Treasure Coast shut down by Apopka 21-0 in Class 8A state semifinal

PORT ST. LUCIE — When one of the top rushing attacks in Florida met one of the best defenses in the state in Friday's Class 8A state semifinal, something had to give.

In the end, familiarity of Treasure Coast's scheme played right into Apopka's hands.

Treasure Coast managed only three first downs and was held under 50 yards of total offense as Apopka put up its sixth shutout of the season in a 21-0 win at South County Regional Stadium to advance to its fifth state final in nine years.

The Blue Darters and Titans both use the Wing-T offense. Former Apopka coach Rick Darlington instituted it there many years ago, and Treasure Coast modeled its offense around what Darlington had created.

It showed early. After Apopka's opening drive ended with Treasure Coast defensive back Melik Cooper intercepting quarterback Andrew McClain, Apopka gave the Titans a dose of their own medicine.

Blue Darter senior Quincy Frazier took a counter play and ran through a gaping hole off the left side of the line and outran the Treasure Coast defense 73 yards for a touchdown at the 7:35 mark of the second quarter to give Apopka a 7-0 lead.

Outside of that one play, the Titans defense showed it could match Apopka as the two teams went to halftime with the Blue Darters still ahead 7-0.

"I really thought we played well on defense, we just couldn't get anything going offensively," Titan head coach Irvin Jones said.

Apopka got the second half kickoff and McClain hit two critical throws on third down that extended the drive. They took advantage of a personal foul and pass interference penalty by Treasure Coast, and despite a missed field goal, it took almost eight minutes off the clock.

The Titans quickly went three-and-out and on the Blue Darters' next drive, on third-and-six, Keyondray Jones went around the right side and sprinted by the Treasure Coast defense for a 52-yard touchdown run to put Apopka up 14-0.

After the Blue Darters forced another punt, they worked the ball down field and found themselves on a third and goal but pushed back to the 22.

It didn't matter. McClain hit Frazier up the seam for a touchdown that assured Apopka's spot in the state title game.

Apopka head coach Jeff Rolson felt that if his defense could impose its will early against Treasure Coast's offensive line, his team would have success on the night.

"Rick (Darlington) came down here and installed the offense for them and obviously it's been great for them," Rolson said. "You get that honeymoon period where nobody around here has seen it but unfortunately for them, we've seen it for 16 years every day in practice so it wasn't something new for us. It was just a matter of would we be able to handle their physicality, they have two really good backs and it turned out we we could tonight."

Treasure Coast senior running back and Howard commit Eden James did cross the 2,000-yard mark for the season in the first half, but was held to a season-low 35 yards in large part to the play of Apopka senior safety and UCF commit Nakai Martinez and linebacker Travion Barnes, who were all over the field.

James will depart along with a large Treasure Coast senior class that leaves behind a foundation and a standard for the next wave of Titans to build on that has Jones excited for what's next for the program.

"You talk about chiseling your name down into the legacy of the program, every year these seniors did that," Jones said. "They've taken this program to another level and now it's time for somebody else to come push it up another level."

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Apopka defeats Treasure Coast 21-0 in Class 8A state semifinal