The Ocala Christian Crusaders will challenge the Lake Mary Prep Griffins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Ocala Christian has six straight victories, Lake Mary Prep has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Ocala Christian is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: Saint Francis Catholic Academy, who was ranked 15th at the time (Ocala Christian was ranked seventh). The Crusaders strolled past the Wolves with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 38-20.
It was another big night for Joshua Davis, who rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 9.1 yards per carry. He really tore up the turf during one magnificent 73-yard run. The team also got some help courtesy of Vincent Perrella, who rushed for 84 yards and one TD.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Ocala Christian was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 326 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 215 rushing yards in 15 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Another reason for the win was Ocala Christian's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Perrella and Derrick Mcgill, who racked up six sacks between them.
Meanwhile, while it was Lake Mary Prep who put the first points on the board on Friday, it was All Saints' Academy who put up more. The Griffins fell just short of the Saints by a score of 30-28. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Griffins have suffered since September 13, 2024.
Lake Mary Prep's loss dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Ocala Christian, their win bumped their record up to 6-2.
Ocala Christian skirted past Lake Mary Prep 14-11 in their previous meeting back in September of 2024. Will the Crusaders repeat their success, or do the Griffins have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
