Blue Darters pound Panthers
Apopka bounced back from its first loss of the season with a dominant showing Friday at home.
The Blue Darters (3-1), ranked No. 5 in the Sentinel Super 16 after losing last week to Lakeland, forced five turnovers and held No. 9 Dr. Phillips (1-3) to just 156 yards in a 38-7 win.
It’s the fourth straight victory for Apopka since the series was renewed in 2015 and the most convincing since winning 40-6 in 2004 during a winless season for Dr. Phillips.
Akeem Brown rushed for two scores and Jackson Darlington tossed two touchdown passes to Fred Young to establish a 31-7 advantage early in the fourth.
“They [typically] defend us as good as anyone,” Apopka coach Rick Darlington said of DP. “Turnovers played a big part, special teams played a big part, and we got the offense clicking, [but] we left some points on the field in the first half.”
The Apopka offense racked up 301 yards and was put in great position early on thanks to key defensive plays that led to touchdowns.
After Apopka senior Yirmyah made a diving interception in front of a receiver at the DP 10, Brown took the handoff on the very next play and broke multiple tackles en route to the end zone.
The Blue Darter went up 14-0 on their next possession when Darlington launched a pass into the arms of Young for a 30-yard score.
The touchdown came four plays after junior Jalen Carter forced DP to punt on a sack that went for a loss of 11 yards.
“They played well, and they needed to play well,” Darlington said of the defense. “We’re not going to go far in the season or in the playoffs without playing great defense, so that’s really the emphasis.”
The Panthers opened the game pinned inside the 15 yard line on its first three possessions. They never got things going from there, even after inching to within 14-7 on its first possession of the second half when Canaan Mobley hooked up with Devon Buchanan for a 45-yard touchdown pass.
Brown reached the end zone for the second time six plays later on a 33-yard run down the home sideline. He finished with 60 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Darlington went 5 of 9 passing for 104 yards and three touchdowns, the last which came on a four-yard pass to Cornelius Williams for the final points of the night.
Williams led all players with 107 yards on 13 carries.
“The offense didn’t execute the way we needed to in the first half, and every time we didn’t score the defense got us the ball back,” Jackson said. “They kept us in the game, and the way they played tonight is why we won.”