By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

With an offense effective early and late, and a defense that was strong the entire game, the Apopka Blue Darters presented rookie head coach Ty Ensor with a victory in his first game, a 21-14 victory Friday, September 5, over the Lake Brantley Patriots.

The Blue Darters jumped out to a 14-0 lead, scoring on their first two possessions before going dry offensively. Meanwhile, the Apopka defense played well most of the game, giving up just one long scoring drive to the Patriotsí triple-option offense.

While Apopka's offense didn't put up glowing numbers, it did come up with the winning touchdown late. "We made a lot of mistakes, but the kids fought back. I am proud of the way they pulled together. I can't give enough credit to the kids; they didn't give up," Ensor said.

Presented with a golden opportunity, the Blue Darters took advantage of it to get the victory.
While Apopka certainly had its share of mistakes, the Patriots made the fatal one midway through the fourth period when, with the score tied at 14-14, an Apopka punt by Robert Beary touched a Lake Brantley player on the leg and Apopka recovered at the Patriot 28 yard line with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter.

It took seven plays for the Darters to reach the end zone on a 13-yard pass play from quarterback Jarrett Gallagher to running back Antwon Johnson. The two connected for the score with 2:05 left in the game. Other than the score itself, the biggest play of the drive was when Apopka faced a fourth-and-2 at the Lake Brantley 20. Gallagher went back to pass and was forced to scramble before finding fullback Quentin Taylor open for a seven-yard gain.
After Beary added the extra point to give the Darters the 21-14 lead, Lake Brantley failed to get a first down as linebacker Josh Mott knocked the ball and a chance at victory out of the Patriot receiverís hands with 1:14 left in the game.

"He stepped up and made the play when he had to," Ensor said about Mottís hit.
Mott and fellow returning linebacker Kadu Swift had 13 and 12 tackles, respectively, gaining praise from their head coach.

Early on, it looked like Apopka would have its way with the Patriots. On the first play of the game, Gallagher sliced off tackle for a 69-yard gain to the Lake Brantley 11 yard line and just two plays later, wingback Ivory Lewis picked up a fumbled pitch, reversed his field and scored from the 9 yard line. When Beary added the first of his three extra points, the Blue Darters had a 7-0 lead with just 58 seconds gone in the game.

The Apopka defense added its work to the Blue Dartersí cause, forcing Lake Brantley into a three-and-out in its first possession. On the second ensuing play for the Blue Darters, Gallagher found a wide-open Cale Duncan for a 40-yard gain to the Lake Brantley 24.

Four plays later, Gallagher scooted in for the touchdown and the Darters led, 14-0, with 6:43 remaining in the first quarter. Things were looking so grim for the Patriots on their next possession that on fourth-and-1 from their own 33, they rolled the dice and went for the first down, gaining it by less than the length of the ball.

The teams then exchanged punts and Gallagher, playing safety for the Darters, picked off a Brian Smith pass and returned it for an apparent touchdown. However, a clipping penalty 10 yards behind Gallagher as he crossed the goal line nullified Apopkaís touchdown late in the first period.

After the penalty, Apopka had the ball on the Lake Brantley 26 and drove to the 5 yard line before a lost fumble snuffed out the scoring drive. A first down run by Taylor on that drive was the final first down for Apopka until the winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

Lake Brantley finally got on the board, scoring with 44 seconds remaining in the first half when Smith connected with Lammar Guy on a 22-yard pass play. The 34-yard drive was set up by a Gallagher fumble, although Apopka coaches contended that Gallagher was down when the ball popped out.

The Patriots controlled the ball for much of the second half, but scored just once on a nine-yard run by Guy with 1:53 left in the third period.

Neither team threatened to score until Apopka's winning drive late in the game.

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

A smothering defense and a time-eating offense gave first-year head coach Ty Ensor the initial shutout of his career Friday, September 19, as the Apopka Blue Darters whipped archrival West Orange, 14-0, before about 3,500 spectators at Apopka's Roger Williams Field.

The victory gave the Blue Darters a 1-0 start in District 6A-3 play while the Warriors dropped to 0-1 in district action and 1-1 overall. Apopka sports a 3-0 record in all games. Led by linebacker Josh Mott, the Apopka defense suffocated the West Orange offense all night, allowing the Warriors just 48 total yards. The Warriors managed just 32 yards rushing on 24 attempts. West Orange quarterback Ted Johnson was only 3-for-16 for 16 yards. He suffered one interception.

"The defense played their butts off", Ensor said.
Apopka's offense, meanwhile, wasn't running up and down the field, but it did do a good job of making first downs and keeping West Orange's dangerous wide receiver, James Johnson, off the field. Johnson had three rushes for four yards and two catches for 15 yards.
The Blue Darters had 221 yards rushing on 44 attempts as fullback Quentin Taylor led the way with 81 rushes on 13 attempts.

Wingback Tamaki Jackson scored both of Apopka's touchdowns, one in the first quarter and one in the third. His first touchdown was a 40-yard jaunt on the Blue Darters' first possession of the game and his second was a three yarder following a Jarrett Gallagher interception of a Ted Johnson pass.

Backup QB Jonathan Maxwell had to engineer the second scoring drive because Gallagher, the starting quarterback, was injured on the interception return.

The Darters will host the Freedom Patriots Friday, September 26, for Homecoming. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Roger Williams Field.

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

As expected, the Apopka Blue Darters completely dominated Freedom High School, giving an Apopka Homecoming crowd of 3,000 plenty to smile about with a 48-0 victory Friday, September 26.

The first-year Patriots were no match for the Blue Darters, who have been playing football for, oh, about 70 years. Apopka scored early and often, taking a 28-0 lead with one minute still remaining in the first period.

The Blue Darters didn’t punt and rushed for 382 yards on 40 attempts as the running clock was used during the second half after Apopka roared to a 35-0 halftime lead. Despite the big team rushing numbers, no Apopka back rushed for 100 yards, but all six backs who carried the ball rushed for at least 40 yards.

Wingback Tamaki Jackson led the Darters with 95 yards and one touchdown on seven carries. Quarterback Jonathan Maxwell, subbing for injured starter Jarrett Gallagher, scored three times, rushing for 82 yards on six attempts.

Fullback Quentin Taylor pushed over two touchdowns as he rushed for 57 yards on 10 carries. Wingback Ivory Lewis added 55 yards on seven attempts, while Nico Stanley had 53 yards and one TD on seven rushes. Antwon Johnson wrapped up Apopka’s rushing with 40 yards on just three carries.

Apopka did not attempt a pass for the second straight week.

Freshman placekicker Robert Beary kicked six of seven extra points.

Freedom, which hasn’t scored a point in its inaugural season, managed just three net rushing yards on 24 attempts. Freedom’s quarterbacks were 3-for-9 for 16 yards and one interception.

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

A crowd of about 4,500 got what they came to see – a great high school football game.

But, for Apopka Blue Darter fans, it was not the result they wanted as the Edgewater Eagles defeated the Darters, 24-7, Friday, October 3, at Roger Williams Field.

Don’t be fooled by the final score, however, as the game was very much in doubt until two late Edgewater scores.

Leading 10-7, the Eagles scored two touchdowns in the final 5:11 of the game for the final margin of victory.

As expected, both defenses played very well. Edgewater (4-1) had just 151 yards rushing and 82 yards passing, but it was enough to overcome the Blue Darters, who played a good game on both sides of the ball. Apopka, meanwhile, had 171 yards rushing and 46 yards passing, but managed just 50 yards rushing in the second half.

Apopka (4-1) took the lead early with an impressive 80-yard drive on its first possession of the game. The Darters scored on the ninth play of the drive, a three-yard run by fullback Quentin Taylor.

Edgewater responded with a 45-yard field goal and then scored on an eight-yard pass from Mike Dunn to Antonio Turner with 26 seconds left in the second period.

The scored stood at 10-7 until the two late Edgewater scores.

Apopka must rebound from the loss to face a 5-0 University team next week in a Metro Conference tilt.

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

Facing an undefeated University team in its Homecoming game a week after an emotional loss to Edgewater was an upset waiting to happen, but the Apopka Blue Darters overcame their own mistakes to hand the host Cougars their first loss of the season, 18-10, on Friday, October 10.

Apopka (5-1) rushed for 347 yards on 55 attempts, but lost five fumbles and committed nine penalties for 84 yards. In short, Apopka stopped itself more than the Cougars did.


University (5-1) countered with quarterback Kyle Israel’s passing and running, but the Apopka defense kept him in check for most of the evening, pressuring the senior with a heavy rush most of the game. Israel finished with 133 yards passing. He was 12-for-29 with a touchdown and an interception. He also added 30 yards rushing. As a team, the Cougars managed just 69 yards on 24 rushing attempts.


Apopka, as has been the case all year, got its yards from several runners with two of them passing the 100-yard mark. Fullback Quentin Taylor led the Blue Darters with 113 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He was followed closely by Antwon Johnson, who gained 108 yards on eight attempts.


Jarrett Gallagher, who ran some out of the wingback slot as Jonathan Maxwell played quarterback at times during the game, had 73 yards on 11 carries. Ivory Lewis tallied what proved to be the winning touchdown for the Blue Darters on a 26-yard carry late in the third period. He ended the night with 56 yards on six rushes.


Apopka jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead, but saw it tied at 10-10 by halftime. The Darters claimed a 3-0 lead on Robert Beary’s first field goal, a 22-yarder before driving 96 yards for the first touchdown, a three-yard run by Taylor.
While it didn’t produce any points, Apopka’s most time-consuming drive ate up most of the fourth-quarter clock as the Darters nursed their 18-10 lead. The Blue Darters drove from their own 26 yard line to the University 21 before giving the ball back on downs. The Darters took 8:18 off the clock in the final period as the drive went 14 plays.


Apopka plays a critical District 6A-3 contest Friday, October 17, in the final home game of the season as they take on the Olympia Titans at Roger Williams Field. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

Until they faced Apopka, the Oak Ridge Pioneers had allowed no more than 17 points in any one game. When the Blue Darters hit the field, the Pioneers had given up 22 points in just 11 minutes. Apopka (7-3) used that fast start on its way to a 28-13 victory over the host Pioneers (5-5) at Lee Leonard Stadium and an at-large berth in the Class 6A state playoffs.

The Blue Darters doused first-year coach Ty Ensor in a traditional water bath as time wound down, but he was a very happy wet coach, who praised his players for winning its final two games, when it was necessary in order to qualify for the playoffs. "They've hung in there and believed in us as much as we believed in them. We're happy we're in (the playoffs)," Ensor said.

The Darters finished in a tie with Lake Brantley for the final Region 6A-1 playoff spot, but earned the at-large nod due to the 21-14 victory over the Patriots in the season opener. Apopka was so dominant in the early part of the game that the Darters had 22 points while Oak Ridge had just 34 total yards and no first downs until the 6:57 mark of the second period.

The Darters opened the scoring on their first possession after a quick three-and-out forced by the Apopka defense on Oak Ridge's game-opening possession. Following the Oak Ridge punt, the Darters moved 52 yards in six plays with fullback Quentin Taylor accounting for 31 yards on four carries before quarterback Jarrett Gallagher went 22 yards for the score. Robert Beary's extra point gave the Darters a 7-0 lead with 8:01 left in the first quarter.

Apopka's special teams set up the next touchdown as Tamaki Jackson blocked an Oak Ridge punt and it was returned to the Oak Ridge 25 yard line by Harold Dubose. On the next play, Ivory Lewis scampered 25 yards for the score. Taylor's run gave Apopka the two-point conversion and the Darters led, 15-0, with 5:31 left in the first period.

Another three-and-out forced by the Apopka defense led to a nice punt return by Gallagher, setting up the offense at the Oak Ridge 27 yard line. The Blue Darters scored five plays later on a one-yard Gallagher sneak, but the big play of the drive was a 25-yard pass completion from Gallagher to Taylor, who made a nice catch to give the Darters a first down at the Oak Ridge 1 yard line on a fourth-and-9.

Beary added the extra point and the Darters led, 22-0, with 59 seconds still left in the first period.

An Apopka fumble led to Oak Ridge's only score of the first half on a 25-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-3 pass from quarterback Demarcus Stokes to tight end Traa Milton with 56 seconds remaining in the first half.

The score remained 22-7 until Apopka marched 74 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 12-yard run by Taylor with 3:13 left in the third period. The big play of the drive was a 28-yard run by Josh Mott on a fake punt. He found a huge hole in the left side of the Oak Ridge defense and rambled 28 yards to the Oak Ridge 38 yard line. Ensor said Mott is given the freedom to call the fake and did so on his own.

A fumbled snap on a punt gave the Pioneers the ball at the Apopka 24 and the Pioneers turned it into a touchdown five plays later when Antonio Battle scored from the 2 with 6:59 left in the game.

But the Darters kept the Pioneers out of the end zone for the rest of the game and the celebration began for the Darters as they learned they had made the playoffs.

ApopkaTimes.com