It has been a long, bumpy road for the Chiefs this year. Santaluces will end the year with the best record they’ve had in over a decade (6-4). Even with this impressive feat, the Chiefs remain out of the playoffs.

The Chiefs needed Park Vista to beat Palm Beach Central to force a three way tiebreaker between them, the Broncos, and Boca Raton for district runner up. The Broncos, however, dominated the Cobras to give them their second straight district title. Park Vista takes their first loss to a Florida team this year along with district runner up.

But there are some bright spots for the Chiefs this year. The Chiefs scored 33.3 points per game, more than they have in any season dating back to 2005.

A major part of the offense this season has been the air attack. Senior Luis Martinez leads the district in completions, attempts, completion percentage, total yards, passing yards per game, and touchdowns. He has been hands-down the most dominant quarterback this year statistically.

Martinez’s success can be somewhat attributed to his newest receiver, senior Khurazze Williams. Williams led the district in catches, yards, and receiving touchdowns. He was ahead of teammate and University of Miami commit, senior Darrell Langham.

The only thing stopping the Chiefs from making the playoffs have been two crucial district losses to Park Vista and Palm Beach Central. A win against either team would’ve put Santaluces in the district playoffs.

However, they’ve also allowed more points than they have in any season in that same span (23.4).
“It’s blown out of proportion,” says Coach Drinkwater. “It’s 2013, people score points.”

The Chiefs gave up 920 yards of offense in the Park Vista and Palm Beach Central games along with 79 points- their two worst outings this season. The Chiefs opened those games with two touchdown leads, but were not able to close out the games in either outing.

Those were two of just four losses the Chiefs suffered this season. That’s fewer losses than they suffered in their playoff run in 2009. The Chiefs are in a much stronger district now, than they were back in ’09, too.

The last game of the season sent the Chiefs to Vero Beach where they performed admirably against a tough team. The close 29 to 30 was a heartbreaking loss. The Chiefs fell short in the fourth quarter to a decisive touchdown run by Vero Beach. Quarterback Luis Martinez ran for a 13-yard touchdown and threw a 65-yard touchdown to Langham. Martinez also threw a touchdown to senior Javaris Riley.