Football Game Preview: Lake Nona Hits the Road

By Team Reports Sep 3, 2024, 3:25am

Football Preview: Lake Nona Lions vs. Ocoee Knights

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The Lake Nona Lions will venture away from home to take on the Ocoee Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.

While Lions fans will have to keep waiting for their team to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Friday's season opener. They were the clear victor by a 28-3 margin over Horizon on Friday. The score was close at the half, but the Lions pulled away in the second half with 28 points.

The critical scores for Lake Nona came from Jordan Stokes, Kendrell Kimmons, and Stephen Lindsay.

Lake Nona was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 230 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 150 rushing yards in seven consecutive matchups dating back to last season.

Lake Nona wouldn't let Horizon keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Lake Nona can thank Cristian Cuffy and Gavin Kennedy for forcing both of them. Cuffy didn't just play on offense: he also forced a fumble and made nine total tackles. Dalten Phelan was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making 19 total tackles (6.0 for loss).

Ocoee never got on the board in their matchup last Saturday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Olympia last Friday. They breezed by the Titans at home to the tune of 53-10. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 128th, while the Titans are ranked 258th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Ocoee found their leader in underclassman Diego De Pina, who picked up two sacks and made seven total tackles (4.0 for loss).

On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Ocoee's defense and their three sacks. De Pina was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself. He also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, picking up two sacks and making seven total tackles (4.0 for loss).

Lake Nona couldn't quite finish off Ocoee in their previous meeting back in September of 2019 and fell 30-27. Can Lake Nona avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps