Apopka High School
2006 Kickoff Classic Football Game
August 18, 2006
Blue Darters 46, Lyman 0

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

When Rick Darlington coached the Apopka Blue Darters to the 2001 Class 6A state championship, he was known as a coach who loved to have his team run the ball, disdaining the pass. That year, the Darters had eight touchdown passes in 15 games.

After three years in Valdosta, Ga., Darlington returned this year to coach the Blue Darters and his quarterback promptly threw five touchdown passes in the preseason Kickoff Classic, three in the first six minutes of the game, as the Blue Darters blasted the Lyman Greyhounds, 46-0, on Friday, August 18.

The game doesn’t count on either team’s records and the statistics are thrown out the window, but an incredibly quick start en route to the rout no doubt left Apopka players, coaches, and fans optimistic about the 2006 Blue Darters.

Apopka scored on its first two plays from scrimmage and would have made it three, if not for a holding call. The penalty only delayed the third touchdown by four plays, giving Apopka a 20-0 lead with 6:06 left in the first quarter.

The Blue Darters were also stellar on defense, allowing the Greyhounds just 83 yards rushing on 26 attempts with 39 of those yards coming on one run. Lyman was 0-for-8 in the passing department.

Apopka’s passing numbers were quite the opposite, as the Darters were 13-of-24 for 176 yards. Starting quarterback Andy Summerlin was 11-of-20 for 160 yards and those five touchdowns. His main targets were Derrick Clark and Derrick Clark.

The Lyman defense might have thought it was seeing double, but the two Clarks are half-brothers and Apopka fans can distinguish them by jersey numbers. Derrick A. Clark is No. 17 and is a senior; Derrick L. Clark is No. 12 and a junior.

No. 17 Clark caught four of Summerlin’s touchdown passes, including a pair of stellar catches, one of them a one-handed snare and the other a leap over the Lyman defender, who had Clark covered, or so he thought. This Clark caught six passes for 73 yards.

No. 12 Clark had his own nice touchdown catch and ended the game with three catches for 50 yards. “For the most part, we threw and caught pretty good,” Darlington said. “It was a good start; we have to keep it going.”
Ever the coach, Darlington said that “consistency” was one of the things the Darters needed to work on because after streaking to a 27-0 lead just five seconds in the second period, the Darters had two non-scoring drives in that quarter.

Even the stars of the game, Summerlin and No. 17 Clark, handed out credit to others. “Andy put it right on target and I just jumped up and got it,” Clark said about his third touchdown catch of the game, a leaping snag over a Lyman defender.

Summerlin, meanwhile, lamented the two drives in the second period that resulted in no points for the Blue Darters. “We missed some opportunities,” he said. “We know we can score. We want to score every drive. It was unacceptable (the non-scoring drives).”

But he did hand out some roses. “The O (offensive) line did a great job,” Summerlin said, as any smart, effective quarterback would do. Summerlin got great protection on Apopka’s first play from scrimmage when, after the Darter defense forced a three-and-out for the Greyhounds, he found a wide open Derrick A. Clark over the middle for a 48-yard touchdown pass with 10:04 left in the first period. The two-point conversion try failed.

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, a Lyman fumble was recovered on the 17 by defensive lineman Tim Davis. Once again, it took just one play for the Darters to find the end zone as Summerlin found Derrick L. Clark on a fade pattern for the 17-yard score with 9:42 left in the first period. Robert Beary added the extra point, giving Apopka a 13-0 lead after having just 15 seconds of ball possession in the game.

Another three plays and a punt forced by the Apopka defense gave the Darters the ball at the Lyman 42. Summerlin found running back Jeremy Gallon on a screen pass and he went the distance, but a holding call brought the ball back to the 41 and the Darters took four plays this time to get back into the end zone. It was another Summerlin-to-Derrick A. Clark TD pass play. It was only for one yard, but Clark’s one-handed grab was made for a highlight reel.

Beary’s extra point gave the Darters a 20-0 lead with 6:06 left in the first period. Lyman managed one of its three first downs on its next drive before Apopka recovered another fumble on the Greyhounds’ 36 with 1:53 left in the first period.

Apopka went the 36 yards in just five plays with the touchdown an 8-yard slant pass play from Summerlin to, you guessed it, Derrick A. Clark.

When Beary added the extra point, Apopka held a 27-0 lead just five seconds in the second period. The Blue Darters didn’t threaten again in the first half and even had to punt in the middle of the second quarter. And, after the first possession of the third quarter ended with a punt for Apopka, the Darters got the offense cranked up at the Lyman 42 when the Greyhounds failed on a fake punt attempt.

Eight plays later, Clark went up high to out jump the Lyman defender on a 7-yard TD pass from Summerlin. After a couple of penalties, the extra point attempt was no good and Apopka led, 33-0, with 4:36 left in the third period.

With Derrick Shaw at quarterback, the Darters didn’t miss a beat on their next possession, driving 29 yards in six plays for the score. Shaw ran the ball over from the 1 with 11:15 left in the game, starting the so-called mercy clock. Beary added the extra point to give the Darters the 40-0 lead.

On the next Apopka possession, Caleb Nelson quarterbacked the Darters and scored on a nice 27-yard run with about 45 seconds left in the game. The extra point try was not attempted as time ran out.