Photos: Ocoee football shines in Boltus' debut -- Observer Preps

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OCOEE The Ocoee Knights jumped ahead early and stayed ahead in their spring football game May 19 against the University Cougars. Behind some timely offense and a stout defense, the Knights earned a 22-0 win in Jason Boltus’ head coaching debut.

Jason Boltus made his debut as the Knights' head coach in Ocoee's spring football game May 19.

“(The team) did a great job in all phases,” Boltus said. “They took the practice we did for four weeks and put it into the game and I’m extremely proud of each and everyone of them.”

Rising senior quarterback Myles Holder opened the scoring for the Knights, connecting with fellow rising senior Garrett Duffina on a 20-yard touchdown pass to put Ocoee up 6-0 with 9:19 left in the first quarter.

The two would connect again for another touchdown, this time in the second quarter, to put the Knights up 13-0 heading into halftime.

“It’s phenomenal having some senior leadership,” Boltus said of Holder and Duffina’s performance. “(Those are a) couple of guys that have been in the system for two, three years now, and it’s finally paying off.”

Rising junior Lentz Napoleon extended the Knights' lead to 16 points on a 35-yard field goal with 8:09 left in the third. Rising junior Nathaniel Fonseca rounded out the Knights' scoring on a three-yard quarterback-keeper with 1:10 left in the third, putting Ocoee up by the final score of 22-0.

Both teams put in their second string units in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Knights forced two turnovers on fumbles and were a constant presence in University’s backfield, stopping multiple runs behind the line of scrimmage.

“(The) defense did a great job,” said Boltus. “The coaches have been working tremendously hard trying to implement some new stuff we put in, and they translated the practice to the field. It’s hard when you only have such a short amount of time, and they did it in about three-and-a-half weeks.

"We’re extremely proud of these kids and they worked hard and they deserve it.”

Nate Marrero is a graduating senior at Ocoee High school and an aspiring sports journalist.