The Florida high school football season has reached the halfway point.
Palm Beach County programs have battled through the blood, sweat, and tears of the season's first-half competition, which has revealed surprised as well as confirmed expectations ― depending on who you ask.
Several undefeated teams remain after five weeks of play, and a host of one-loss teams are eagerly filling in the next tier of the county's elite squads.
The Post has compiled observations from the first-half of season action, including interesting storylines, top players, and our best games to watch of the second half.
Here is your one-stop shop for the high school football season as we know it so far.
Best underdog storylines of the first half
Dwyer football slowly regaining its winning form
Dwyer has won back-to-back games after going winless in 2025. First-year
head coach Remington Young, who helped facilitate the survival of Inlet Grove last year, is finding success on a bigger stage with one of Palm Beach County's most storied football programs.
Following a period of relative success with now-retired Al shipman, the Panthers struggled under the leadership of former alum Willie Smith Jr., going 3-7 in 2024 before the dreaded winless campaign in 2025 led to the coach's unceremonious exit from the program.
Young probably wasn't looking for his namesake to be involved, but is nonetheless fielding a very young team this year after an exodus of players followed the uncertainty in program direction. The coach, who was simply happy to be working with a real staff and a fully grass field, made made due with very little, and Dwyer has now found its way to back-to-back victories to even up its record at 2-2.
The Panthers may not be playing the best competition South Florida has to offer, but that matters little when faced with the immense task of rebuilding a program.
One step at a time, but perhaps this could be the start of Dwyer's return to its Golden Age.
Park Vista ... dark horse longshot or true turnaround?
Park Vista (2-2) was a team not many had eyes glued to as they entered the first week of the 2026 season. Coming off of a 4-6 season in which the offense relied almost solely on Elisha Gamble's backfield production, the Cobras have looked far more competitive early this year.
They lost a close game to a much-improved Wellington team, held a vaunted Palm Beach Central squad to just 13 points, and then opened things up on offense against both South Plantation and Coral Glades.
One has to go back to the COVID-19-shorted 2020 season to find the last time Park Vista finished in the top 200 state rankings, according to MaxPreps — and the Cobras have had just two winning seasons in that time-span.
But the numbers tell the story of a program on the rise, with a combined 10-10 record across the last two years, with this season arguably representing the most well-rounded team the Cobras have fielded in recent memory.
Gamble has been a mainstay threat in the backfield his entire time with Park Vista, but it's actually the connection between quarterback Erik Lee Jr. and receiver Justice Jones that has really brought this offense to life.
Royal Palm Beach quietly turning heads
The Wildcats (3-1) watched their season delayed with an opening-game cancellation. That, combined with significant roster turnover, led to The Post staff (and the audience) to overwhelmingly predict both Pahokee and Martin County to handle business against Royal Palm in the first two weeks.
Royal Palm controlled much of the game against Blue Devils only to lose 16-14 on a wild, chaotic 75-yard double-pass 'Hail Mary' in the final seconds of the contest.
The Wildcats could have laid down and lost motivation there, but such was not the case. Instead, the team took out their frustrations in a 48-13 beatdown of Martin County and then doubled down with a noteworthy upset against Archbishop McCarthy.
The latter of those two wins, more than anything, immediately catapults Royal Palm into a higher tier of consideration, with players like Demetrice Rolle showing up with big-time performances on both offense and special teams.
Top performers of the first half
- Nick Bothe, Sr., Jupiter: 310 all-purpose yards, four TDs; 15 tackles, including two for a loss, four INTs
- Corian Davis, Jr., Pahokee: nine receptions, 248 yards, 3 TDs; 10 tackles, one INT, seven PBUs
- Roman Driggers, Sr., King's Academy: 825 yards rushing and four TDs on 118 carries
- Ryan Ferdinand, Sr., Palm Beach Lakes: 19 receptions, 323 yards, four TDs
- Justice Jones, Sr., Park Vista: 16 receptions for 339 yards, two TDs; 10 tackles, four INTs
- Geo Quintas, Sr., Wellington: 24 tackles, including seven for a loss, four sacks, fumble recovery, blocked kick
- Josiah Rahming, Sr., Atlantic: 15 tackles, including five for a loss, three sacks, two FF
- Max Reid, Sr., West Boca Raton: 24 tackles, including two for a loss, two INTs
- Janarro Sumpter, Sr., Cardinal Newman: 503 yards rushing and nine TDs on 62 carries; two INTs
- Domenick Swanson, Sr., American Heritage-Delray: five pancake blocks; 20 tackles, including seven for a loss, two blocked kicks
Must-see games of the second half
- Oct. 1: Cardinal Newman at Atlantic (6:30 p.m.)
- Oct. 9: Chaminade-Madonna at Cardinal Newman (6:30 p.m.)
- Oct. 16: Santaluces at Wellington (6:30 p.m.)
- Oct. 22: Wellington at Palm Beach Lakes (6:30 p.m.)
- Oct. 30: Pahokee at Glades Central (6:30 p.m.)
Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County high school football: Midseason report 2026
