A pair of late interceptions set up the CFCA Eagles for a victory over Orangewood, preventing Bill Gierke from becoming Central Florida’s wins leader.
It was in the back of CFCA coach John Davis’ mind throughout the game. Nobody wants to be the answer to that trivia question — who did Bill Gierke beat to become the all-time wins leader in Central Florida?
That was not his nor the Eagles’ primary concern as the team trailed throughout the game in this back-and-forth battle. His concern was how his young team would respond and how they would battle back to close the game. The team’s starts have not been the best, he did not know how they would finish.
His team responded in a way he could not have imagined. His seniors stepped up and secured a win.
CFCA’s defense forced two interceptions, the first set up a five-yard touchdown throw from Luke Noah to Jared Millroy with 4:45 left in the game. The second came on a tipped pass that popped up into the air and into Noah’s hands with 2:29 left, securing CFCA’s (2-1) 18-13 win over Orangewood (1-2).
Davis and the Eagles had their finish.
“I’ve been preaching to our guys we’ve been getting punched first, we’ve started slow,” Davis said. “I challenged my seniors in the second half, we’ve got to come up big. All three weeks defensively we have been coming up big. I expect us to play well defensively. For me, as long as we can take care of the turnovers, we can take care of the field position, we’ll come out on the plus side of these games.”
They clearly came up with the big plays defensively to seal the game. But it certainly came with some shakiness.
CFCA trailed for much of the first half after Chris Morgan intercepted Kai Patterson’s pass on their first drive of the game. Morgan returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. From there, CFCA was able to establish the run behind Judah Stone, but were unable to quite get over the hump.
Stone’s running eventually helped CFCA take control. He rushed for 197 yards on 19 carries and scored a 52-yard touchdown in the third quarter which gave the Eagles their first lead of the game.
Orangewood was not going to lie down. Not with their stadium’s first game under lights and the potential for coach Bill Gierke to set the wins record for Central Florida.
Ethan Bullock hit some key throws in the second half before finding John Lowrey for a seven-yard strike down the middle and a one-point lead again. Bullock finished with 81 yards and 8-for-17 passing.
It was two of his final three throws that he wants back.
His first interception was more or less an arm punt on 3rd and 21 that was returned by Drake Dickens to the five-yard line. His second interception was a throw into traffic that hit Lowrey in the hands and chest and popped up for the interception.
“When you have 17 sophomore and freshmen on your football team, these are the types of games that you use and ask those guys to grow up fast,” Davis said. “This is a well-coached football team. It just takes our young guys understanding game tempo and it will help us and we will get better and better.”
The seniors made the plays at the end and pulled those young players along with them to the victory. Exactly what CFCA needed to learn and improve.
Orangewood will have to wait to celebrate their new lights and their coach’s career.
