Late miscues cost Knights in 28-17 loss

OCOEE -- In the middle of its final 2015 home stand, the Ocoee High School football team allowed back-to-back touchdowns in each half to district foe Hagerty Oct. 2.

Jamel Hyatt returned the kickoff after that first pair of Huskies (3-2, 2-1) touchdowns for an announced 83 yards and a touchdown, halving the Hagerty lead with the extra point in the second quarter. This helped counteract the momentum the Huskies garnered by scoring touchdowns on plays of more than 50 yards on their first two drives.

"It's very hard to simulate that in practice," Ocoee head coach Ben Bullock said of his defense adjusting to the Huskies' unorthodox single-wing formation. "You got to get out there on that first drive and get used to that speed and getting your eyes where they should be, looking at what you should be looking at."

The Knights (2-3, 1-2) kicked a field goal of about 40 yards and then halted the Hagerty offense just before halftime, carrying the momentum of 10 unanswered points on Homecoming.

An offense that seemed to be in sync but not finishing during the first half struggled in the third quarter, when Ocoee quarterback Steve Hogan followed a near-interception with another incomplete pass on third and 13 from his 30-yard line.

At least, that is what the Knights thought.

The officials converged and then determined the Ocoee receiver had caught the pass and fumbled, with Hagerty recovering.

"That's always going to take the wind out of your sails a little bit, but with a sudden change defensively, you've got to be ready to play and be able to stop them when that happens," Bullock said. "That's the sign of a great defense and a true playoff team. Those things are going to happen."

On the next play, Curtis Duren caught the winning touchdown with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter, just as the rain was starting to let up.

But for Ocoee, a drizzle of mistakes turned into a storm.

The offense suffered two sizable losses, the second a sack on third and eight for another three-and-out. Then the Huskies blocked the punt attempt, plunging into the end zone from the Ocoee 2 on the next play to make it 28-10 just like that, still 2:25 left in the quarter.

"You just lost to a more disciplined team, who works harder and came ready to play," Bullock told his players after the game. "They turned the ball over; they capitalized on mistakes. That's because they practiced. That's not because they're better than us."

The Knights mounted a comeback, led by Darryl Gay's and John Mondesir's multiple receptions for double-digit gains, such as Gay's 18-yard catch on fourth down. Mondesir in particular added yards after catches as defenders struggled to pull him to the ground. He trudged and dived with a defender clinging to him for a 12-yard touchdown reception with 5:21 left in the game, Ocoee's only scoring play of the second half.

Too many runs for losses and especially incomplete passes sealed the Knights' fate by the time they had scored that final touchdown, with more of the latter after a punt seconds later staked them to their 13.

This contrasted with the offense that gained 70 yards on a 7-minute, 36-second drive to start the game, falling just short on fourth down. Despite having nothing to show from all that, Bullock said spirits were high on the sideline. With lapses on offense, defense and special teams in the second half, there is a contrast of flashes of program maturation with poor preparation in practice and ill discipline under adversity, he said.

"We're putting a good week together and then we don't have a good week," Bullock said. "We have to get some consistency week in and week out. I feel that's a lot of the growth of this program. It's not our scheme; it's not our talent -- we've got a lot of players that can win and compete -- it's there. It's that mentality that we're constantly trying to shift. Sometimes we get that shift and we win and look great, and sometimes the shift goes the other way."

Bullock said he was pleased with his team's resilience and several three-and-outs the defense forced. He said focusing more on ball security and general discipline would help next week against another disciplined rushing attack in West Port (1-4, 1-2) on Senior Night.

GALLERIES: See more pictures of the game and Homecoming.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].