Wildcats beat Braves to snag repeat crown
Cameron LeGree tossed four touchdown passes and the Winter Park defense forced four turnovers to help the Wildcats wrap up their second straight district football title Friday.
Winter Park (9-0), ranked No. 2 in the Sentinel Super 16, secured a home playoff game in the first round of the state playoffs with a 27-7 win over No. 12 Boone (5-2) in the Class 8A, District 3 showdown at Showalter Field.
“This is a dream come true, this is what you grow up thinking about, winning championships,” LeGree said afterwards. “And it’s great to come back and do it in front of our home crowd and coaches and administrators, who support us every day at school.”
LeGree threw over the middle for Cameron Brown on the third play of the second half and watched as the senior wideout sprinted through the secondary for a 74-yard score. The touchdown gave the Wildcats a 21-7 lead.
LeGree finished 13 of 23 passing for 214 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed eight times for 35 yards. Brian Gomez caught four passes for 57 yards and two scores.
As it has against opposing teams throughout much of the season, Winter Park’s defense contained Boone, holding the Braves to under 200 yards of offense.
E.J. Jimenez made a diving interception and Michael Lopez picked off his eighth pass of the season in the third quarter.
Jordan Ferrer and J.J. Valle-Smith recorded sacks in the second half that forced punts, and Alex Clarke forced a turnoveron-downs with a sack late in the fourth.
“All year long we’ve been hanging our hats on our defense, and they’ve been playing really well,” Winter Park coach Tim Shifflet said. “It was important to jump out to a little bit of a lead in the first quarter like we did because they can control the clock and keep you off the field offensively.”
Cullen Honohan recovered Boone’s second lost fumble of the first half. He then helped turn it into a 14-0 lead with less than 10 minutes to play when he took a pass from LeGree on fourth down and went 11 yards to the end zone.
Boone, which put the ball on the ground three times in the first half, reached the end zone midway through the second quarter to get within 14-7 when quarterback Jaxsen Anagnostis capped a 6-play drive by plunging in from a yard out.
The postseason remains within reach for Boone as a wild card despite the loss. The Braves entered the week ranked seventh among the top eight teams in average playoff points in 8A, Region 1 according to the latest FHSAA projections.