Apopka High School
August 25, 2006
Blue Darters 3, Lake Brantley 7

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

With both defenses dominating, Lake Brantley’s offense made one more play than did Apopka’s Friday, August 25, in the Patriots’ 7-3 victory over the Blue Darters (0-1) in the season opener for both teams.

About 5,500 fans watched at Apopka’s Roger Williams Field as the teams traded punts and had only a few plays of offensive movement. The game came down to one great catch by Lake Brantley’s Rhett Hamrick on a 30-yard pass play from quarterback Carl Randolph, who spent the past two seasons on Apopka’s team, some of that time as quarterback.

The play broke a 0-0 tie with 8:09 left in the second period and would be enough for the victory for the Patriots. “The defense played well enough to win,” said Apopka coach Rick Darlington.
He cited dropped passes and first-half penalties as big culprits in Apopka’s loss. Following his viewing of the game film, Darlington said Apopka had 13 dropped passes.

“Although it’s a bitter pill to swallow, I think it’s going to be good medicine,” he said of the loss. Apopka managed its only points when Robert Beary, sprained ankle and all, kicked a 26-yard field goal with 41.4 seconds remaining in the second period.
It ended Apopka’s most successful drive of the game, one that started at the Apopka 46-yard line.

While the Blue Darters struggled against the Lake Brantley defense most of the game, they moved 45 yards in six plays on the scoring drive, getting to Lake Brantley’s 9-yard line before running out of downs and calling on Beary to kick the 26-yard field goal late in the first half.

Beary was able to kick the three-pointer despite having twisted his left ankle in the first period. The sprained ankle kept him from playing on defense or offense, but he still managed several long punts for the Darters, helping keep the Patriots from having good field position.

Apopka had one other solid drive in the second half, but it stalled deep in Lake Brantley territory. On the Darters’ second possession of the game, Apopka drove from its own 20 to the Patriots’ 15 before going backward.

The Darters’ passing offense worked well on this drive on four plays as quarterback Andy Summerlin connected on passes to Jeremy Gallon, Derrick A. Clark, Jeremy Rouse, and Beary. The drive stalled, however, and the Darters turned the ball over on downs at the Lake Brantley 30.

Lake Brantley’s scoring drive came after a fake punt by the Darters was stopped short on the Patriots’ 40. Three plays later, Apopka’s defense forced a Lake Brantley punt, but the Darters had 12 men on the field on the play. The 15-yard penalty gave the Patriots a first down on the Apopka 49 and three plays later, Randolph lofted the touchdown pass to Hamrick, who outleaped Apopka’s Derrick A. Clark, who was playing defensive back.

While each team had a few flashes on offense, the numbers prove that the defenses were dominant. Apopka rushed for just 12 yards on 20 attempts while they gained 104 yards through the air. Summerlin was 8-for-26.

Lake Brantley’s vaunted triple option rushing game was held to 89 yards on 41 attempts by the Apopka defense. The Patriots had 59 yards passing. Randolph was 5-for-14 with the one touchdown. He had two interceptions.

Neither team seriously threatened to score in the second half, but the Patriots did take 6:02 off the third-quarter clock by driving from its own 23 to the Apopka 21 before punting from the Apopka 32.