By Ron White
Maxpreps.com
In less than a minute, DeLand football fans went from discouraged to frenzied last Friday in a game that ended with the Bulldogs making all of the right moves.
The deck was stacked against DeLand after Jacksonville Mandarin stretched its lead to 28-14 in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs, though, refused to let their hopes for a playoff spot out of District 6A-1 fade away. With less than a minute to play, DeLand sophomore running back Deante Saunders scored to make it 28-21.
Then the true magic began. Bulldogs’ first-year coach Kevin Pettis elected to try an onside kick. DeLand senior defensive back Vince Coleman recovered the ball, and senior quarterback Justin Roberts fired a pass to move the Bulldogs’ to the 2-yard line, where senior fullback Nick Ciciarelli plowed in to make it 28-27. With all the cards coming up aces, Pettis passed on the extra-point kick in favor of a two-point conversion. Senior Mike Gillislee got the call, and he rushed into the end zone for a 29-28 win.
Gillislee, a University of Florida recruit, rushed for 200 yards and a touchdown, and Saunders added more than 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who had plenty of offense but committed six turnovers.
The win sets up a wild playoff battle in 6A-1. While DeLand was busy pulling off a very special Halloween trick, Port Orange Spruce Creek was celebrating another win. Senior quarterback Shane Peludat topped the 1,000-yard mark with 205 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also ran for a score to help the Hawks pound on district foe Deltona, 39-0.
Creek (6-2, 3-1) is now tied with DeLand (4-4, 3-1) and Mandarin (6-3, 3-1) for the district championship, and the signs seem to indicate the three might be knotted still after district play wraps up this Friday. DeLand faces a Flagler Palm Coast team struggling through a rare down season. Meanwhile, Spruce Creek faces a winless Jacksonville Sandalwood team, and Mandarin plays at Deltona, a 6-3 team that has earned most of its wins against poor teams. Deltona, in fact, has lost to both Creek and DeLand.
If DeLand, Mandarin and Spruce Creek win on Friday, the three teams will battle in a three-way playoff tie-breaker format game on Nov. 10 at Spruce Creek. The host site is determined by overall win percentage.
Mandarin and DeLand would play a one-quarter game. The loser would be eliminated from playoff contention. The winner would advance to face Spruce Creek in a one-quarter game to determine which of the two is the district champ and which is the runner-up.
Districts 6A-2, 6A-3
There’s much more clarity in District 6A-2 and District 6A-3. In 6A-2, Ray Ray Armstrong scored twice on the run and once on a 20-yard pass to Dyron Dye to lift Sanford Seminole to a 35-14 win against visiting Lake Brantley.
The Seminoles (6-2, 3-0) notched the district championship, which puts the Patriots (5-3, 3-1) on the road for the first week of the playoffs as the district runner-up. The Patriots will play the District 6A-1 champs, and talented senior running back Antonio Miles will seek to add to his career total, which moved above the 4,000-yard mark with his 100-plus yard game against Seminole.
The Seminoles, who got a 77-yard touchdown on an Andre Debose kickoff return in the win against the Patriots, host the 6A-1 runner-up.
In 6A-3, Orlando’s Timber Creek notched a district championship with a 30-14 win against Colonial. Timber Creek led just 13-7 at the half, but they outscored the host school 17-7 in the second half. It was Timber Creek’s fifth straight win after a 1-2 start. Timber Creek (6-2, 3-0).
Winter Park (4-4, 3-1) defeated Orlando Evans 15-14 to remain in the hunt for the 6A-3 runner-up slot. This Friday, Orlando Edgewater (4-4, 3-1) will attempt to avoid missing the playoffs when the Eagles travel to Winter Park. The winner notches that valuable runner-up slot.
6A-4: East Ridge Surprises Apopka
In 6A-4, last Friday brought the week’s biggest surprise. Clermont East Ridge defeated Apopka 21-13. It was the second-fewest points allowed by the East Ridge defense in nine games. Jeremy Wright topped the 2,000-yard mark with another big day.
East Ridge (8-1, 4-0) has won eight straight. Apopka (7-2, 3-1) is the district runner-up and will play at Timber Creek in the first round of the 6A playoffs.
Meanwhile, East Ridge, whose only loss was a season-opening 24-20 game at Bushnell South Sumter, will host this Friday’s Winter Park-Edgewater winner.
Video: Wright helps East Ridge surprise Apopka
6A-5: Boone Meets Dr. Phillips
There are certainly no issues about which team is best in District 6A-5. Boone won 35-7 against Freedom on Halloween to improve to 8-0. The Braves are now 3-0 in the district and have won an amazing 18 straight regular-season games. They are ranked third in the state’s most recent AP poll and could move up to the top spot this week.
Boone, though, has yet to seal a district title, and they’ll get one big test this Friday. Dr. Phillips (7-1, 3-0) plays to unleash some Nico Ranieri passes this Friday, when the Panthers host Boone to determine which team earns the district title and which heads to the road in the first round of the 6A playoffs. DP is coming off a 22-14 win against Orlando Oak Ridge.
Dr. Phillips has been strong on offense, but the team hasn’t shut down many opponents. Several of the Panthers’ games have been close.
5A: Lakeland, Mainland Looking Strong
In 5A, Lakeland improved to 8-0 and 2-0 in District 8 with a 28-15 win against Ridge Community. The Dreadnaughts have been strong as usual, but this isn’t the same team that tore through the competition over the past few years.
Lakeland has won three games less than a touchdown, and the team will be tested on Friday against Kissimmee Osceola. The two teams battle to determine which is the champ and which is the runner-up in the four-team district. Osceola (6-2) is on a five-game win streak and lost just 16-14 to East Ridge on Sept. 12.
In District 5A-4, Daytona Beach Mainland continues to roll. The Bucs are 8-0 after defeating district foe Oviedo Hagerty 28-7 last Friday. They are also 3-0 in their district, good enough to lock up a district championship even before this Friday’s district finale against Longwood Lyman.
Hagerty, though, is not yet out of the district runner-up race. In fact, they’ll play at Deltona Pine Ridge on Friday to determine which team wins that designation. Pine Ridge (7-1, 2-1) is on a four-game win streak and hasn’t lost since falling 34-6 to Mainland on Sept. 26. Hagerty (3-5, 2-1) has been mediocre at best. The team defeated a winless Lake Howell 20-10 a few weeks ago, which means that Pine Ridge is the favorite to notch the district title. Panthers’ coach Robert Braucht, though, wasn’t happy with his team’s laid-back attitude in a 26-20 win against rival DeLand on Oct. 17, and his team will need its focus to ensure it makes the playoffs this Friday.
Other Districts
In District 4A-7, St. Cloud won its seventh straight game with a 41-12 drubbing of Celebration to move to 3-0 in district play. The team, though, is not yet a district champ. That will be decided this Friday, when St. Cloud plays at Harmony (4-4, 2-1).
The same night, Bishop Moore (5—3, 2-1) plays at Eustis. But Bishop Moore will also be monitoring the situation at Harmony. A loss could make Bishop Moore a district runner-up. A Harmony win sets up a three-way tie for first place that will require a Nov. 10 tiebreaker playoff game.
South Sumter has locked up a district title in 2A-4. The team is now 8-1. Its only loss was a 41-14 game at Nature Coast Tech in Brooksville on Oct. 17, and its first win was against 6A powerhouse Clermont East Ridge. Mount Dora (5-2, 2-1) and Jones (5-3, 2-1) play Friday to decide the district runner-up.
In Class 1A, Orlando First Academy continued its hot streak with a 38-22 win against Deltona Trinity Christian last Friday. OFA has won five straight since falling 20-17 to Melbourne Holy Trinity on Sept. 26. Holy Trinity (6-2, 1-1) can force a three-way tie for first place with a win Friday against Daytona Beach Father Lopez. Florida Air (4-4, 2-1) would be the third team of the trio. In such a case, First Academy would host the tiebreaker game on Nov. 10.
Class 1B features this Friday’s Trinity Christian game against Daytona Beach Warner Christian. The winner is the district champ. The loser is the runner-up.