FRIDAY's FINAL:
FLEMING ISLAND 41, OCALA WEST PORT 3
By PAUL D. BOWKER
paul.bowker@myclaysun.com
A first-ever district title tucked away in their pockets, Fleming Island's Golden Eagles were anticipating nothing more than a tuneup for the playoffs when it played host to Ocala West Port on Friday night at Fleming Island Stadium.
That's exactly what the Golden Eagles got.
Senior quarterback Ryan Aplin threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns, Dee Frieson returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score and Fleming Island's starters made way for the reserves in the second half of a 41-3 victory over West Port.
So one-sided was this game that officials went to a running clock late in the third quarter.
Salmon Williams caught 5 passes from Aplin in the first half for 71 yards, and scored on a 19-yard run when he took a lateral pass from Aplin.
Sixteen seconds in, the Golden Eagles (6-4) were up by 7 points after Frieson caught the opening kickoff at the Fleming Island 5-yard line and zipped up the left sidelines for a touchdown.
"We had a nicely built seam for him," Fleming Island coach Neal Chipoletti said.
The Golden Eagles added three touchdowns in the second quarter, including TD passes from Aplin to Hayes Towery and Austin Sweatt, and the rout was on. Such a lopsided score was a rarity this season for Fleming Island, which rallied from 24 points down to defeat Orange Park to clinch a playoff spot and 14 points down against Buchholz to win the District 3-5A championship last week.
"That was kind of what we wanted to do," Chipoletti said about the impressive start. "We've been slow starters. ... We wanted to approach it early like a two-minute drill."
Even the Golden Eagles' subs enjoyed this night. Sophomore running back Malcolm Jones ran for 45 yards and a TD in the second half, and backup quarterback Rookie Gunn scored on a 3-yard run.
West Port (2-7), which lost a playoff spot in a tiebreaker Monday, did not get even a first down until late in the first quarter. The Wolf Pack was more than doubled in first downs (13-6) in the first half, and finally scored on Cody Gerhart's 35-yard field goal with 3:21 left in the game.
Fleming Island will play host to Winter Park Lake Howell in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
West Port 0 0 0 3 -- 3
Fleming Island 7 20 14 0 -- 41
FI: Dee Frieson 95 kickoff return (Nathan Branz kick)
FI: Hayes Towery 20 pass from Ryan Aplin (Branz kick)
FI: Austin Sweatt 16 pass from Aplin (kick failed)
FI: Salmon Williams 19 run (Branz kick)
FI: Malcolm Jones 7 run (Branz kick)
FI: Rookie Gunn 3 run (Branz kick)
WP: Cody Gerhart 35 FG