'Unstoppable': FSU commit Jayden Parrish, Atlantic football overcome Palm Beach Gardens

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Another overtime thriller nearly marked this year's Week 1 meeting between Atlantic and Palm Beach Gardens, but the Eagles pulled out a 21-14 win to claim bragging rights with about 40 seconds on the clock on Friday.

Before the season began, first-year Atlantic coach Jamelle Murray had one request of his players for when the game was on the line.

"No matter what we do, just don't lay down. If we come out on the losing end, but we don't lay down, I'm still proud of you," he said.

"That's how it happens sometimes, but these kids, they competed all night."

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Murray commended coach Tyrone Higgins and the Gators, whose defense proved why it reached 2022's Class 4M region finals against Palm Beach Central for all four quarters.

A carry into the end zone from Gardens senior ATH Keyon Stephens saw the Gators tie Atlantic at 14 points with a little over three minutes to the horn. Just before halftime, the Eagles held an unanswered two-score lead — until FAU safety commit Mike Wright III made a play on offense to put Palm Beach Gardens on the board.

The not-so-sudden turn of events was one Atlantic seniors like Jayden Parrish know all too well.

"We was up on them two years in a row and they took it from us," Parrish said of Gardens. "I was just saying in my head that I couldn't let them take this from us again."

How did the Eagles flip the script to come out of the Swamp with their first regular-season dub? Find out below.

Game-changing play comes late for Atlantic

Palm Beach Gardens struggled to find the answer for former QB1 Brand Campbell, now playing at Wabash on Friday. The Gators alternated between expected starter and Forest Hill senior transfer Miche Estime and freshman Jordan Johnson for the majority of the game until opting to let Stephens take a snap, which resulted in Gardens' game-tying score.

On the next drive, a Gardens pass thrown straight into traffic grazed the glove of senior linebacker Marlon Huff —who had an impressive first-half fumble recovery that led to Atlantic's first score of the night — and blazed into the unintended arms of Eagle senior Jadarius Patterson at the 40-yard line.

Murray described the reaction of Atlantic's sidelines pretty simply:

"Thank you."

QB Lincoln Graf locks in and moves chains

Quarterback Lincoln Graf and the Eagle offense took the field with just 37 seconds on the clock to put together the game-winning drive.

Anything in the air was a risk against Gardens three-star safeties Wright and Caleb Chamberlin, an Air Force commit. Moving on the ground was possible but no easy task against Gardens, strong and quick to the sack on Friday, although undersized.

"He didn't play his best game, but toward the end of the game, that's when he showed up and that's what really mattered," Parrish said of Graf.

Murray doubled down on the junior's resilience. "Lincoln's a competitor. He competes in anything possible. If it's tying his shoes, he'd compete at it," he said.

A pair of deep connections found sophomore James Jones and senior Jaden Williams, plotting Atlantic in the red zone. On the next and final down, Graf handed it off to Parrish for a break into the end zone and a roar of cheers from stands of Atlantic fans who had been waiting years to give it to Gardens since their last win in 2016. With eight seconds to the horn, the game belonged to the Eagles.

"One thing about Lincoln Graf, you can knock him down a lot of times, but he's still going to get up and give you his all," Parrish said. "That's what he did today."

Florida State commit Jayden Parrish closes night of complete domination

Parrish's game-winning touchdown marked his third of the night. Had offensive holding not been called on an 80-yard house call in the third quarter, the Florida State commit would've had four scores.

"I ain't see no safety in the back. I know nobody can't tackle me one-on-one and I know I had to put my team on my back, so that's what I did," Parrish said.

"He keeps showing us that he has more," Murray said of Parrish. "Every time you see him — you think he's reaching that ceiling, he just shows you that the ceiling keeps getting higher and he performs in that moment. Jayden's been doing a good job of that since he was a kid."

Parrish believed the last time he scored that much was during his Little League days. Last fall, recording eight touchdowns on 35 touches for 139 rushing yards, his best scoring performance — two end-zone trips — came in Atlantic's 30-28 loss to North Miami Beach.

All of the 2024 recruit's shine on offense didn't distract from his efforts on defense, either. Parrish, the nation's No. 63 linebacker prospect billed at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, wreaked havoc on Gardens at the line of scrimmage.

"I've just got a passion for the game. I love the game. I play the game for a reason. That's pretty much what's different about me," Parrish said.

But he had one very important thing to add.

"And I hate losing."

Want to see more of Atlantic vs. Palm Beach Gardens?

Make sure to check out the Post's gallery of shots from the game!

Emilee Smarr is the high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FSU football commit Jayden Parrish, Atlantic overcome Palm Beach Gardens