By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

October 14, 2004 Blue Darters at Olympia

A strong start and a solid performance on both sides of the ball led to Apopka's 33-14 victory over the Olympia Titans on Thursday, October 14. Apopka jumped on the host Titans with two touchdowns before Olympia's offense touched the ball to grab the momentum, and the district and Metro Conference victory. The Blue Darters are now 4-1 overall and 2-1 in District 6A-3 action.

But, Olympia didn't just go away, pulling to within 19-14 after a touchdown very early in the second period before Apopka gathered itself and put the Titans away with a stingy defense and ball-control offense. Apopka head coach Ty Ensor called the quick start a "momentum boost," but liked his team's play better after Olympia scored its second touchdown. "We did a good job after their second and third drives," he said. "All in all, we played real well."

While the Apopka defense took a little time to settle down, the Apopka offense was on track most of the night, scoring a lot early and controlling the clock later. Two Apopka wingbacks gained more than 100 yards as Tamaki Jackson rushed for 119 yards on 11 carries. He had one touchdown rushing and one receiving. Ivory Lewis added 103 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries. As a team, the Darters rushed for 252 yards on 44 attempts.

Quarterback Jonathon Maxwell hurt the Titans with his arm instead of his legs as he was 3-for-6 with two touchdowns, both of those within the first half of the first quarter. He threw for 93 yards. Defensively, the Darters missed some tackles early and gave up 74 yards rushing on Olympia's first four rushes, but allowed just 19 net rushing yards the rest of the game. Apopka's defense also slowed down Olympia's passing attack, allowing only 105 yards on 10-of-21 passing. The Darters also had two interceptions.

Apopka's ball-control, grind-it-out offense moved the ball throughout the game, but it was the passing game that put up the points early for the Blue Darters as Maxwell capped Apopka's first two drives with touchdown passes. On the opening drive of the game, the Darters drove from their own 41 to the Olympia 7 and faced a third-and-goal from there. In the I-formation on that play, Maxwell tossed a pass in the flat to Jackson, who bulled in for the score with 8:06 left in the first period. Placekicker Robert Beary was not dressed out due to injury and Matt Athearn added the extra point to give the Darters a 7-0 lead.

The Darters then performed the perfect skykick as Athearn booted the ball high and short. Jackson recovered the ball as the unsuspecting Titans weren't near the ball, giving the Darters the ball at the Olympia 35 yard line. Apopka soon faced a fourth-and-8 from the 33, but Maxwell solved that when he hooked up with wide receiver Eric Sledge for a 33-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was blocked and Apopka led, 13-0, with 6:36 left in the first period.

The teams traded punts and Olympia took advantage of some missed tackles to score on a 35-yard run by Kelean Cobb. Apopka answered right back and the passing game once again played a big role and Sledge caught a 43-yard pass from Maxwell and was tackled just short of the goal line. Two plays later, Quentin Taylor scored from the 2 with 55 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The two-point conversion try failed.

Two plays into the second period, the Titans scored again as Brandon Dozier scampered 26 yards on a quarterback draw to pull Olympia to within 19-14. Olympia began blitzing on defense, giving Apopka fits for a few minutes, but the Darters quickly solved the blitz and made the Titans pay when Jackson ran for a 52-yard touchdown midway through the second period. Athearn added the extra point to give the Darters a 26-14 lead with 5:23 left in the second quarter.

Apopka appeared to be headed for a touchdown on its first possession of the third period, but a fumble at the Olympia 6 ended the threat.
However, one play after Sledge recovered an Olympia fumble on the Apopka 39, Lewis rambled 61 yards for a touchdown to slam the door shut on any Olympia comeback. Athearn added the extra point and Apopka led, 33-14, with 10:59 left in the contest.

Apopka's defense continued its strong play, at one point sacking Dozier on three straight plays, leaving the Titans with a fourth-and-29.