Apopka at Oviedo

[DarterBlue2]

Apopka defeated Oviedo by a 35-28 score last night. In doing so, the Darters racked up quite a few offensive yards. Although I did not keep close track, I think they must have been in the 400 range, as four of the five touchdowns covered quite a bit of ground, two on big plays (a wheel route and a statue of liberty, one of which was over 65 yards and the other 80 yards), and two on long, more methodical drives. In addition, we did throw and interception and fumbled the ball away two or three times after moving the ball well, so those drives also accounted for a fair number of yards before they ended. Unfortunately, the defense did not have as much success against Oviedo, as each time Apopka scored, they answered, mostly through the air, until the final drive when with just over 30 seconds left in the game, Apopka got an interception in the end zone to effectively end the game. 

The kids showed heart all night and the offense responded each time Oviedo tied the game (at no time did Oviedo have the lead). And, on Oviedo's final drive, the defense stiffened, putting more pressure on the QB and swatting away what seemed to be a fourth down conversion attempt (which was called for pass interference), that I thought had ended Oviedo's drive. 

The win sets up a rematch with Wekiva which, defensively, seems to be playing its best football of the season, as they shut out West Orange 16-0 last night, a feat no other team has accomplished this season (the 21 they scored against Apopka was their prior low). Winning against their defense is going to be a herculean task as not only will Apopka need to score, but it will need to keep the Mustangs out of the end zone, which will be a very difficult task for this Apopka defense. To win, Apopka will probably have to hold Wekiva to no more than 14 points, while scoring more than that.

Hopefully, the young men will be motivated and will lay it all on the field. This Apopka team has had a lot of adversity, mostly due to injuries, many of which have been season ending. One bright spot last night was the play of Eric Wright, who missed most of the season, but was in fine form, catching several passes, and taking the ball 80 yards for the touchdown, on the statue of liberty play. 

At the very worst, the Darters will have duplicated last year's results when they lost in the second round to end 8-4. Hopefully, they can find magic in a bottle to take down the Mustangs. No task is impossible when you play your best and are aided with a little luck.