Week 9: Fort Pierce Westwood, Jensen Beach and South Fork rally to earn wins

Fort Pierce Westwood 20, Fort Pierce Central 13

In desperate need of a victory to end a skid and improve its postseason hopes, Fort Pierce Westwood buckled down when needed the most.

A late interception by Braylon Vincent and a rushing touchdown by the Panther senior two-way standout secured a 20-13 victory in Showdown 44 for the Panthers.

In a matchup of Fort Pierce's public schools who each have shown glimpses of strong play against quality opponents, it was the Cobras (2-6) who entered on a four-game losing streak that grabbed control of the game in the first half.

A touchdown run from quarterback Anthony Lamattina to open the scoring early in the second quarter put Fort Pierce Central on top 6-0 and Lamattina threw a touchdown pass to Chauncey Williams later in the quarter extending the Cobras' lead to 13-0.

The Panthers (5-3) struck right before halftime as EJ Weathers and Jaylyn Monds connected for a badly needed touchdown as Fort Pierce Westwood trailed 13-7 at halftime.

Weathers and Mike Bell connected on a highlight-reel touchdown to give the Panthers the lead in the third quarter as Bell made a difficult catch in the end zone with a Cobra defender all over him.

Still holding a slim 14-13 lead, Fort Pierce Westwood held on a fourth down at their own 40-yard line with 4:48 remaining.

The Cobras managed to get the ball back for one final salvo but Vincent's interception set up Fort Pierce Westwood with a short field that the senior converted to put his team ahead 20-13 and a last-ditch effort by Fort Pierce Central was stopped by the Panthers.

Jensen Beach 40, Sebastian River 14

Twenty-four unanswered points in the second half helped Jensen Beach dig out of a halftime deficit to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Jonny Ahern threw for a touchdown and ran for another, Dominic Duran had a 40-yard touchdown run and Dylond Holmes scored on an 8-yard run to lead the offensive performance on the night for the Falcons.

Easton Scott returned an interception for a touchdown, Cordell Wilkins also grabbed an interception and Gavin Harte booted through a pair of field goals for Jensen Beach.

Buddha James scored in the first half to put Sebastian River up 7-0 at halftime.

Tromance Smith scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter that made it a 24-14 game but Jensen Beach's defense was up to the task to earn the road victory.

John Carroll Catholic 41, Victory Christian 31

Jaydien Pittman scored on a pair of long touchdown runs and took a kickoff back 81 yards for a touchdown and Jaden Mackey had a 55-yard touchdown catch and a 43-yard touchdown run as the Rams upset the Storm on the road in Lakeland.

John Carroll was coming off a disappointing 49-6 loss to Cardinal Mooney last week that decided the District 6-1S title but the Rams led nearly from start to finish against a Victory Christian team that upset Lakeland Christian on the road in Week 8.

After the Storm hit a field goal to go up early, Pittman gave the Rams a 6-3 lead with a 34-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

John Carroll hit on a trick play to make it 13-3 as Jacob Morales threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Smith off a reverse midway through the second quarter.

Leading 13-10 at halftime, the Rams struck on a 55-yard connection from Shea Harnett to Mackey midway through the third quarter to make it 20-10.

After Victory Christian cut the lead back to three late in the quarter, Pittman took the ensuing kickoff right up the heart of the Storm's coverage 81 yards to give the Rams a 26-17 lead.

Victory Christian again had an answer scoring a touchdown to cut the lead to 26-24 but Pittman made another highlight-reel play taking a handoff, cutting to his right and running past the Storm defense for 54 yards to give the Rams a 33-24 lead through three quarters.

John Carroll's Ivan Kelly recovered a fumble as the Rams (3-6) got a stop with Victory Christian driving early in the fourth quarter and Smith came away with an interception to thwart another Storm drive.

Mackey secured the victory with a 44-yard scamper for the Rams, who will likely need a win at home next week against True North to have a shot at an at-large berth for the state playoffs.

South Fork 36, Port St. Lucie 27

Omar Mejia ran for 141 yards and three touchdowns and added a receiving touchdown as the Bulldogs rallied in the second half to earn a home victory.

South Fork turned the ball over on its first three possessions of the game and the Jaguars held a 13-8 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs got the ground game working and for the night rushed for 282 yards as a team with Jannaro Sumpter going for 133 yards and scoring on a 43-yard touchdown run.

Maddox Weiner filled in at quarterback on the night and threw a touchdown and defensively, Santiago Milan-Copete had a sack and a fumble recovery and James Henry collected three sacks for South Fork.

Okeechobee 40, Lake Placid 13

Carriss Johns and Ni'Marion Bryant each scored two rushing touchdowns as the Brahmans blew the open game in the second half to improve to 5-3 on the season.

Master's Academy 74, Classical Academy of Sarasota 21

Caleb Cotton accounted for seven touchdowns with five through the air to send the Patriots to 8-0 on the season.

Dalton Tedder had three touchdown catches for Master's Academy and David Ott along with Aidan Vitale added touchdown grabs on offense. Vitale also scored on a rushing touchdown.

Tedder added an interception he returned for a touchdown and Isiah Williams also came away with an interception on defense and Christian Marques returned a punt for a touchdown on special teams for the Patriots.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Westwood, Jensen Beach, John Carroll and South Fork earn Week 9 wins