Vero Beach football: Tyler Aronson's late touchdown downs Miami Northwestern

VERO BEACH – Tyler Aronson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:15 remaining and Vero Beach topped Miami Northwestern 19-13 in a penalty-filled season opener on Friday night.

The teams combined for 46 penalties, 358 total penalty yards and had five total touchdowns called back because of penalties. Northwestern was flagged 32 times for 243 yards and had four touchdowns called back – including two in a four-play sequence.

Aronson rushed for two scores and threw for one. He finished the game with 162 passing yards and a team-best 56 rushing yards.

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Quick takeaways from Friday’s game:

That’s a lot of flags

That’s the biggest takeaway from the game; not the contest itself or the fact that two good programs played a one-score game that went down to the wire. They may have all been good calls and it’s early in the season, so there will be some sloppy play, but that’s a lot of flags. Neither team was able to get into a rhythm and it’s understandable how frustrated Northwestern was when there’s almost a 3:1 difference in calls on the road. Bulls first-year head coach Michaelee Harris declined to comment after the game.

Aronson showed a lot of toughness

It wasn’t the prettiest night for the SMU commit, but he made big plays with his arm and his legs. He extended plays and was on the receiving end of some big hits – including a late hit in the end zone after his first touchdown run that resulted in a Northwestern ejection. He stayed poised throughout and was a key reason why Vero is 1-0.

Vero Beach’s defensive line played very well, especially edge rusher Matthew Bacon and lineman Affeon Rivers. Rivers had a pair of sacks, including the game-sealing stop on fourth down to end the Bulls final drive. Vero Beach was able to get a lot of pressure and made things difficult for Northwestern quarterback Adrian Posse.

Miami Northwestern is a very young squad, but the group of receivers they have are electric. The combination of sophomore Calvin Russell Jr. and Nicholas Lennear is going to be fun to watch for the next few seasons. Lennear scored on a 49-yard catch and run with seven seconds remaining in the first half to give the Bulls a 13-6 lead.

Vero Beach running back Jonathan Hillsman made big plays – primarily in the passing game. He caught Aronson’s touchdown pass in the first quarter to give Vero Beach a 6-0 lead. In the third quarter, he caught a screen pass, broke a tackle and raced 71 yards to set up Aronson’s game-tying score.

Vero Beach missed a lot of chances

Vero Beach made some uncharacteristic mistakes in the first quarter. The first drive ended with an interception in the red zone – after a touchdown was negated by a penalty. The second drive ended with a fumble inside the Northwestern 25-year line. Vero Beach muffed a punt, which it recovered. That was just the first quarter. Vero Beach threw another interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter that was returned for 103 yards for a score. But, you guessed it, that was negated by a flag. Four Vero Beach drives ended with a turnover or turnover on downs inside the 25-year line.

Vero Beach linebacker TJ Alford and defensive back Xavion Griffin are difference-makers. The newcomers to the Vero Beach defense had an immediate impact. Alford was all over the field, including a sack in the first half. Griffin, a Western Kentucky commit,  had an interception in the first quarter and arguably the hit of the game in the third quarter.

Jon Santucci is the statewide high school football recruiting reporter for the USA Today Florida Network. He can be reached at jsantucci@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Vero Beach football's late touchdown downs Miami Northwestern