Apopka, Jones, OCP advance to FHSAA regional finals
Apopka, Jones and Orlando Christian Prep are among five Orlando area high school football teams advancing to FHSAA regional championship games Friday.
Apopka (10-2) plays at defending Class 8A state champion Sanford Seminole (11-1) in a Region 1 rematch from last year’s semifinal round. The ‘Noles won 28-24 at Apopka in 2020.
Jones (10-2) plays at Ocala Vanguard (12-0) in 6A Region 2 and West Orange (11-1) travels to Venice (11-1) in 8A-3.
OCP (9-1) hosts Zephyrhills Christian (8-3) as the top seed in 2A-2.
Apopka junior Keyondray Jones ran for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns and the Blue Darters added scores on defense and special teams Friday during a 34-3 win at St. Johns Bartram Trail (9-3).
UCF commit Nikai Martinez, who returned to Apopka’s lineup two weeks ago after having MCL surgery (knee ligament) early in the season, jumped a short pass route and returned an interception 65 yards for a TD with 4:15 to go in the first quarter.
The Blue Darters forced 4 turnovers. Defensive lineman Kaven Call made an interception when he snagged a double-pass attempt at Bartram Trail’s 22-yard line with 1:17 remaining in the half.
Seminole transfer quarterback Andrew McClain scored on a 6-yard run to give Apopka a 21-3 lead at halftime. Malik Nicholson returned a punt 45 yards for a score midway through the third.
Jones prevailed 43-7 at previously unbeaten Auburndale as Julian Calvez threw for 219 yards and 1 touchdown and booted a 37-yard field goal in his first varsity kick attempt.
Calvez completed 16-of-21 passes, including a 74-yard TD strike to A’Ceon Cobb with 1:23 left in the first quarter that broke a 7-7 tie.
“The play was designed to read the safety, and the safety came down,” Cobb said. “I know that I’m faster than every corner that lined up with me, so I left the corner. I told Julian to take an extra thousand (-count) and throw it as far as you can. That’s what he did.”
Jayden Gillens returned a punt 75 yards for a TD to open the scoring. Auburndale’s Jerrod Johnson answered with a 70-yard touchdown run.
The Tigers snuffed out Auburndale’s passing attack from there while keeping Zach Tanner under control. Tanner was sacked 4 times and held to 43 yards on 5-of-17 attempts.
Orlando Christian Prep’s offense generated 364 rushing yards and its defense forced 4 turnovers while rolling to a 47-12 win against Melbourne Holy Trinity Episcopal (10-2).
Sophomore Demarion Jenkins ran for 122 yards and 3 TDs and scored once on a reception, all in the first half.
“He’s a special player,” OCP coach Guerschom
Demosthenes said. “He’s been with us since eighth grade and I’m extremely excited of how he’s grown and how he embraced this program and embraced his teammates.”
The Warriors defense intercepted 3 passes, recovered 1 fumble, and stopped the Tigers on downs twice.
Seasons end for local teams
A 17-point third-quarter surge pushed visiting Lakeland Lake Gibson (8-3) to a 32-14 win over No. 1 seed Edgewater (10-2) in Class 7A Region 2.
Lake Gibson missed an opportunity to tie the score in the first half when an extra point attempt was blocked, but a safety on a sack by Wade Tyer gave the Braves the lead for good at 15-14 entering halftime.
Lake Gibson finished by scoring 25 unanswered points, which included a 56-yard punt return by Samuel McCall in the third.
Jaylon Glover rushed 26 times for 196 yards and 2 TDs for Lake Gibson. C.J. Baxter rushed 17 times for 141 yards and 1 touchdown for the Eagles, who finished 7A state runners-up each of the past two seasons.
“We knew it was gonna be a battle, and it was,” Edgewater coach Cameron Duke said. “But that third quarter kind of got away from us a little bit. Our guys still fought, I thought, until the end.”
Four Orlando area teams that traveled Friday for football playoff games saw their seasons come to an end.
Boone (8-4) led 12-7 in the second quarter of its 8A-2 outing at Treasure Coast (9-1) in Port St. Lucie after senior quarterback Casey St. John scored on a 3-yard keeper.
But it was all Treasure Coast from there during a 51-19 loss.
JaCorey Thomas, a Georgia commit, closed his stellar high school career with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the game.
Bishop Moore (5-7) lost 28-14 at Satellite (10-2) in 5A-2 after pulling an upset of No. 2 seed Dunnellon last week.
The Hornets scored first on a 25-yard pass from Quinn Niemann to Jeremy Ruiz. Satellite answered with a touchdown and then took a 14-7 lead on a TD pass with just 27 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Scorpions upped the advantage to 21-7 before Bishop Moore closed the gap again on a 5-yard TD run by D’Angelo Reid with 10:43 remaining.
Top seed Gainesville Buchholz (11-1) rolled to a 39-7 win against Orange City University (7-3) in 7A-1.
The First Academy (8-3) lost 55-24 to Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin (8-3) in a 3A-2 semifinal played in South Florida.