PHOTOS: Olympia returns refreshed to shut out Celebration

On Celebration’s football team’s first drive of the game, its quarterback, Landen Yaw, has his eyes set down field for his receiver. Olympia’s safety Ryder Flynn had other plans. 

Flynn swooped in, completed the interception and ran in back for a touchdown. Olympia took the lead of the game in just two minutes, and the team continued to push through all four quarters. 

“You would hope that the kids would build off that (start) and I think we did,” Olympia’s head coach Travis Gabriel said.

The Titans shut out its district opponents, Celebration, 38-0, Friday, Oct. 10. 

Olympia’s defense and special teams played a pivotal role in the storyline of the game. They tallied two interceptions, both of which led to a touchdown, recovered an on-side kick and most importantly, never allowed Celebration to score. 

“You can’t do any better than zero points,” Gabriel said. 

After resting in the team’s bye week, the players came out with a sense of urgency and fight. Aside from the two defensive touchdowns, running back Matthew Haynes rushed in one touchdown and wide receiver Steve Moore found the score board as well. 

By defeating Celebration, Olympia gathered its second win this year and is first district win. It was a feat Gabriel expects from his team and he knew the players were capable of it. The team simply needed to believe in themselves and have the drive to win. 

“Tonight I think they wanted to do it and they did it,” Gabriel said. “Hopefully they get that feeling to want to keep doing it…. That’s all I ask them to do is fight every play, every game.” 

HEADING FORWARD 

As with any game, mistakes were made from both sides of the ball, including flags, missed turnover opportunities and throwing an interception. Olympia wants to improve upon all elements of its skills in order to prepare for the next week.

“The rest of the season is going to be against some elite talent, against elite opponents. We have to rally from this and grow from this,” Gabriel said. 

He described Olympia’s next opponent as a “juggernaut” team. The Titans will host West Orange and need to be ready. 

To prepare for the Warriors, the Titans can focus in on growing from mistakes, including limiting turnovers and focusing on each and every play. Gabriel wants the players to push the win against Celebration to the side to look at the future, rather than the past.