DeLand and The First Academy delivered an exciting, playoff-like atmosphere Friday night in Central Florida’s final spring football game at TFA.
After TFA had taken a 35-28 lead with 2:14 remaining, DeLand quarterback Gardner Nordman engineered a perfect scoring drive, capping it with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Taijh Moore. Trailing 35-34, DeLand coach Rick Darlington opted to go for the win, and Moore muscled into the end zone on a two-point conversion for the victory 36-35.
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It was a wild fourth quarter.
Midway through the final period, DeLand faced a 4th-and-2 play, and the Bulldogs went for it. But Nordman missed the mark by one inch on a quarterback keeper, and TFA took over at the 50-yard line.
With the game tied at 28-28, running back Tamauri Collins, a transfer from Tavares, flashed to the outside and got loose on a 42-yard touchdown scamper, giving TFA a 35-28 led with 2:14 remaining.
Then Deland went to work and Darlington tried a little trickery. On third down, DeLand called for a double pass and it worked to perfection. Gardner threw a backward pass to Moore, who then threw a perfect pass to Cristian Baez for a 31-yard gain with 1:04 remaining.
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Moore and Kaveon Jackson took turns pounding the ball on the ground and then Gardner hit Moore with the big touchdown that set off a wild DeLand celebration on the Bulldogs’ sideline. The 2-point conversion solidified the victory.
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TFA had a shot at one more play, but Jordan Banks, who had a very impressive game, ended the game with a sack of Moore.
“They got good players, no doubt. They’re about what we thought they were. They got all of those dudes across the (defensive) front that are college-level guys,” Darlington said. “We fought back. We were down 14-0 and we tied it up and then we got up and then they scored again.
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“There at the end, it’s probably good they scored quick. We found a way. … We came out, somehow, and drove the field and scored again. I was proud of them.”
DeLand trailed twice but was unfazed. The Bulldogs overcame three different TFA leads. The celebration afterward was playoff-like.
“It was great. I loved it. I told them, ‘That’s great. don’t fake that, Don’t fake your passion,’ ” Darlington said. “They were excited because they know this team is a really good team. I love that about them.”
TFA coach Jeff Conaway was equally thrilled with the energy the game provided, although his Royals were on the losing end.
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“It definitely had that playoff vibe to it,” Conaway said. “If you play a great team like that at Warden Stadium, we kind of expect that now.
DeLand’s single wing, Darlington’s masterpiece of an offensive gameplan, is an extremely tough offense to prepare for. To defend what Darlington’s team does a team needs to have patience, follow the football and swarm to it.
Linebacker Kyler Priester had a nice game, as did edge rushers Trace Johnson, a transfer from Timber Creek, Justin Kemp, a transfer from Poinciana, who joined JP Furtado and Jdeion Jackson on the TFA front line to form quite a formidable wall.
“That’s very tough to defend. I was proud of our front, at times, they fitted well, at times they tackled well,” Conaway said. “Sometimes when you are playing in the spring, you never really know how you are going to tackle because we don’t to a lot of tackling in practice.
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“I was excited about the way we did, at times, rally to the ball and get the ball carrier down. That’s a tough offense to stop.”
“We tried to duplicate their offense in our practices, some,” Conaway said. “But in spring, we’re not going to dedicate all of our practice to just them.”
The TFA offense was clicking quite nicely at times, as Woods Jr. showed who his favorite target will be this upcoming season. He hit Brian Dillard with three touchdown catches of 70, 72 and 45 yards. Woods Jr., also ran for a 31-yard touchdown, which tied the game at 28-28.
“Those guys had some chemistry that I was very proud,” Conaway said. “For the most part, Deuce did a good job operating the offense, stepping up in the pocket at times and Dillard, he’s electric. Anytime he touches the ball he’s got a chance to score.”
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Woods Jr. is impressive at quarterback, especially considering his age. He is still only in the eighth grade.
“His maturity level, the way he process, most of the decisions he makes are solid,” Conaway said. “There are still some things that we’re gonna grow and get better at, but he’s gonna be real dangerous.”
Tavares running back transfer Collins will also be a nice addition to the Royals offense. Reid Ramsier is back to lead the O-line, and newcomers Dominic Miranda (Tohopekaliga), Ashton Jones (Lyman) and Atreyu Creantur (Orlando University) also had good moments.
“I think we’re young in experience, we have some 14-year-olds out there. The areas where we’re trying to fill the 19 seniors who left, we might be young by age, but we’re young by experience,” Conaway said. “I’m exciting to take the film and make the corrections and confirmations and really grow from this. That’s why I love playing a great team in the spring, because you really can get better as a football team.”
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The DeLand offense featured Moore, just like last year and has a newcomer in Kaveon Jackson, a speedy running back who is also tough and can take a hit even those he’s 5-foot-8. Nordman is also back for his senior year and Darlington is expecting big things from him. Nordman had an 83-yard touchdown run brought back due to a penalty.
Taz Logan and Tucker Wilson led the blocking, but TFA was a tough line to stop. DeLand’s big-play offense was limited by the TFA defense.
The Deland defense was led by Banks, who had three sacks in the game and made numerous tackles, weaking havoc all night. The DeLand front line also played well, with Jeremiah Smokes and Joe Johnson providing the heat. Raymon Hunter played well at corner. DeLand was missing linebacker Lane Roberts (shoulder).
“We gotta get better on defense, and better overall, but it’s spring. There will be some mistakes,” Darlington said. “It’s a special team. We’re not there yet, but we got some special qualities. Hopefully grit will be one of them. (Jordan Banks) is a good player and I think Gardner is such a good player. He’s our guy.”
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Spring Games Roundup
Leesburg 14, Wekiva 0
Horizon 21, Leesburg 0
Horizon 9, Wekiva 0
Leesburg athlete Alvin Fluitt had a 35-yard pick-6 touchdown and 3 tackles on defense. Dadrein Coffie had a 3-yard touchdown run.
Horizon had a big night from quarterback Hunter Samson, who ran for 200 yards in the two games and scored 4 touchdowns. Head coach Dennis Thomas raved about his defense, calling it “lights out.” Trace Luczar had an interception and a fumble recovery. Nathan Dickerson recovered a fumble, as did Jayden Thomas and Austin Eisenhardt. Jared Visser forced a fumble. Abishai Smith had 10 tackles. Ryan Ruel had a safety.
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Winter Springs 14, Orange City University 14
Quarterback Jake Lowery threw a 55-yard touchdown run pass to Tristen Raines for Winter Springs, and set up another touchdown with a 45-yard pass to Raines. Marje Foster finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Innovation 27, Astronaut 14
Quarterback Kaleb Bielski threw three touchdown passes, two to Duke Meckstroth and one to Michael Edwards. Matt Goncalves had a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown.
Osceola 7, Windermere 0
Gateway 14, Windermere 0
“It was good for us and needed to happen. Losing 29 seniors and our youth showed,” Windermere coach Riki Smith said. “We will be ready in August.”
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Gateway running back Nydrell Thigpen scored two touchdowns against Windermere. Zylin Garrett scored the lone touchdown for Osceola against Windermere.
Mount Dora Christian 14, Lyman 0
Isaac Farling and Daylen Love both scored touchdowns. TJ McCormick had a big night running the ball, and also played well on defense. Robert LeBright led MDCA in tackles.
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.
