QB Brian Dillard leads West Orange football to district clinching win over Ocoee

With the Class 7A, District 5 championship up for grabs, West Orange High (8-1) quarterback Brian Dillard scored two rushing touchdowns to lead the Warriors to a 21-14 win over rival Ocoee High (5-4) in the 20th edition of the Battle for the Shield.

"We honestly started out wanting to see how Ocoee would line up against a few different looks we gave them in the running game and we had success, so we just continued with it," said West Orange coach Geno Thompson after the win. "We tried to open it up a bit in the passing game as well, and we did hit a bunch of passes, but with them continuing to bring pressure and flush us out of the pocket, we just kept running the ball. ... Brian did a great job tonight, and when he saw something, instead of trying to sit back and try to deliver a pass, when he saw a crease, he took it and it really helped put the team in a great position."

After Dillard's two first-half touchdowns, the Warriors had a 15-0 lead in the second quarter, but that's when Ocoee started to show signs of life. 

Knights' senior Joshua Guerrier turned a short slant route across mid-field into a huge touchdown to cut the West Orange lead to 15-7. In the third quarter, after a Ryder Bondurant field goal made it 18-7 for the Warriors, Ocoee running back Jamarian Robinson punched in a short run for a touchdown to cut the lead to 18-14. 

Although Ocoee started to see its offense begin to click, West Orange was able to hold the Knights scoreless from the 3:34 mark in the third quarter on.  

"This win is huge for us because of the resiliency these kids showed," Thompson said. "Hats off to the Ocoee program; they did a great job. On our side, we have we want to clean up in terms of penalties on both sides of the ball, but the resilience of the kids was just phenomenal. ... I saw us continue to sacrifice me for we and that's kind of been our slogan all year and every week, they continue to come out and sacrifice for each other. On the defensive side, we have so many different guys making plays; when we look at the stats, it's balanced across the board. You may not have one guy with 15 or 20 tackles, but you're going to have 11 guys with four tackles or six tackles each. I also thought the Offensive line did phenomenal tonight, blocking for our backs to move the rock."

Despite having one more regular season game on the schedule, the district title guarantees the Warriors a spot in the FHSAA 7A playoffs; after missing the playoffs in 2023.

"I've said this all season, this senior class is phenomenal, and for them to be able to bring West Orange back to where we're supposed to be shows how special this group is," Thompson said. "These guys have a bright future ahead of them. They've done a phenomenal job this season, and they're going to leave a huge legacy here because we're not done yet."