Apopka stumbles late in title game
Blue Darters could not stop Miami Columbus' 13-point rally,
DAYTONA BEACH — Apopka let a 13-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter and suffered a heartbreaking 21-20 loss to Miami Columbus in Friday night’s Class 8A football state championship game.
Columbus capped a 72-yard drive inside the final two minutes of the game with a touchdown pass from Brandon McDuffey to Henry Parrish Jr. with 8.2 seconds to go. The Explorers played for the win rather than go for a conversion kick that could have forced overtime. McDuffey then found Jahvar McSween on a swing pass for the two-point conversion and the win.
The Explorers struggled to run the ball against Apopka all night but McDuffey completed 34 of 47 passes for 275 yards and two scores. Columbus (11-4), which lost in last year’s state final Jacksonville Mandarin, won its first state championship in its fifth final.
Apopka finished 12-2. McDuffey had the ball batted out of his hand on fourth down with under four minutes remaining, but then scooped it up and threw to Parrish for a 15-yard TD to get the Explorers within 20-13.
Apopka quarterback Jaquan Lowman rushed for a touchdown and passed for another in the first half. The junior carried the ball 24 times for 249 yards, a 10.4 average per attempt.
Lowman put Apopka in front 7-0 on a short run with nearly four minutes to play in the first quarter. He later scrambled to his right, stopped short of running out of bounds, then reset his body for a throw to Jalen Williams in the end zone. The
29-yard score came with a little more than eight minutes left in the first half.
Apopka freshman defensive end Kaven Call forced McDuffey to fumble on the final play of the first half after the Explorers closed in on field goal range. The play helped preserve a 13-7 advantage at the break.
The Blue Darters went on to take what appeared to be a comfortable 20-7 advantage early in the third quarter after senior Elijah Augustin recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff. Tramar Jackson reached the end zone on a 10-yard run six plays later.
The Blue Darters were unsuccessful on an extra point attempt in the first half and came up short on a field goal try with nine minutes to go.
The Columbus victory made Miami-Dade County 4-0 this year with one more to play on Saturday. Miami Northwestern plays Jones High School of Orlando for the Class 5A title on Saturday at noon.
FHSAA football finals
Here are scores and Saturday’s schedule for the 2019 Florida High School Athletic Association high school football state championship games: Class 2A championship
Catholic Hialeah (10-3) Champagnat def. Lakeland Victory Christian (11-2), 35-14 Class 3A championship
Hollywood Chaminade (12-2) def. Tallahassee Florida High (12-2), 35-20 Class 1A championship
Madison County (12-2) def. Blountstown (13-1), 70-35 Class 4A championship
Miami Booker T. Washington (13-2) def. Jacksonville Bolles (11-2), 25-21 Class 6A championship
Pensacola Miami Central Escambia (12-3) (14-1), def. 62-27 Class 8A championship
Miami Columbus (11-4) d. Apopka (12-2), 21-20
Saturday, at Daytona Stadium
Class 5A championship, noon
Jones (13-1) vs. Miami Northwestern (12-2) Class 7A championship, 7 p.m.
Edgewater (13-1) vs. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (13-0)