West Orange knocks off Apopka
West Orange used a balanced offense and an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown by Darrell Harding to overcome a 274-yard rushing performance by Apopka’s Akeem Brown and upset the No. 1-ranked Blue Darters 31-27.
The Warriors (4-4) got 110 rushing yards and a touchdown from Nemea Hall as they leveled their Class 8A, District 4 record at 1-1 and stayed in the playoff hunt.
“It means everything to us. Apopka is our biggest rival; we hung with them from the start and took the lead into halftime,” said West Orange coach Bob Head. “Our guys played real hard.”
Harding added a touchdown catch as West Orange spoiled homecoming night for rival Apopka (6-2, 1-1), which was top-ranked in the 8A state poll and No. 2 in the Sentinel Super 16.
Wekiva, which beat West Orange and plays at Apopka on Oct. 27, leads the district at 2-0.
The host Blue Darters fumbled away the wet football on the West Orange 6-yard line with a little more than three minutes remaining in the game to end their final threat.
West Orange QB Elijah Stimmel threw for 232 yards and two TDs.
Apopka’s Brown rushed 30 times for 274 yards and two scores.
Jonathan DeLucca kicked three field goals, one for 51 yards, and Boone’s defense dominated as the host Braves prevailed 22-0 vs. visiting Timber Creek on Friday night.
Boone’s third win in eight days upped its record to 5-1, 2-0 in 8A-3.
After a 2-0 start, Timber Creek (2-4, 0-2) has lost four in a row and will probably miss the postseason for the first time since 2013.
Thanks to two turnovers and an inadvertent onside kick recovery, the Braves had possession for about 34 minutes and held the Wolves to an unofficial total of 51 yards of offense.
Boone scored on its first drive when sophomore Christian Roberts broke free for a 43-yard TD run.
Boone linebacker Devonte Booker had two sacks.
Wesley Huddleston added a second-quarter interception.
Leesburg (4-3, 2-1) won 47-40 at Groveland South Lake (4-3, 0-3) in a wild 6A-District 5 game.
Yellow Jackets quarterback Wyatt Rector passed for more than 500 yards. South Lake’s Kelley Joiner, the area rushing leader, ran for 402 yards. Lake Brantley (2-5) stopped a 2-point conversion try to win 21-20 at Lyman in 8A-2. The Greyhounds (4-4, 1-4) played for the win after scoring with 22 seconds to go.
Lake Mary Prep and The First Academy ran away from the rest of the field to finish first and second, respectively, at the Class 1A girls golf state tournament a year ago — and both believe they can capture the 2017 title.
But as the postseason tees off with district tournaments next week, another area 1A team has a shot at the championship. Circle Christian, which was fourth at state last season, posted wins over TFA and reigning 3A state champ Lake Mary at the tail end of its regular season, and lost by only two shots to Lake Mary Prep.
On the boy’s side, there may not be a better duo in the nation than Circle’s Canon Claycomb and Eugene Hong.
Claycomb, a sophomore, averaged a school record 33.84 strokes per nine holes in the regular season. Hong averaged 34.0.