Third-round playoff predictions for Palm Beach high school football

The regional final round of the high school football playoffs is upon us, with three Palm Beach County teams remaining in the Florida High School Athletic Association postseason race.

Just one team remains in the extended Florida Invitational Tournament, making a total of four games involving local teams taking place this week, all on Friday.

Last week, a pair of Cinderella stories came to an end with both St. Andrew's and Spanish River falling after historical seasons.

West Boca Raton and Cardinal Newman remain in contention as Class 1A and 6A competition ramps up, while Pahokee travels a long, long way for their rural showdown with undefeated Blountstown.

Here are our predictions for every Palm Beach County team playing this week.

FHSAA: Cardinal Newman at St. Petersburg Catholic

Friday, 7 p.m.

Cardinal Newman allowed Community School of Naples to score 14 unanswered in the first half last week, plunging their 20-0 run to open the game into some doubt.

The Crusaders then turned on the afterburners and cruised to a 45-14 win.

St. Petersburg Catholic was awarded the No. 1 seed with an undefeated record, but it's Newman who boasts a far stronger schedule and appears to be poised for a run into the state semifinals here. As long as they control the pace early, we expect Newman to hold strong as they look for revenge for last year's playoff exit.

Prediction: Cardinal Newman 28, St. Petersburg Catholic 21

FHSAA: Pahokee at Blountstown

Friday, 7 p.m.

Pahokee started out slowly against Taylor County but ended up winning behind a dominant second-half performance against the Bulldogs.

The Blue Devils likely won't have the same luxury — this is, of easily overcoming a slow first half — against an undefeated Blountstown team that has blitzed opposing defenses for over 50 pointer per game.

Pahokee will represent one of the better defenses the Tigers have faced this year, but armed with homefield advantage and coming off of a nail-biting finish down to the wire in the semifinals, it's hard to pick against them here.

Prediction: Blountstown 30, Pahokee 21

FIT: Westwood at Dr. Joaquín García

Friday, 7 p.m.

Dr. Joaquín García took care of business by winning round No. 2 against Royal Palm Beach in yet another exhilarating one-point finish, and they're now set to host Westwood, a seventh seed that has surprised by taking down two straight teams on the road.

They may have proven themselves on the road, but we think Westwood's luck runs thin here against a Bulldogs team that has elevated their game in the second half of Year No. 2 for head coach Brandon Walker's troops. This is the easily the most complete team he has had, and they should waltz into the inaugural FIT championship next week.

Prediction: Dr. Joaquín García 31, Westwood 14

FHSAA: Mitchell at West Boca Raton

Friday, 7 p.m.

We've still got one more week before the inevitable slugfest that will be the Class 6A state semifinals. And while West Boca Raton draws a Mitchell team equal to them in record, there is where the similarities between these two teams ends.

The Bulls demolished Mitchell in last year's regional semifinals by a 38-7 margin, and we're expecting much of the same this time around. Mitchell is good, but their strength of schedule remains questionable, and we simply don't believe their roster talent is of the same caliber as that of West Boca.

Prediction: West Boca Raton 35, Mitchell 7

Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Third-round high school playoff predictions for Palm Beach teams