It took Poinciana High 16 tries to win the Battle of the Boulevard rivalry gridiron game. Friday, in the first time defending it after winning big in 2022, it used the same script to claim another win over Liberty with a 35-8 victory.
The Eagles (4-6) did the job on both sides of the ball, scoring and will on offense, and getting points off two turnovers. Poinciana even snuffed out a fake punt. The Eagles held Liberty (2-8) to 52 offensive yards.
PHS committed to winning it through the air, and Beeken put the offense on the arm of junior quarterback Cameron Brown. He responded by going 12-of-31 passing for 164 yards and four touchdowns.
"It was the best way possible for our seniors to go out," PHS Coach Randy Beeken said. "We committed to put the game on Cameron's arm, because he's gotten better and better this year. After the last few week's we've had we wanted to try to get ahead early, so then maybe we could have some fun."
And it was for the Eagles early. The were on the board six plays and less than two minutes into the game when Brown, after dropping the snap and scrambling a bit, hit Amir Alli on his first TD pass from 13 yards out. In the second quarter, PHS made it 21-0 in a span of a minute thanks to Ernest Nunn, another junior. He caught a 14-yard TD pass, then on defense returned an interception 15 yards.
"Other than that the ball wasn't coming to me a lot," said Nunn, who had another touchdown called back on a penalty, one of the only things that slowed the Eagles. "It was a season of ups and downs, but it was important for us to send the seniors of with a with like this.
On Liberty's next drive one of those seniors, defensive end Jason Batista, recovered a fumble at the 50, and it was 28-0 two plays later after Brown hit Nunn for 16 yards and Elijah Bowser on a 36-yard scoring strike.
Liberty quarterback Jeremiah Pierre-Louis got Liberty on the board in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run. He also intercepted a pass late.
And, with that, the season ends for the Poinciana communities two rival schools.
