What We Learned: Week One

Legacy Charter 61, Faith Christian 49

Not a bad way to start the season for the Eagles (1-0, 1-0), beating a Faith Christian program (0-1, 0-1) that many believe is an immediate contender in its inaugural season in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference.

Legacy senior quarterback Colton Liddell threw for 361 yards in the air and three touchdowns while picking up another 171 yards on the ground — and another three touchdowns.

Dr. Phillips 24, Timber Creek 13

A far cry from Dr. Phillips’ 35-0 rout of Timber Creek a season ago, Friday’s opener between the Panthers and Wolves saw a very competitive game.

Dr. Phillips, widely regarded as a state title contender, struggled in the first half with containing Timber Creek and running back Jacques Patrick — the No. 3 senior running back in the nation according to ESPN Recruiting.

“Everything went their way in the first half,” head coach Rodney Wells said. “Everybody talked about last year … and it’s hard to tell these guys that last year is not this year.”

What the Panthers did have going for them was a defense that was particularly effective in the second half and newcomer Daquan Isom. Isom, a transfer running back from Apopka, piled up 144 yards and scored a touchdown in his debut with the program.

“He’s a spark plug — we’ve just got to find ways to get him the ball,” Wells said.

CFCA 44, Ocala Christian 3

A big win for the Eagles was, more importantly, a big win for the team’s offense.

After looking out of sorts in the preseason, Friday’s game was a completely different story as CFCA led 30-0 by the end of the first quarter.

And it’s not as though Ocala Christian was a win-less team a season ago — the Crusaders went  5-5 in 2013 and the Eagles only defeated Ocala Christian by two in their meeting that season, 28-26.

Colonial 34, Ocoee 0

You might say the Grenadiers returned the favor from a season ago.

In 2013, Ocoee cruised to a 27-0 win over Colonial, providing a positive start to the season.

This season isn’t off to such a positive start after the Knights were dominated on the road. Ocoee will have to get better on both sides of the ball — and fast — if it wants to avoid a similar fate against a formidable University team on Friday.