Apopka High School
November 10, 2006
Sandalwood 20, Blue Darters 18

By John Peery
Apopka Chief Staff

Apopka’s run through the playoffs ended sooner than expected Friday, November 17, when the Blue Darters fell to the Jacksonville Sandalwood Saints, 20-18, before about 3,000 at Roger Williams Field.

Trailing 18-7 just three minutes into the third period, Sandalwood (8-4) scored two touchdowns while holding Apopka (9-3) to no points over the final 21 minutes of the game. “We had every opportunity to win the game,” said Apopka coach Rick Darlington. “It was disappointing.”

The Blue Darters had two drives into the red zone that were fruitless and then, very uncharacteristically, gave up a game-winning 85-yard drive, something that hadn’t happened all season.
During the second quarter and for the first three minutes of the third, Apopka scored 18 unanswered points, taking advantage of some very good field position for the first score.

Sandalwood’s punting game suffered all night and following a 14-yard punt, the Blue Darters had a first down on the Sandalwood 24.
Behind 7-0 and facing a third-and-7 from the 21, running back Jeremy Rouse got a great block from fullback Travelle Davis, sealing off the end and allowing Rouse to use his speed to get around other would-be tacklers for the Apopka touchdown.
With placekicker and punter Robert Beary nursing injuries, Darlington elected to go for the two-point conversion and Rouse ran that in to give the Blue Darters an 8-7 lead with 11:15 remaining in the second period.

Later in the quarter, the teams traded interceptions on back-to-back plays and then, after another poor Sandalwood punt, this one just a 1-yarder, the Darters got the ball on their own 40 with 3:33 left in the first half.

The drive appeared to have stalled after just three plays, but Darlington broke into his bag of tricks as the Darters acted as if they had too many men on the field, but when Danny White ran toward the sideline, he stopped and caught a perfect pass from Jeremy Gallon, who was the up-back in the punt formation. That play went for 22 yards to the Sandalwood 36 and gave the Blue Darters new life.

With time running down and the Darters drove to the 19 before sending in Beary to try a 36-yard field goal, injured knees and all.
The senior nailed the field goal with ease, giving the Blue Darters an 11-7 lead going into the halftime.

Apopka scored early in the third period when Derrick L. Clark picked off a Sandalwood pass and then a Sandalwood penalty gave the Darters the ball on the Saints’ 16-yard line.
Four plays later, quarterback Andy Summerlin scored from the 1 and Beary’s extra point gave the Blue Darters an 18-7 lead with 8:55 left in the third period.

But, that was the last points for the Darters. Sandalwood had gone ahead on its first possession of the game when quarterback Albert Neavins passed 23 yards to Dustin Dixon for a touchdown on a fourth-and-10.

The Saints started their second-half comeback after Apopka had gone ahead 18-7 when Neavins threw the second of his three touchdown passes, this one a 44-yarder to Pierre Gathers, his only catch of the game. The extra point trimmed Apopka’s lead to 18-14 with 1:15 left in the third period.

When the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, Apopka began its drive on its own 35 and marched to the Sandalwood 15-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-2 from there, the Darters elected to go for the first down, but Davis was stuffed for no gain.

Despite eschewing the field goal and not successful on fourth down, Apopka still had Sandalwood bottled up at its own 15-yard line and down by four points.

But, the Saints then did something no other team had done all season and that is drive 85 yards for a touchdown against the Apopka defense. And most of the damage came on the ground, as the Saints rushed for 71 yards on the scoring drive that would oust Apopka from the playoffs.

Neavins ended the drive when he tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to Dixon with 3:14 left in the game. Apopka’s Reggie Haynes blocked the extra point, giving the Darters life as a field goal would win it for Apopka.

However, Sandalwood got its best kickoff of the night that Gallon fielded and downed, thinking he was in the end zone. However, the officials ruled he was at the 1-yard line when his knee touched the ground, backing up the Blue Darters. Apopka managed just 11 yards before giving the ball up on downs, ending the season for the Darters.