Orlando Christian Prep

It was a matchup between two district champions on a night filled with gratitude, love, reflections and pageantry. 

Orlando Christian Prep concluded the regular season at the end of Spirit Week with a Homecoming game for the alumni, Senior Night for 11 football players and four cheerleaders, and the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen for the students. With everything going on before and during the game, the Warriors found a way to win a ball game after the adrenaline of its start wore off.

OCP (6-4) defeated Northside Christian (St. Petersburg) 35-28 after having a 28-7 halftime lead. The Mustangs finished first in Class 1M District 4, which is in Region 2. Coached by former Tampa Bay Buccanners full back and Super Bowl Champion Mike Alstott, Northside Christian came into the contest unbeaten at 8-0.

Junior Demarion Jenkins scored the first touchdown of the game on OCP’s opening offensive possession as he’s done several times this year. The 5-yard run, followed by a 2-pt conversion run by senior Brian Thomas, gave the Warriors an 8-0 lead. On the next offensive possession, senior quarterback Vilay Nakkoun, Jr. would takeoff for a 47-yard touchdown and the Warriors were off to a 14-0 lead.

Following a Northside Christian score late in the first quarter, Thomas would get his first of two touchdown on a run for 11 yards with 11:47 in 2nd quarter. Senior quarterback Makai Elder would pass to Thomas on a 18-yard touchdown to push the Warriors lead to 28-7 with 7:43 to play in the first half.

Thomas would lead OCP with 126 yards rushing on 14 attempts in the game, along with 4 receptions for 24 yards. Nakkoun would be the second 100-yard rusher of the game with 101 yards on four attempts. Jenkins gained 63 yards on eight attempts. The Warriors rushed for a total of 315 yards on 40 attempts for a 7.9 yards per attempt average.

Northside Christian would add a pair scores to the scoreboad late in the 3rd quarter and early in the 4th to cut the Warriors 21 point lead to 7.  That’s when the OCP defense made key stops on 3rd and 4th down to prevent the Mustangs from getting into the redzone and potentially tying the game. OCP’s defense held Northside to 1-for-9 (11.1%) on 3rd down conversions and 1-for-4 (25%) on 4th down conversions. Senior Evan Sierra lead the defense with 6 solo tackles, 1 TFL and 1 INT. Senior Jeremy Miller added 4 solo tackles.

BEST CLASS EVER?

This senior class, consisting primarily of 3rd and 4th year varsity players, have been one of the most accomplished classes to play for Coach Demosthenes with a record of 33-9 (.785) - and counting - over four seasons.

They finished as SSAC state runner-ups in 2019, and captured the school’s second SSAC State Championship in a return to the championship game in 2020. Then, as the program moved to the FHSAA won 10 consecutive games, a Regional Championship and advanced to the state semifinals in 2021. Now, they’ve won the first district championship in the reclassified FHSAA Class 1M District.

Their story is not complete. Yet for one night, coaches, parents, alumni and students thank the class of 2023 for their hard work and history-making contributions to OCP Football.

ON TO THE PLAYOFFS

Following the victory against Northside Christian, OCP learned their opponent and the location of their opening round game in the FHSAA Class 1M playoffs.

Based on the FHSAA rankings, the Warriors are the 4-seed in the four-team Regional and will travel to Jacksonville to compete against the top seeded Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy, who are unbeaten 10-0.  The two team faced each other in last season State Semifinal. Trinity won the game 29-21 and went on to win the Class 2A State Championship. Including the playoffs last year, Trinity is on a 14-game winning steak.

The game will take place on Friday, November 18th at Trinity Christian Academy (800 Hammond Blvd, Jacksonville, FL, 32221-1398), kickoff is scheduled for 730 pm. The winner advances to the Regional Championship game.