Ocoee football tops Olympia in home opener, 53-10

Football has always been a game of adjustments. 

And whether it be in-game from play to play, at the half, from game to game or even throughout the course of an entire season — coaches and players are always looking for the schematical advantage that'll make the difference on the field. 

Following his team's 10-0 loss to the Apopka Blue Darters, Ocoee High football coach Buck Gurley and his staff went back to the drawing board and made the adjustments necessary to help the Knights (1-1) win their home opener over the Olympia Titans (1-1), 53-10.

"After looking at the Apopka film, we kind of figured out how we wanted to put all our athletes on the field at the same time," Gurley said. "We have two really good running backs right now in Jamarian Robinson and Dominic Simpson, who are extremely physical, we have a ton of athletes on the outside and I think in the Apopka game we ended up putting guys in positions we probably shouldn't have. Kudos to my coaches though, they came in and reevaluated everything and made the right adjustments and we did well offensively tonight."

Ocoee was clicking on all cylinders on the offensive side of the ball, scoring 16 unanswered points to start the game — followed by 37 points to end the game. 

Sophomore quarterback Onrique Archie, in his second game for the Knights, showed tremendous growth following hints of his talent in Ocoee's scoreless Week 1 outing. Archie threw three touchdowns against the Titans, finding do-it-all athlete Joshua Guerrier for two long TDs and wide receiver Jabaris Breckenridge Jr. for the third. On the ground, the Knights scored four touchdowns with Robinson scoring twice. 

Overall, Gurley felt good about the effort on both sides of the ball and thinks that his team has a chance to compete at the highest level if they can continue to grow. 

"I like the overall chemistry of this group and the effort," Gurley said. "Some of the execution was great today, but I really like the fact that when we did have a couple of bad plays, we didn't keep our heads down. We kept pushing forward. I keep telling everybody that the progression of this team has been really good, and folks are going to continue to see greatness from all these young men. ... If we can keep every last one of our guys healthy, we're going to be a contending team by the time the year ends."

Next up for the Knights is Lake Nona High (1-0) Friday, Sept. 5 at home. Following the postponement of their Week 1 game at Dr. Phillips High, the Lions of Lake Nona beat Horizon High, 28-3. 

Kickoff for the Week 3 matchup is set for 7 p.m.

For the Titans, their lone touchdown was scored by wide receiver Ja'Cari Jackson, a transfer from Ocoee, on a big return in the 2nd quarter that cut the Knights' lead to 16-10. 

Olympia coach Travis Gabriel knew coming into this season that although his Titans were talented, there was going to be a lot of growing to do because of their lack of experience. 

"We need to improve on everything," Gabriel said. "We're just a young team that's inexperienced. Hats off to Ocoee, they have a phenomenal team with some great playmakers. They have kids that can go, kids that have been doing it at this level. But for us, all we can do is get back to work. That's it. We have to put this behind us and remember that this loss counts as just one loss, regardless of how many points you lose by. So let's put this behind us and push forward and get ready to play Boone."

Olympia will look to bounce back to the win column as it hosts the Braves of Boone High for its home opener at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5.