Orlando Christian Prep

Friday November 26, 2021 -- Maitland, FL

Orlando Christian Prep made a point to clean up their mistakes from a previous matchup against Zephyrhills Christian Academy (ZCA) in a regular season finale victory that propelled OCP to the top-seed of the FHSAA Region 2 Playoffs. Three weeks ago, OCP committed seven turnovers in that game. Friday night, they only committed one and the margin of victory improved the outcome by over five touchdowns.

Taking full advantage of playing their second home game locally, at Orangewood Christian, OCP got off to quick start and pummeled 2nd-seeded Zephyrhills Christian 48-12 to win the program's first regional championship and earn the right to host the State Semifinal as the top seed remaining in Class 2A.

In just about two minutes of game time, OCP (10-1) took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on ZCA (9-3) scoring on a 9-yard touchdown run by junior running back Brian Thomas. Thomas would rush for 102 yards in the game.

On the ensuring possession for ZCA, OCP's defense would force and recover a fumble on the Zephyrhills Christian 33-yard line. Sophomore back Demarion Jenkins would punch his ticket into the endzone with a 4-yard TD run to as OCP opened up a 12-0 lead with 6:16 to play in the opening stanza.

OCP's defense would force ZCA to turn the ball over on two different possessions late in the first quarter, and again early in the second, before Jenkins would run 19-yards for his second touchdown of the game to extend the Warriors lead to 18-0.

With the score 18-6, junior DB/WR Jayden Alberty would intercept a Zephyrhills Christian pass around midfield in the second quarter with 2 minutes remaining before halftime. OCP would drive into the redzone on the following offensive possession and Alberty would find an opening in the ZCA defense as quarterback Vilay Nakkoun scrambled out of the pocket to connect with him on an 11-yard touchdown play. It would the first of two touchdown receptions by Alberty from Nakkoun. OCP increased the lead to 26-6 after a successful 2-pt conversion as the teams went to halftime.

The second half followed the same script as the first as the offensive line pushed ZCA around opening up holes for Thomas, Jenkins and senior Curtis Kimmons who rushed for 103 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown that came with 9:03 in the 4th quarter. In total, the "Big 3" rushed for 254 yards and scored four times. It's the second consecutive playoff game OCP had two back go over 100 all-purpose yards.

Defensively, the Warriors recovered two fumbles, had two interceptions and forced Zephyrhills to turn over the ball on downs three times. They held ZCA to 12 points for the second time as the offense took advantage of the positive turnover margin.

OCP won their 10th consecutive game and will host the Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy Conquerors on Friday December 3 in the state semifinals. Seeding is based on win percentage rankings among the four teams left in state playoffs. Trinity Christian won the 2020 FHSAA State Championship in Class 3A and are ranked No.1 in MaxPreps Class 2A despite a record of 8-4. 

The other state semifinal matchup is between First Baptist Academy (Naples) with a record of 10-1 and Champagnat Catholic (Hialeah) with a record of 9-2. First Baptist Academy is the host team.

Quotes from Orlando Sentinel:

Head Coach Guerschom Demosthenes: 

“This is probably the best game we played all year. Our kids were dialed in and knew what was at stake. We just came out there, played fast, played physical, played OCP football, so I’m really, really proud of us.

“Last time we played them we had seven turnovers, and this time we had just one. So that’s the difference between a 15-12 game and a 48-12 game.”

Running back Curtis Kimmons on OCP’s varied rushing attack:

“It’s good because it spreads the ball around a lot and we’re all fresh. We’re not getting fed, fed, fed. We’re each getting the rock, and all three of us can tote the ball. That’s why our offense is so deadly.”