.

Unfortunately for Seminole Ridge, after a slow start Park Vista jumped out on top and never looked back. Starting at its 20-yard line, the Cobras opened the scoring when senior quarterback Billy Perez connected with Brenden Meyers for a 25-yard touchdown catch to end the first-half tied at 6-6.

In the second-half Park Vista came out strong. Having good clock management and an impressive drive that went for 12 plays, 80-yards and was capped by a Tre Mason three-yard touchdown run.

Mason led all rushers with 108-yards rushing on just 22 carries and a touchdown.

The Hawks would answer back with a Gary Holmes 47-yard touchdown run up the middle. Holmes would later add another touchdown for Seminole Ridge. Aaron Arndt also had a pair of touchdowns for the Hawks.

The electrifying Cobra senior Demaris Freeman followed last week’s performance against Suncoast with scoring runs of three and 51-yards and now has nine touchdowns on the season.

Freeman was the star, with two touchdowns and the big interception, but coach Brian Dodds said it was a team effort that allowed them to win.

“It definitely takes a team effort to beat a quality team like Seminole Ridge,” Dodds said. “And that means you have to have key plays by key players, and Demaris is definitely one of our key players, but this game was won by the team.”

With the victory Park Vista knocked out Seminole Ridge from winning a possible playoff berth and handed them a free ticket to watch the post-season from the bleachers.

If Park Vista defeats the Boca Raton Bobcats next week they will be crowned District 8-6A champs and have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.