Olympia, Winter Park, Boone take titles
For the first time in 11 years, the Olympia Titans are football district champions.
Senior running back Romelo Ware carried 34 times for 299 yards and 4 touchdowns as Olympia won 34-20 in its Senior Night game against West Orange on Thursday night.
Orange County Public Schools were out for students Friday, making Thursday the big Week 10 football night.
Undefeated Winter Park and Boone also wrapped up Class 4M District titles.
The slimmer than usual Friday night schedule had one massive game. Lake Mary (8-0), No. 1 in the state Class 4 Metro rankings, played second-ranked backyard rival Seminole (7-2) in Sanford with a district championship at stake.
Check online at SentinelVarsity.com and in Sunday’s Orlando Sentinel newspaper for coverage of the Friday games.
Leesburg (8-1), which was open this week, completes its regular season with a Monday night home game against Specially Fit Academy (5-0), a new high school in the Tampa Bay area.
Here are Thursday’s highlights:
Titans celebrate
Olympia (7-2), No. 6 in the Sentinel Super 16 area rankings, finished 4-0 in Class 4 Metro District 5 and locked up home-field advantage for a Nov. 10 first-round playoff game.
Ware, who came to Olympia in the offseason with his twin brother, Camren, after both played for Lake Highland Prep, did the brunt of his work in the first half with 16 runs for 214 yards and 3 TDs. That included 58- and 39-yard runs to the end zone.
He wasn’t the only senior standout as the Titans joined the school’s 2011 and ’12 teams as district winners.
“They just kept the faith,” sixthyear head coach Travis Gabriel said of his senior class. “Building the program takes a process and I think the kids just answered the bell. They continue to get better game after game, week after week, year after year. We kept grinding and kept getting closer and we finally got over the hump.”
Olympia senior quarterback Juan Gainous had an 18-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to give his team a 28-14 lead with 3:08 to go. The Titans upped that to 34-14 in the final minute before West Orange (3-6, 2-2) scored with 19.6 seconds remaining.
Three senior defenders, Julius Benjamin, Romelo Walker and Arden Payne-Tonge had interceptions in the victory.
— Nate Marrero
Winter Park escapes
Undefeated Winter Park (8-0, 4-0) wrapped up the 4M District title but not without duress in its 21-16 win at Timber Creek (3-6, 2-2).
The Wolves scored with 3:12 to go and recovered the ensuing onside kick at midfield. The Wildcats defense made a fourth-down stop with time running out.
Winter Park QB Aaron Williams, a transfer from Timber Creek, threw two touchdown passes against his former team. He dodged defensive pressure and fired a strike to Atticus Van Dyke for a 14-yard TD and 21-10 lead.
— Chris Martucci
Apopka grounds out win
Apopka’s single-wing offense produced more than 330 total yards — 221 on the ground — and touchdowns from four different players in a 33-13 Class 4M District 2 win.
Isaac Knight caught a crucial 23-yard TD pass from Tyson Davison with 32 seconds left in the second quarter to put the Blue Darters up 11-7. Jayden Safford, Nathan Jenkins III and Reggie McBride added rushing scores for Apopka (6-3, 2-2), a lock for a regional at-large berth.
Davison went down hurt early in the fourth quarter and did not return. Apopka coach Jeff Rolson said Davison was poked in the eye and will be fine.
“We controlled the clock, kept the football,” Rolson said. “We played some young guys on defense and they learned some lessons.”
Evans QB Chris Peterson ran for 156 yards, including a 49-yard TD, and Jermaine Hardy added 130 yards and a score rushing, but the Trojans (4-5, 1-3) stumbled down the stretch with penalties and missed opportunities.
Evans also has a shot at a playoff invite going into its Friday home game vs. Lake Nona (4-5).
Apopka hosts rival Wekiva (4-5). — Jeff Gardenour
DP delivers
No. 11 Dr. Phillips built an early lead and beat No. 14 Ocoee 27-19 to finish second to Olympia in District 5 and assure itself a playoff at-large berth based on its power ranking.
The Panthers (6-3, 3-1) were up 27-6 lead two minutes into the second half after junior QB Stanley Anderson found junior receiver Cameran Dixon sprinting past his defender on the right sideline for a 47-yard TD pass. Anderson’s first TD pass was a 48-yard catch and run score by tight end Damien Jackson.
Ocoee (4-6, 1-3), in its final game in a rugged schedule, fought back with two TDs and was in position to tie the score before the DP defense stopped the Knights twice in the red zone.
DP closes its regular season with a game at playoff-bound Jones (6-3, 2-1) on Friday. The Tigers won 56-0 at Horizon (4-5, 0-3) on Thursday.
— Buddy Collings
Boone three-peats
Boone (5-4, 4-0) wrapped up its third consecutive district title with a 48-8 rout of Oak Ridge (3-5, 2-2). The Braves host area No. 1 Edgewater (9-0) on Friday.
WEEK 10 RESULTS
(with Super 16 rankings)
Monday
Ocala Vanguard d. Tavares, 6 3 -0 Thursday
No. 5 Jones d. Horizon, 5 6 -0 No. 7 Winter Park d. Timber Creek, 2 1 -1 6
No. 1 0 Apopka d. Evans, 3 3 -1 3 No. 6 Olympia d. No. 1 3 West Orange, 3 4 -2 0
No. 1 1 Dr. Phillips d. No. 1 4 Ocoee, 27-19
Boone d. Oak Ridge, 4 8 -8 Eagle’s View d. Cornerstone Charter, 4 2 -2 6
Freedom d. Cypress Creek, 36-30
Winter Haven d. Lake Nona, 4 1 -1 3 University (Orlando) d. Colonial, 26-16
(More games were played Friday night)