The West Orange Warriors had spent a year waiting for this chance to get past the Apopka Blue Darters. It was ugly, but they finally advanced onward.
As the ball floated through the air on Apopka’s desperation heave facing 2nd-and-33 after an intentional grounding penalty, the frustration of a year of waiting — a blowout win earlier in the season was meaningless except to get this, the important game, at home.
Dekwon Wilson threw the ball down field intended for David Douglas II, but the pressure was closing in on him. And with a minute to play, the Blue Darters needed to get yards and give themselves a chance. The wing-option run game Bill Darlington has made Apopka famous for was not going to help them.
Wilson’s pass floated too long into double coverage. Ben Bollinger jumped up and secured the interception. The celebration for West Orange could begin. The demons of last year’s regional semifinal loss to Apopka, again at home, were exorcised.
The Warriors would be moving on to the Regional Finals in Class 8A with a 21-14 win over the Blue Darters at Raymond Screws Field on Friday night.
And @WestOrangeFB defeats @ApopkaFootball 21-14! Wasn't pretty but #SurviveAndAdvance. There will be a new 8A champ pic.twitter.com/AbVCIIzo2H
— Philip Rossman-Reich (@philiprr_OMD) November 21, 2015
It was never pretty for either team as both struggled to get out of their own way. Both Apopka and West Orange squandered turnovers that set each up in the red zone with a parade of penalties throughout the game.
The Warriors though had just one more big play than the Blue Darters.
Apopka’s offense had chipped away at West Orange’s tough defense throughout the game and finally started making some big gashes to take a 14-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Wilson had a 35-yard run to set Apopka up in the red zone before quarterback Demetri Burch ran it in from three yards out.
West Orange’s offense had struggled to create much traction. Woody Barrett was struggling to get a run game going and Apopka largely defended the pass well, forcing Barrett to hold onto the ball as he ceaselessly scanned the field looking for an open man.
In two passes, though, Barrett quickly found his rhythm and burned Apopka.
After the Blue Darters took the lead he fired a five-yard pass to Eddie McDoom to get going. Then he threaded a pass to Naquan Renalds, who dodged two defenders and scored on a 61-yard pass. Apopka’s lead was short lived and West Orange put distance between them with Renalds returning the favor on a reverse and pass to Barrett for the two-point conversion.
The Blue Darters gave themselves a chance to tie, getting to the 23-yard line before a hold knocked them back and they could not get back into range. They punted the ball away with 2:43 left and got the ball back with too little time to run their typical offense.
Barrett struggled mightily though. He rushed for less than 50 yards on 22 attempts. He had 218 yards passing, completing 10 of 18 passes. His two touchdown passes were long ones — both to Renalds, the first was a 57-yard strike on a similar play. He missed McDoom on a few occasions and favored his legs over his arm on several occasions or held onto the ball too long waiting for receivers to get open.
Credit should go to Apopka’s strong defense for limiting West Orange’s high-powered offense.
The Warriors’ defense should get their credit too. They shut down the Blue Darters’ difficult offense for much of the night, forcing seven punts in the game and turning them away. Apopka did eventually wear them down though. Wilson ran for 125 yards on 16 carries and picked up huge chunks of yards as the game went on.
But like West Orange, Apopka struggled with penalties. The team committed 13 penalties for 73 yards, including an intentional grounding penalty on the final drive that set up a 2nd-and-33 desperation heave, something Apopka’s offense is not quite equipped to handle regularly.
West Orange had its penalty problems too, committing 12 for 95 yards, including committing 20 yards of penalties after Apopka committed a trio of penalties after a turnover to give West Orange starting field position at the Apopka 15-yard line.
The Warriors failed to score and the Blue Darters marched down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown.
This was a game neither team could be proud about with their execution. It came down to a pair of big plays. And after three straight years of Apopka finding a way to get those plays and get to the state championship game, the team’s district rival found that play.
Survive and advance in the playoff motto. West Orange certainly did that.
In an extremely cathartic way too. The hurt of last year’s 42-0 shutout at home was almost certainly erased with one play. West Orange is moving on and Apopka is going home.
The Warriors will take on Jacksonville Mandarin next week in Jacksonville. For now, without Barrett or McDoom or any of the playmakers at their best, West Orange picked up that defining and emotional win to move on.
