Apopka High School
September 15, 2006
Blue Darters 47, Ocoee 12

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

When next-door rivals Apopka and Ocoee met Friday, September 15, in the first District 6A-4 game for each team, there were questions abounding.

Would 3-0 Ocoee, a second-year school, be able to beat the traditionally powerful Blue Darters? Would Apopka’s offense, searching to find its true identity, be able to find itself? Would anyone score again on the Apopka defense?

The answers, in short order, were No, Yes, and Yes, as the Blue Darters scored touchdowns on their first two possessions en route to a 47-12 victory at Ocoee’s Homecoming game.

For Apopka, it meant improving its record to 3-1 overall, but more importantly, getting a 1-0 start in district competition. “Without a doubt, it’s big,” said Apopka coach Rick Darlington said of the district victory.

The Knights dropped to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in district play. Apopka’s offense, which was pass happy in its opening-game loss to Lake Brantley, 100 percent run-oriented in a shellacking of Cypress Creek, then somewhat balanced in its 17-0 victory over Dr. Phillips, was up and down the field against the Knights, gaining 500 total yards in an impressive show of balance. Apopka rushed for 304 yards and passed for 196 seemingly gaining yardage at will.

About the only thing that stopped the Apopka offense was a 41-minute lightning delay late in the second period. It sent much of the crowd of about 3,000 home, but about 1,000 returned for the rest of the game.

For Ocoee, the offense was built around the improving arm of quarterback Kingsley Barconey, who passed for 283 yards. He completed just 12-of-35 passes and Apopka snared three interceptions, but he and his receivers connected for gains of 54, 46, 36, 36, 31, and 20, among the 12 completions. “We gave up a lot of passing yardage,” Darlington said. “We’re not breaking on the ball.”

Barconey’s shortest pass completion, one of 3 yards, was the only one that went for an Ocoee score, but it got the Knights back in the game, pulling them to 14-6 late in the first period.

Prior to that, Apopka’s offense had dominated the game, scoring quickly the first two times it had the ball. Jeremy Gallon was Apopka’s biggest offensive weapon of the game, rushing for 158 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and snagging two passes for 98 yards. He started the game with a bang, scoring on a 32-yard run the first time he touched the ball, spinning out of a tackle on his way to the end zone. The extra point was no good and Apopka led, 6-0, with 8:28 left in the first period.

Apopka’s defense gave up a couple of first downs on Ocoee’s next possession, but then turned the ball over to the Apopka offense on downs.

The Blue Darters went right back to work, driving 73 yards in four plays. Gallon accounted for 60 yards, 16 on a run and 44 on a pass play from quarterback Andy Summerlin. Travelle Davis got the score, bulling in from three yards out. Gallon ran in the two-point conversion, giving Apopka a 14-0 lead with 4:39 left in the first.

Ocoee battled back, completing a couple of long pass plays to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Barconey to Leronte Hubbard with 1:45 remaining in the first quarter. The extra point was blocked, leaving the Darters with a 14-6 lead.

With Derrick Shaw running the Apopka offense on its next possession, the Blue Darters drove to the Ocoee 5-yard line before a five-yard penalty and a one-yard loss gave the Darters a 3rd-and-goal from the 11. On the third-down play, it first looked like a disaster, then a touchdown for the Darters, but it ended up just being a replayed down because of a penalty.

The play began with a loose ball after a pitch, then was knocked back toward midfield by an Ocoee player who was trying to recover the ball. At that point, Gallon, chasing the ball along with other players, scooped it up about the 40-yard line and outran the Ocoee defense to the end zone, but a holding penalty negated the score and the Darters ended the strange series with a 34-yard Robert Beary field goal, giving Apopka a 17-6 lead with 9:32 remaining in the second period.

With the rain returning, the Blue Darters still clicked on all cylinders on offense, moving 62 yards in eight plays. Summerlin played a big part in the drive, gaining 20 yards on a naked bootleg run and completing a 36-yard pass to Derrick L. Clark. Summerlin later ended the drive with a 1-yard run for a touchdown. Beary’s extra point gave the Blue Darters a 24-6 lead with 3:48 left in the second period.

After the kickoff and one Ocoee play, the game was halted with 3:11 left in the second quarter due to nearby lightning.
Following the 41-minute delay, the game restarted and Ocoee threatened, but could not get closer than the Apopka 33.

The Darters quickly drove to the Ocoee 12, but, lacking any remaining timeouts, ran out of time as the first half ended.
Apopka did, however, score in just four plays in their first possession of the third quarter. On the first Apopka play of the third, Summerlin’s pass to Gallon went for 65 yards to the Ocoee 7-yard line. Three plays later, Summerlin found Clark for a seven-yard score. Danny White ran the two-point conversion to give the Darters a 32-6 lead with 9:23 remaining in the third quarter.

The teams traded punts and turnovers -- the first turnover of the season for Apopka -- until the Blue Darters scored again, this time on a 52-yard run by Jeremy Rouse. Another White run for the two-point conversion gave Apopka a 40-6 lead with 1:51 left in the third period.

Ocoee broke Apopka’s scoring binge with a touchdown of its own on its next possession as Ryan Terrell bowled over from the 1. A two-point conversion pass failed and Apopka led 40-12 with 9:55 remaining in the game.

The final Apopka score came with 1:04 left when Rouse ran in from the 9-yard line. Beary’s extra point provided the final margin.