Jones still perfect heading into playoffs
Turnovers help Tigers pull away in 2nd half
Jones High enters the Florida High School Athletic Association football playoffs this week undefeated after closing out the regular season Friday night with a victory at West Orange.
The Tigers (6-0), ranked No. 1 in the Sentinel Super 16, overcame an early deficit when Daquan Harris and Stephen Sparrow rushed for touchdowns to help Jones win 38-21.
No. 14West Orange (4-3) took a 14-7 lead on a pass from Tyler Huff to Jayden Gibson with 47 seconds left in the first quarter, but three turnovers ultimately cost theWarriors.
Jeffrey Saint-Louis booted a 38-yard field goal and Harris scored on an 11-yard run in the second quarter. Sparrow extended the Tigers’ lead to 24-14 on an 11-yard sweep with 3:44 to go in the third quarter.
Jones will host Tampa Robinson (5-3) on Friday in a Class 5A play-in game. West Orange plays on the road at Ocoee (3-4) in 8A in the second meeting between those rivals in a span of threeweeks.
The FHSAA revised its playoff format this fall to allow every team in the state to qualify for the playoffs, regardless of win-loss records, as a means of reducing the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thisweekmarksasecond round of play-in games to
whittle the brackets to eight teams per region in Classes 4A, 5A, 6A, 7Aand 8A.
Neither Mount Dora nor Trinity Prep won a game in the 2020 high school football regular season. But both teams remain alive in the revampedplayoff systemafter posting play-in victories Friday night.
Mount Dora scored a wild 47-44 home win against Lake County rival Eustis in a Class 5A game. The Hurricanes came in with an 0-6 record that included a 56-42 loss to the Panthers (3-4) on Oct. 2.
Trinity Prep, which was 0-5 in the regular season, was actually a favorite against also-winless Cornerstone Charter in a 3A playoff game, and the Saints took care of business in a
44-0 victory.
Mount Dora is on the road this week against St. Augustine Menendez (3-5). Trinity Prep plays at home again against PiersonTaylor (5-3).
Windermere High and Kissimmee Gateway scored their first wins in the final week of the regular season.
The Wolverines (1-6) overcame a kickoff return for a touchdown by Hamilton Mays to earn a 32-23 win at home against Colonial (3-5). Gateway improved to1-4 with a 21-7 win over Poinciana (1-6).
In Sunshine State Athletic Conference Class AAA playoff games, Lake Highland Prep (4-2) won 38-13 at home against Bradenton St. Stephen’s (3-2) and Mount Dora Christian (6-3) prevailed
41-33 against visiting Central Florida Christian (5-2).
Lake Highland Prep will play next week at top seed Orlando Christian Prep (6-2), which won its firstround playoff game on Thursday night.
In the SSAC AA bracket, The Master’s Academy (3-5) won 28-13 againstVero Beach St. Edward’s (4-1) and Windermere Prep (3-3) scored a dramatic road win against Legacy Charter (6-3). Legacy scored in the final minute and went for the victory but the Lakers stopped a two-point conversion try.
Lake Nona (4-3) sailed to a 40-6 victory over East River (4-1) in the Battle of the Beachline rivalry game between east Orange
County schools that opened in 2009.
“I’ve been at Lake Nona. I’ve seen every game, every rivalry. They always play us tough,” said Lake Nona coach Anthony Paradiso. “Always a good rivalry game.”
Kaden Shields rushed for two touchdowns in the third quarter, including a 33-yarder that gave the Lions a 40-0 lead and forced a running clock. The Lions, who have a bye thisweek to open the postseason in 8A, have won four consecutive games in the series and own an 8-4 all-time advantage.
East River plays at Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch (4-4) in a 7A play-in game Friday.
Ayron Rodriguez rushed 11times for 84 yards and one touchdown in one half of play at Showalter Field as No. 7WinterPark improved to 7-1with a 34-3winagainst Olympia (4-3).
The Wildcats leaned on reserve players such as Jake Ritts and AidenWarner for four second-half touchdowns. The contestwas approached as a playoff tuneup game with several starters being rested from each team.
“For the first time, we played a good half of football with my starters,” Olympia coach Travis Gabriel said. “Going into halftime down 6-3 against a Winter Park team like this, I’ll take that any day.”
The Titans managed a 34-yard field goal from Jose Colunga halfway through the first quarter. Rodriguez put theWildcats in front for good with a 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter before watching from the sideline the rest of the night.
“[The subs] played a whole lot better than my starters in the first two quarters,” said Winter Park coach Tim Shifflet said. “It was a great night for that reason.
“The first two quarters, we didn’t play verywell. We were flat. I don’t knowif it’s coming off the big win against Timber Creek, but we had no enthusiasm. We weren’t ready to go. Olympia runs around, they have really good football players and they were putting it on us.”
Winter Park hosts Clermont East Ridge (4-3) and Olympia is home against Oak Ridge (3-5) in Class 8A play-in games.
No. 5 Osceola (5-2) was limited to under 200 yards of total offense on the road against Vero Beach (6-2) during a 34-7 loss.
The Kowboys entered halftime in a 13-7 hole after the Indians made a pair of field goals in the second quarter. Chad Mascoe passedtoDonaldCummings for a 36-yard touchdown to tie the game midway through the first quarter.
“Our inability to move the ball on offense was the killer tonight,” Osceola coach Doug Nichols said. “The defense would get a stop, but we will go threeandon offense. You can’t do that series after series and expect the defense to hold up.”