DISTRICT CHAMPS

Football stuns undefeated Edgewater to clinch second district championship

Bryson Turner, Online Editor|October 29, 2018

photo by Peyton Sutch

Wingback D.J. McCunney rushed for 38 yards on 9 carries in the varsity team’s 31-15 Homecoming victory over Edgewater.

The varsity football team marked homecoming and Senior Night by upsetting Orlando Sentinel No. 1 Edgewater, 31-15, to capture a second district championship. The win also elevates the team to a 6-3 overall record and a 5-1 district record.

“We did something that nobody believed was possible,” quarterback Sammy Cordero said. “We came out there and we just got it done.”

The tone for the game was set on Edgewater’s very first possession: quarterback R.J. Harvey threw an interception to defensive back Ian Watts. In the only other turnover of the game, Watts recovered a fumble by Edgewater running back Isaiah Connelly late in the third quarter, which was forced by defensive lineman Andrew Sauvao.

“We’ve been the underdog the whole season,” Watts said. “No one thought we’re going to put up a fight. We did.”

Edgewater also could not solve Hagerty’s rushing attack, which amassed 306 yards with touchdowns by Cordero, Watts and tailbacks Jordan Gilbert and Ethan Lopez, the latter getting his first touchdown as a varsity player.

“It’s a great feeling to be district champs and be going to the playoffs after all the doubt,” Gilbert said.

After losing to Lake Brantley, Oviedo and East Ridge, and narrowly escaping Lake Minneola, West Port, and Ocoee, it would have been easy to write Hagerty off, especially going against a team that was undefeated and has beaten district opponents by a combined score of 247-48 to that point.

“This team here overcame a lot of adversity, more than any team I’ve ever had,” head coach Phil Ziglar said. “You can’t ask anything from young men better than that.”

After 42 years of coaching, there are certain games that Ziglar remembers a bit more than others. These games go into something he calls “the book.”

“The book is when a coach has a lot of games that he just cherishes,” Ziglar said. “This is one of those games.”

The team now has one more game on the road against Timber Creek before they learn who their playoff opponent will be on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. during the “Drive to December” bracket-reveal special on WRDQ-Channel 27.

UPDATE: The team will host No.5 seed Robert E. Lee on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE:

PASSING RUSHING
PLAYER C/ATT YARDS TD INT PLAYER CARRIES YARDS TD
Sammy Cordero 1/3 23 0 0 Sammy Cordero 19 108 1
Ian Watts 1/1 26 0 0 Jordan Gilbert 13 74 1
Ethan Lopez 10 75 1
RECIEVING RECEPTIONS YARDS TD D.J. McCunney 9 38 0
Jack Benzija 1 26 0 Ian Watts 8 57 1
Caleb Lowe 1 23 0
TOTALS 2 49 0 TOTALS 60 352 4
DEFENSE
PLAYER SOLO ASSIST SACK TACKLE FOR LOSS TOTAL TACKLES FUMBLES FORCED FUMBLES RECOVERED INT PASS BREAK
Kyle Shaouni 6 3 0 0 9 0 0 0 2
Caleb Lowe 3 3 0 0 6 0 0 0 0
Andrew Sauvao 2 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 0
Trenton Redding 2 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Ian Watts 2 1 0 0 3 0 1 1 0
Jack Benzija 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
Matt Lee 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0
Clay Caldwell 1 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 0

 

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