Palmetto must get by a Miami powerhouse to play for first state title in over 30 years
The year was 2011 and Xavier Williams was at Harllee Stadium watching the action unfold in the biggest game for Palmetto’s football team in 25 years.
His older brother, Simon, was a freshman and later starred for head coach Dave Marino.
Two players from that year’s team, wide receiver Shaq Harris and defensive back Dallas Jackson, are now on Marino’s staff in 2019.
That particular Friday night eight years ago saw Palmetto jump out to a 20-0 lead over Miami Norland in the Class 5A state semifinals, before Duke Johnson — one of three future NFL players — willed the Vikings to an eight-point victory with his speed and juking, tallying most of his 356 rushing yards in the second half.
Palmetto’s quarterback, Trent Miller, came up one yard short when attempting to sneak into the end zone in the closing seconds. The Tigers still would have needed a two-point conversion to force overtime, but the loss stung nonetheless, especially after Norland blew out Crawfordville Wakulla in the state title game.
“I was at a young age, but it tore me apart, too,” Williams said following Friday’s region championship victory over Punta Gorda Charlotte, when he completed 13 of 19 passes for 318 yards and seven touchdowns in two quarters of action.
“We left it one yard short and I’ll never forget it,” Marino said. “... Against an unbelievable Miami Norland team, and that’s been the mission. I still can’t get those screams and cries out of my head. These guys don’t want to leave it one yard short. These guys want to finish.”
Now eight years later, Palmetto gets another state semifinal game at home against a Miami opponent.
The Tigers welcome Miami Central, a program with five state championships since 2010 that includes four straight from 2012-15.
None of this year’s team were members of Central’s last state title squad, but the Rockets are oozing with talent in 2019.
Central has 10 upperclassmen rated three stars or better on the 247 Sports’ composite rankings. Senior defensive back Henry Gray is committed to Nebraska, while junior offensive lineman Laurence Seymore and junior linebacker Chamon Metayer are pledged to the University of Miami.
Offensively, Rockets senior running back Kejon Owens is committed to FIU and senior quarterback Katravis Marsh has 11 offers, including Utah.
Meanwhile, Palmetto may not possess all the three- and four-star players, according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings, like Central, but the Tigers do have players receiving college attention and showed plenty of skill en route to a 12-1 season so far.
Senior defensive back Daemon Hill has several offers, including Kansas State, Iowa State and Miami, and senior offensive lineman Lee Matthews also has several offers, for example.
“They have a lot of great players, but we have a lot of great players, so we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Marino said.
The theme surrounding Palmetto’s football program the past couple seasons has been the “One town, one team,” mantra.
“To me, it means it’s family,” Williams said. “... With us, we’re in Palmetto. There is no other school. It’s just us. We are ‘One town, one team.’ That just reminds us that we are family.”
That tight-knit philosophy has gelled the Tigers together for the current run they’re on. Palmetto’s 62-15 victory over Charlotte last week was the fourth time the Tigers have won a regional championship. They won their lone state title in 1975 with a 13-11 victory over Jasper Hamilton County when Palmetto was a Class 2A school.
The Tigers won their second regional title in 1986, before losing the 2A state championship, 27-21, to Jacksonville Bolles. Then Palmetto High fans had to wait 25 years before the 2011 team won three playoff games to earn a 5A state semifinal game at Harllee Stadium.
“When Coach (Raymond) Woodie brought me here as the O-line coach, he sold me on, ‘If we can just keep the Palmetto kids in Palmetto and coach them up and get them to believe in themselves, Palmetto could be a powerhouse, a statewide powerhouse,’” Marino said. “And 10 years later, here we are. That’s a credit to our kids and the family and the communities that believed in us in that vision.”
On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Palmetto’s journey back to the state semifinals takes place at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $9 per person.
The Joe Pinkos forecaster has Central as a 21-point favorite. But that, the five state titles or litany of Division I talent on Central’s team isn’t an intimidation factor to Palmetto.
“These kids have felt that pain of loss in the playoffs,” Marino said after Friday’s game. “There’s just too many of them on this team. So they’re just more determined and they’re just so hungry to get us over that hump.”
