Ocoee overcomes rival West Orange in OT
Ocoee made the most of its second chance Friday night.
Less than three weeks after falling flat against rival West Orange with the district championship at stake, the visiting Knights overcame 6 turnovers in the rematch during a 29-28 overtime win in the Florida High School Athletic Association playoffs.
“They were hungry. My boys were ready to play, and I’m so proud,” Ocoee coach Aaron Sheppard said.
Ocoee (8-4) advances to play at No. 1 seed Tarpon Springs East Lake (11-1) next Friday in the Class 4M (Metro) Region 2 final. The Knights entered the postseason ranked No. 3 in the region. West Orange (7-5) was the No. 2 seed.
Senior wideout Isaiah Alexis scored on a 5-yard run in overtime. Calvin Smith, who was positioned behind the right side of the offensive line, corralled a lateral snap from the center then plunged past multiple defenders on the decisive 2-point play that sparked a celebration along the sideline.
Smith, wearing No. 5 on Friday instead of his usual No. 7, also recorded 2 of his team’s 4 sacks on third down to force punts.
Sheppard noted afterwards that he was prepared to go for the win instead of attempting an extrapoint kick to extend overtime, and that he wanted to get the ball to “one of our best players” on that final play.
“We do a drill like this every day in practice,” he said enthusiastically.
It’s just the third win over West Orange since Ocoee claimed four in a row from 2006-09. The Knights entered the semifinal game losers of four straight in the series by a 138-17 margin, including a 41-17 setback on Nov. 1.
“We’ve been practicing a lot for this, and it feels great to be doing this with this team,” said sophomore Joshua Guerrier, who intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble.
Ocoee, which prevailed despite turning the ball over 6 times on interceptions, built a 14-0 lead late in the second quarter on an 8-yard TD run by senior quarterback Darien Wharton.
The touchdown was set up by a 48-yard reception from Wharton to senior Ahlston Ware one play earlier. Ware finished with 5 receptions for 131 yards and 2 TDs.
West Orange tied the score at 14 with five minutes left in the third quarter on a 20-yard pass into the end zone from junior Trever Jackson to Latorie Hollinger.
The teams later traded touchdowns on back-to-back plays from scrimmage with a little more than eight minutes remaining. Ware scored for the second time on a 55-yard reception and West Orange junior receiver Jordyn Bridgewater broke free on a 35-yard run to knot the score again at 21.
The Knights were intercepted on their final two drives of regulation, the last of which came after an Ocoee punt with 51.6 seconds left bounced off a West Orange player to extend the possession.
West Orange sophomore Donovan Lanier picked off 3 passes and senior Jordan Castell finished with 2 interceptions, including one in the end zone on the final play of the fourth quarter.
The Warriors opened overtime with a 10-yard TD run to the left side by Bridgewater on their first play. Bridgewater rushed 9 times for 83 yards and 2 scores.
Ocoee senior Keyondray Jones led all rushers with 88 yards on 25 carries. Asaad Waseem finished with 6 catches for 77 yards.
“We just knew we had to come in and get the job done,” Ware said. “This feels really good, because this is the farthest our school has ever been.”