After five personal foul penalties, two separate fights and one player ejection, the Colts were able to answer the final bell for a hard fought 20-14 win.
The contest started with a 55 yard kick-off return by Avery Jones. OMS took two plays to hit paydirt from there with Alex King going in from 19 yards out. The two point conversion failed and Ocoee lead quickly, 6-0 with 6:51 remaining in first quarter action.
Ocoee’s defense set the pace of the game with a quick interception by Kylar Lynn on the Bruins third play from scrimmage. The Bruins defense responded to force the turnover on downs five plays later.
LFMS quarterback Allen hit Humphries for a 70 yard touchdown pass with 6:16 left in the half to even the game at 6-all.
OMS came back swinging with Josh Jones hitting Avery Jones for a 61-yard strike. Tyler Carpenter stepped in at quarterback for the Colts and connected with Avery Jones on an 11-yard toss to knock on the door of another score. However, the Bruin defense once more stoped the Colts inside the red zone forcing yet another turnover on downs, leaving the scored tied at the half.
During its first scoring drive of the second half Ocoee gained some momentum as Avery Jones was the target for an 86-yard touchdown pass. The two point conversion was no good and with 41.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter, OMS led 12-6.
The fourth quarter started with a Bruin turnover, which set up set up the final Colt score of the night.
Grinding the ball out with the except of one 12-yard pass from Josh Jones to Ben Clark, OMS stayed on the ground to chew up the clock. With 4:24 remaining, Kylar Lynn scampered in from eight yards out for the touchdown. Alex King capped the long scoring drive with the two point conversion.
Not willing to surrender, Lake Forest’ Allen returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a quick touchdown and cut the Ocoee to just six points.
Lake Forest had one more shot to tie the game when it got the ball back with 91 seconds remaining, but were unable to convert.
Ocoee coach Ronnie Weir said after the game, “We have looked better. We could have quit again tonight but we didn’t. We’ve been sick this past week, had some key injuries, its hot and muggy. We lost a couple to leg cramps late in the game. It would have been easy to pack up and go home but we didn’t.”
As for how the game was played, Weir said, “our QB’s did a good job tonight; Ben Clark stepped up and played a phenomenal game. He was there when we needed him. Our offensive line gave our quarterbacks some time tonight and our defensive line disrupted what Lake Forest was trying to do. This was a great, great team effort.”
On the night, Ocoee quarterbacks Josh Jones and Carpenter combined for nine completions for 193 yards and a score. Clark hauled in three passes for 39 yards. King scored a rushing touchdown and a two point conversion.
Lynn led the Colts with 55 rushing yards and a score. Avery Jones led all receivers with 152 yards, one touchdown reception and almost 100 return yards.
Ocoee will host their first home game Thursday night at Walker Valley High School as Boyd Buchanan comes calling. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
The undefeated seventh-grade Colts will also be playing host to the Buccaneers, starting the double-header at 5 p.m.
