UCF Knights stick with Holman for season opener

The last time the Knights played South Carolina State, Kevin Smith had just punched his 24k golden ticket to the NFL, and UCF was fresh off a bowl game. They would beat the Bulldogs 17-0 in that 2008 season opener at the Bright House. In that game, another NFL-bound UCF running back, Latavius Murray, took the ball for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

Can the Knights do it again? They’ll have to break an 0-12 streak from last year, for starters. The Knights’ second winless season in former head coach George O’Leary’s tenure saw them dogged with what was continually the worst offense in the nation. With new head coach Scott Frost at the helm, the Knights have promised a faster, more dynamic offense.

That change will be helped by a more experienced Knights squad compared to last season’s team, which started 2015 already one of the nation’s youngest, and was decimated by injuries to force even more inexperienced players on the field.

But among the most experienced Knights to return to the field will be senior Justin Holman, who has battled to maintain his position as the Knights’ go-to quarterback the past two seasons. He got the nod this week to take the Knights onto the field after a disastrous 2015 season that saw him knocked out for four games with a badly broken throwing hand index finger, from which he didn’t fully recover.

He’ll be at full strength as the Knights debut a new spread offense and 3-4 defense, featuring a defensive line with no seniors, but a defensive secondary with eight returners.

They’ll face a SCSU team that went 7-4 last season and outscored their opponents by nearly double. The Bulldogs’ ambitious schedule has them facing Clemson in two weeks. They’ll have to get through the Knights first, debuting a new coaching era in their “First Frost” game kicking off at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Bright House, broadcast on ESPN3 and FM 96.9 and AM 740.

Winter Park football

Winter Park Wildcats started their season off with a disappointing loss to Lake Nona Friday night, falling 27-26 after leading at halftime.

It was a game of wild swings in scoring, as the Wildcats (0-1) watched the Lions (1-0) go up 14-0 in the first quarter on two quick touchdowns to open up the game into what looked like a burgeoning blowout.

That changed in a hurry in the second quarter as the Wildcats scored three unanswered touchdowns to overtake the Lions and end the first half with a 20-14 advantage. Then everything fell apart.

The Wildcats platooned two quarterbacks, Ethan Bullock and Cameron Legree, in the game, with Bullock going six for 10 and picking up the bulk of the Wildcats’ air yardage with 108 passing and a touchdown bomb to senior Dre Williams. Williams would collect 95 yards receiving in the game, racking up 59 more on just a single carry for a touchdown.

The rest of the Wildcats’ yardage came mostly on the ground, with the help of junior Legree, with 53 yards on 13 carries and a TD, and senior Jake Anderson picking up 31 yards on eight carries. Sophomore Paul Coutinho found the end zone with a one-yard dive. Senior Jordan Pouncey collected 68 yards on just three receptions, including a field-spanning 49-yarder that ended just shy of the end zone.

On the defensive end, some seniors put on a showcase, with Derek Barden leading the team with 12 tackles, plus Maverick Maensivu dropping 11 players on his own, with Jonathan Griffin-Heard and Kevince Brown tackling eight each, with Brown recording two sacks. Griffin-Heard also broke up five passes in the game, and returned a kickoff for 27 yards.

Despite the Wildcats’ efforts, by the end of the game it had become the Michael McFarlane show, with the Lions’ quarterback combining for 240 yards on the ground and in the air. McFarlane would prove the difference in the game, making the final run into the end zone to take the lead with less than two minutes remaining, as the Lions squeaked out a one-point win to down the Wildcats.

This week the Wildcats face West Orange (1-0), which obliterated Foundation Academy 36-3 last Friday. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday.

Edgewater football

The Eagles (0-1) were decimated by the reigning 5A state champion Bishop Moore Hornets (1-0) for the fourth year in a row Friday night, this time on their home field.

The cross-street rivalry game had seen close games in the past, but this one was a blowout as the Hornets hung 42 points on the scoreboard to Edgewater’s 6, making it the most lopsided game in the two teams’ history together.

The lone touchdown for the Eagles came on a 32-yard pass from quarterback Robert Harvey to receiver Quandarrius Whitfield near the end of the game, breaking up the shutout. Harvey threw for 151 yards in the game.

An ambitious schedule has the Eagles facing the always state-contending Apopka Blue Darters (1-0) who decimated Ocoee 62-7 last week. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday.