- October 9, 2024
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On a night when Dr. Phillips High's homecoming royalty was crowned, the Panthers football team took one more step toward its coronation as West, Southwest Orange's top team after beating a very talented Ocoee High team, 21-7, and remaining undefeated in the early season.
"I'm excited about (this win)," said Dr. Phillips coach Rodney Wells. "This is a tough week. Every (high school) coach, probably in the nation ... hates homecoming. This homecoming week, we had festivities all week. They're thinking about the dance and thinking about this and that. It's just a lot of distractions this week, along with not just us but everybody else in Florida not having time on the practice field. We probably had an hour, maybe, each day. So it was sloppy, but it's a good win."
Led by its rushing attack — with two touchdowns on the night — and defensive front, the Panthers (3-0) grinded out this victory in a slow and choppy game riddled with penalties and stoppages.
Early on, however, it appeared this game might turn into a shootout when the Ocoee (2-2) offense took advantage of an interception from defensive back Lawrence Curry and drove the ball inside the 10-yard line.
After failing to convert on a third down attempt, the Knights decided to forgo a field goal attempt and try to take full advantage of the red zone scoring opportunity and go for it on fourth down from the nine-yard line.
Panthers defensive back Xayvion Mincey blew that idea up with a sack of the Ocoee quarterback to force a turnover on downs.
On the following drive, the DP offense, led by QB and Middle Tennessee commit Stanley Anderson-Lofton, put the first points of the night on the board. With less than two minutes left in the first quarter, Anderson-Lofton found receiver Mykel Calixte, a Central Michigan commit, on the long pitch-and-catch touchdown.
For the majority of the second quarter, neither side could get much going on the offensive side of the ball. That is until DP running back Kenorris White punched in a rushing touchdown with 2:52 left in the first half; and following an interception by the Panthers' defense on the next drive, DP's other RB Amari Major punched in the third and final Panther TD of the night on a short run with 25 seconds left in the half.
After a successful two-point conversion, from Anderson-Lofton to receiver Cam Dixon, DP led 21-0 going into the half. The second half, though, was a different story for the Panthers' offense.
"We were feeling well (at the half)," Wells said. "We knew we would come out and get a stop, we just needed a drive ... but penalties just kept backing us up, backing us up. We were 2nd and 20, 3rd and 15, and it's hard to play football like that. So I wish we could clean up all the penalties and finish the game offensively. But obviously, again, we have to get more practice time."
The Panthers will need that practice time this week, as the road doesn't get easier in Week Five with Seminole County powerhouse Lake Mary High and its Notre Dame commit quarterback Noah Grubbs comes to Bill Spoone Stadium Friday, Sept. 20.
Despite suffering its second loss of the season, Ocoee coach Buck Gurley liked the fight he saw from his players, he just wants his young team to tighten up a few things.
"We still have the grit in us," Gurley said. "The discipline wasn't there today. We jumped offside a lot of times, we didn't get lined up correctly on offense a lot of times. We have to go back to the basics of football."
Gurley recognizes a lot of the difficulty his team faced had to do with the opponents, but that's not stopping him from pushing them to get better.
"Kudos to DP and their coaching staff, they did a really good job of preparing for us," he said. "We just have to go back to the drawing board, because we have a lot of young guys and we have to find out where we're going to put them and how they're going to be able to make plays for us. We have a lot of good weapons on our side, they just have to believe in themselves. That's on us coaches. We have to make sure that we're pulling the best out of them."
The Knights will be on the road at Boone High in Week Five.
