DELRAY BEACH – Atlantic running back Omari St. Fort ripped off runs of 7, 26 and 28 yards on the Eagles’ first three plays in Friday’s home game against Blanche Ely.
St. Fort had 97 yards at the end of the first quarter and scored on three of his last four carries. And the 6-foot-1, 186-pound junior may just be getting started.
The list of seven NCAA schools that have offered St. Fort scholarships is likely to grow, especially with more performances like his eight-carry, 110-yard night as Atlantic rolled past Blanche Ely 47-0.
St. Fort upped his season total to 362 yards as the Eagles moved to 4-0 for the season with a dominant showing on both sides. Quarterback Pedro Martinez hit wide receiver Mark Hanniford with a 48-yard touchdown pass on Atlantic’s first play of the second half for a 41-0 lead and a running clock for the rest of the game.
“What I can bring is speed and quickness and my athleticism,” St. Fort said. “Playing on this offense is really great. I love the coaching staff, I love the players. Everybody just pushes each other harder.”
St. Fort listed UCLA and South Florida among those schools which had offered, along with Central Florida, which just offered this week.
“This has been a big week for (St. Fort),” Eagles coach Jamelle Murray said. “He lost his grandmother a few days ago, so he was a little emotional about that. But that kid, he works hard every day and what we saw tonight, we saw Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in practice.
“His work ethic. He really works. He does well in the classroom. And when he comes out here he makes the plays. Those runs we’ve seen tonight, we’ve been seeing that the past few weeks. He’s being coached up and he’s learning and getting better day after day. It’s amazing to see him do it on Friday nights.”
Atlantic is averaging 41.5 points a game and has topped 40 points in all but one game.
Left tackle Sean Mitchell enjoys what he and fellow linemen Trevor Wellington Jr., Jayden Polissaint, Jermaine Jean-Louis and Terry Cellamy can provide for St. Fort, Martinez and the offense.
“It feels great. I love the running game. I’ve been dreaming about this,” Mitchell saidl “I love that we run the ball well and I can’t wait to see more of what we do this season.
“(St. Fort) is very quick and explosive. He brings a lot to the offense and he’s just going to get better each week.”
Martinez feels like St. Fort’s running complements the passing game well.
“He brings a lot of depth to our offense,” Martinez said. “Our pass game is lethal, but you can’t dial in on that because you have to worry about our running game. He’s very fast.”
St. Fort only failed to gain on one running attempt and had three carries of more than 25 yards.
“I couldn’t really do it without (my teammates),” he said. “They really help me out.”
Atlantic 47, Blanche Ely 0
Blanche Ely — 0 0 0 0 – 0
Atlantic — 21 13 7 6 – 47
First quarter
- Atl–Martinez 14 run (Jean-Louis kick), 10:25.
- Atl–St. Fort 33 run (Jean-Louis kick), 4:44.
- Atl–St. Fort 9 run (Jean-Louis kick), 0:13.
Second quarter
- Atl–Terry Gammage 26 interception return (kick failed), 10:07.
- Atl–St. Fort 13 run (Jean-Louis kick), 3:28.
Third quarter
- Atl–Hanniford 48 pass from Martinez (Caporizo kick), 9:27.
Fourth quarter
- Atl–Jones 9 pass from Tyrelle Gammage, 0:00.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Blanche Ely: Smith 2-23, Louis 7-19, Harris 8-10, Thurston 1-minus 1. Totals: 21-47. Atlantic: St. Fort 8-110, Martinez 3-35, Hughes 1-minus 2. Totals: 12-143.
PASSING–Blanche Ely: Louis 8-16-1-18. Atlantic: Martinez 9-13-0-139, Tyrelle Gammage.2-2-0-64.
RECEIVING–Blanche Ely: Thurston 2-4, McNeil 1-8. Atlantic: Hanniford 4-76, James 2-64, Barrera 2-25, St. Fort 2-24, Darby 1-14.
TOTAL TEAM YARDS–Atlantic 356, Blanche Ely 65.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Atlantic football overpowers Blanche Ely to extend undefeated start
