Backyard Brawl: West Orange and Olympia set to do battle

After clinching the Class 8A, District 9 championship with a 35-21 victory over Osceola last week, West Orange is looking to add one more piece of hardware to the trophy case — the picket fence that serves as the symbol of their rivalry with the Titans. 

West Orange already has won the Ol’ Orange Crate back against Dr. Phillips and retained The Shield against Ocoee. Now, they try to complete the trifecta for the first time since 2018 by retaining the picket fence against Olympia. The Warriors won the 2019 game 34-6. 

Olympia leads the rivalry 10-7, with this year marking the 18th time it and West Orange have met on the gridiron. The Titans also own the longest winning streak in the rivalry with seven straight wins from 2006 to 2012. 

A PRIMER 

West Orange and Olympia did not play each other in 2020. 

West Orange has been dominant all year, no matter the opponent. Outside of a 13-0 loss to Apopka in the second week of the season, the Warriors have used all three phases of the game to pound their opposition into submission early en route to big wins. The recent win against Osceola was the only game in which they did not win by more than 20 points. 

What makes West Orange so dangerous is a balanced attack on offense. The offensive line, collectively known as “The Mob,” has paved the way for a rushing and passing attack that no team other than the Blue Darters has been able to stop this season. Led by wide receiver and recent Florida commit Jayden Gibson and running back Terrell Walden II, opposing defenses have their work cut out for them to figure out what to contain. 

On defense, aside from Apopka, only Osceola, Dr. Phillips, Boone and Celebration have tasted the end zone against the Warriors. 

Olympia has had an up-and-down season this year, with big wins against Wekiva and University but also losses to  Osceola, Dr. Phillips and Ocoee. 

Quarterback CJ Brooks has been the driving force for the Titans. The highly decorated senior has passed for more than 2,000 yards with 23 touchdowns. Seven of those have gone to his favorite target — wide receiver Victor Jones Jr.

The Titans are coming off a tough loss to Dr. Phillips, in which Olympia tried to rally back after being down 20-7 at one point. However, it proved to not be enough, and they lost to the Panthers 28-21. 

HISTORY

The rivalry between the two schools began when Olympia High School opened in 2001. To build the student body, the school siphoned off from West Orange’s district. This instantly fostered familiarity between the two schools, much in the way that West Orange and Dr. Phillips did in the early days of their rivalry. 

“It’s a rivalry that’s high on our list to win,” Olympia Athletic Director Kevin McElveen said. 

Then-head coach Mike Cullison was gifted with a team that was young but held plenty of promise. One of those players was a running back by the name of Chris Johnson, who went on to have a successful career in the NFL. He became the sixth rusher to have a 2,000-yard season. 

“We were extremely young, starting out with mostly sophomores and three seniors,” Cullison said. 

Having worked with then-West Orange head coach Tim Smith as an assistant for several years, it was natural Cullison and Smith would look to cultivate the game between their two schools into a rivalry.

“It’s cool to have a rivalry game,” Cullison said. “(Smith) and I got together and said, ‘Let’s come up with a game and call it the Backyard Brawl or something.’ We had a picket fence, and they wrote down the score on it.” 

The symbol of the picket fence comes from the idea that Olympia and West Orange are essentially fighting over the same piece of territory.

The first four meetings were split between both teams, but it was the fourth one that left an impression on Cullison. 

“It was a big game for me, because I was going up against my mentor,” Cullison said. 

A memorable, yet humorous, moment occurred in the middle of the game, when the sprinklers went off on the field and lasted for five minutes. That did not dampen the action on the field as the game turned into an instant classic.

West Orange and Olympia traded touchdowns throughout the game, which eventually went into overtime. After allowing a touchdown, West Orange missed the extra point. Cullison and his team had to make one last miracle happen to stay alive. 

After the Titans scored a touchdown of their own, there was no debate on what to do next. 

“We’re going for the win,” Cullison said. “We couldn’t stop them, so we’re going for two to win it. I said, ‘Let’s run the same play (they scored on).’ Our quarterback made a good throw, and the receiver made a great catch. That was a huge win for us.” 

The Titans won the game 56-55. 

The rivalry took a brief intermission in 2015 and 2016 and again in 2020.