Seminole upends Apopka 43-18
Senior Night is supposed to be about memories.
Seminole didn’t waste any time making one.
On the Seminoles’ first offensive play Friday night, quarterback Daniel Proenza dropped back and connected with Kadin Pierce-Flores, who turned the pass into a touchdown and immediately sent the home crowd into celebration.
It was the beginning of a night that belonged almost entirely to Seminole.
Playing in front of family, friends and a packed Senior Night crowd, the Seminoles overwhelmed Apopka early, built a 33-0 halftime advantage and rolled to a 43-18 victory.
“First play, yeah, crazy,” Seminole coach Karl Calhoun Jr. said. “Kadin Pierce-Flores — great player — we wanted to get him going. He’s an explosive player. He got a little hitch and he made a guy miss, and he can go to the house. That’s exactly what he did.”
The victory pushed Seminole to 6-0 and, more importantly to Calhoun, gave the Seminoles their first district victory of the season.
For a night designed to recognize the players nearing the end of their high school careers, Seminole gave its seniors a first half they won’t soon forget.
The Seminoles scored in nearly every imaginable way — through the air, on the ground and after their defense repeatedly handed the offense favorable field position.
By halftime, it was 33-0.
The starting unit’s work was essentially finished.
Seminole piled up 521 yards of total offense, including 336 through the air and another 185 rushing, while scoring six touchdowns. The Seminoles committed just one turnover.
Proenza directed the first-half surge, completing 11 of 17 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns.
Pierce-Flores made the most of his opportunities, finishing with two receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns, giving Seminole an explosive presence on the outside that Apopka struggled to contain.
“We saw some things we wanted to exploit in the pass game,” Calhoun said. “We came out and tried to attack that a little bit, get our quarterback and our receivers going. The protection was good and we were able to make some throws.
“We missed some — missed some that I didn’t like — but overall we did connect on enough.”
More than enough.
The offense grabbed the attention, but Seminole’s defense helped turn the first half into a rout.
The Seminoles blocked a punt, recovered multiple fumbles, intercepted a pass and continually pressured the Apopka backfield. One turnover gave Seminole the ball at the Apopka 17-yard line, where Tyree Howard eventually punched it in from 9 yards out.
Later in the second quarter, Seminole intercepted an Apopka pass deep in Blue Darters territory, setting up another touchdown.
Then came another Apopka fumble.
And another Seminole scoring opportunity.
It became that kind of night.
The Seminoles’ defensive front spent much of the opening half in the Apopka backfield, piling up sacks and tackles for loss while preventing the Blue Darters from establishing any rhythm.
Zachariah Lewis led the defensive effort with six tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks. Ethan Varnadore added four tackles for loss and 2½ sacks, while Joseph “Jojo” Waston IV recorded an interception. Kendrick Miles Jr. contributed two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
With the outcome largely decided, Seminole was able to turn much of the second half over to its reserves.
Apopka finally broke through after halftime, scoring three times against a Seminole team that had already removed its starters, but the margin was never seriously threatened.
Seminole added another touchdown in the third quarter before Honor Loureiro connected on a 32-yard field goal in the fourth to complete the Seminoles’ scoring.
For Calhoun, however, the most important number when the night ended wasn’t 43.
It was six.
As in 6-0.
“It feels good to be 6-0,” Calhoun said. “We got our first win in the district. That’s all that matters. So as we go into this week, the goal is to get healthy, get focused, get mentally prepared to finish out our schedule and continue to make a run in the district.”
And what awaits on the other side of the bye week adds another layer to the story.
Seminole returns Oct. 9 for Homecoming against Lake Mary — one of the program’s biggest rivals.
Homecoming alone brings enough emotion and distraction. Add a rivalry game, district implications and an unbeaten Seminole team, and the atmosphere figures to be considerably different from an ordinary Friday night.
Calhoun knows it.
“Oh, man. It’s going to be amazing,” Calhoun said. “Homecoming against Lake Mary, we know they’ll be prepared. We’ll be prepared as well.”
For Seminole, the challenge during the bye week will be keeping the emotion surrounding Homecoming and the rivalry from becoming bigger than the game itself.
Calhoun’s message is simple.
Go 1-0.
“Our guys need to be thinking about going 1-0 for the week,” Calhoun said. “We could be 2-0 in the district. That’s all that matters. All the festivities are great, and it’s fine. But we’ve got to do a job and win a football game on Oct. 9.”
That game can wait.
Friday night belonged to Seminole’s seniors.
On a night created to celebrate everything they have given to the program, they walked onto their home field one more time, watched the Seminoles strike immediately and headed into halftime with a 33-point advantage.
Then they got to spend much of the second half watching the next group finish what they had started.
For Senior Night, it was difficult to script it much better.
Seminole 43, Apopka 18.
Six games into the season, the Seminoles remain unbeaten.
And after a week away from the field, one of the biggest games on Seminole’s schedule will be waiting.
Homecoming. Lake Mary. Rivalry night.
