By: J. Daniel Pearson
Poinciana’s defense forced five turnovers, scored two long touchdowns and set up a third score as the Eagles blanked Celebration, 20-0, on Friday night.
In a game that was delayed two hours by lightning, neither team could generate any offense in the first half as the teams stumbled their way to a 0-0 tie at intermission. Celebration had the best scoring chances, but missed on field goals attempts of 45 and 35 yards in the half.
The lone offensive touchdown of the night came midway through the third quarter when Daveon Williams broke four tackles and scored on a brilliant 26-yard run to put Poinciana up 6-0. The touchdown was set up by the defense as Celebration went for it on a 4th and 5 at midfield, only to see quarterback Dai Dai Blackman get sacked for a 12-yard loss.
Taking over at their own 40 after a short kickoff, Celebration picked up a couple of first downs to move the ball to the Poinciana 29. But on a first-down play, Blackman completed a short pass to Evan Couch, who fumbled the ball. Jeremiah Brow picked it up and raced 77 yards for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead.
The Storm, behind the running of Blackman, put together its best offensive drive of the night. The Storm quarterback provided most of the offense with runs of 16 and 17 yards, giving Celebration a first and goal on the Eagles six. But three plays netted a -1 yard and on a fourth and goal, Chance Frazier intercepted a ball in the flat and raced 101 yards untouched for a score and a 20-0 lead.
Poinciana’s defense forced two more turnovers, including another fumble recovery by Brown and an interception by Delvin Johnson as the Eagles recorded their first shutout since a 56-0 win over Liberty in 2022.
The win pushed Poinciana to 9-3 under second-year head coach Taron Mallard and also gave him a 6-0 record against county opposition. “Last year, our leadership came from our offense and they carried our team,” Mallard said. “This year our offense is young and inexperienced and we are going to have to rely on our defense to carry us, especially in the early going and they carried us tonight.”
Poinciana managed just 126 yards of total offense on 41 plays. They were also whistled for nine penalties for 75 yards. Williams led Poinciana with 93 yards on 15 carries.
Mallard noted that there were some extenuating circumstances for Eagles lack of offensive production. “Penalties were a big factor today, but weather has kept our offense from getting on track more than anything. Between the heat and thunderstorms, we got outside just once this week and missed numerous outdoor practice days in the preseason for the same reason. It’s just really hard to get on track or get any consistency going when you are spending valuable practice time sitting in the film room of trying to practice in the gym.”
Poinciana (1-0) hosts Harmony (0-1) next week. The Eagles recorded their first win ever over the Longhorns last season, 26-5.
