Winter Park, Osceola remain undefeated
An opportunistic defense and plenty of Tyrone Davis enabled unbeaten Winter Park to roar into the second round of the Class 8A state playoffs on Friday night.
Davis ran for three touchdowns and had another score on a catch, and Winter Park’s defense forced three turnovers in a 42-14 blowout of Spruce Creek.
The Wildcats (11-0), ranked No. 2 in the Sentinel Super 16 and seeded No. 1 in Region 1, will host Apopka in the second round.
Winter Park led 21-14 at halftime on three TDs by Davis. The Wildcats then seized the momentum on Creek’s opening play of the second half when J.J. Valle-Smith returned a fumble 46 yards for a TD. Winter Park scored on consecutive drives overlapping the third and fourth quarters to take a commanding 42-14 lead.
“All year long, we’ve been a second half team,” said Winter Park coach Tim Shifflet.
Winter Park’s Cameron Legree passed for 185 yards and two TDs.
Spruce Creek’s Kyle Minckler passed for 191 yards, all but 10 of that in the first half for the Hawks (8-2).
No. 4 Wekiva rolled over No. 11 Lake Mary, 31-0, in the first home playoff game in program history.
The second seed Mustangs (10-1) will host Boone (9-2) next Friday in the 8A second round.
Brandon Williams passed for 148 yards, ran for 144 and racked up four touchdowns in the win.
After a Lake Mary (7-4) fake punt was stopped short on the opening drive, Wekiva cashed in quickly on Williams’ four-yard TD run.
After forcing another three-andout, the Mustangs marched down the field, scoring on a long run by Williams that ended with a fumble into the end zone, recovered by Terrence Moore for a TD.
Williams added another rushing score late in the quarter, and then connected with Nate Rooney for a nine-yard TD pass midway, doubling the lead to 28-0.
Jarvis Ware added a 91-yard kick return TD to open the second half. Wekiva held the high-powered Lake Mary offense to just 117 yards.
Edgewater was able to get key second half stops on defense and beat Gainesville Buchholz 31-21 at Frank Lough Field in in 7A.
The Eagles (9-2) will play at home again next week vs. Fleming Island (9-2).
“Having a home playoff game and getting the win is big,” Eagles coach Cameron Duke said. “Getting another one here in a week is big for the program as well.”
The Bobcats (5-6) had an answer for each of the Eagles' first two touchdowns and it appeared that the game would go into the halftime break tied at 14. The Bobcats scored the tying touchdown with 13 seconds remaining in the half but a personal foul on the kickoff gave Edgewater the ball on their own 35.
The Eagles took advantage as quarterback R.J. Harvey connected with Quadarrius Whitfield on a 65-yard TD pass to give Edgewater a 21-14 advantage at the break.
Harvey passed for 176 yards and two touchdowns.
Buchholz had chances to even the score in the fourth quarter but penalties and turnovers cost it. The Bobcats committed nine penalties for 98 yards.
Jones, playing its first home playoff game since 1996, lost 43-30 to Fort Lauderdale Gibbons in a clash of state-ranked 5A teams.
The Chiefs, ranked No. 2, improved to 10-1. Jones, which was third in the state poll and the Super 16 area rankings, finishes 9-2.
Bishop Moore (8-2), a No. 5 seed in 5A, won 34-21 on the road against No. 4 Fort Pierce Westwood (6-4).
Boone (9-2), a sixth seed in 8A-1, traveled to Flagler Palm Coast and dealt the Bulldogs (9-1) their first loss, 28-13.
Daytona Beach Mainland (7-3) won 21-12 at home against Miami Norland (6-4) in 6A.
The First Academy (9-1), a top seed, lost 55-21 to visiting Melbourne Central Catholic (8-3) in a matchup of two teams in the top five of the AP 3A rankings.
Penn State commit Jordan Miner had two interceptions as Wiregrass Ranch (9-2) won 17-10 vs. host Lake Nona (7-4) in 7A.