MANDARIN – The Oakleaf Knights redeemed themselves after a year of dwelling on a heartbreaking 2019 34-33 loss against the Mandarin Mustangs. This time they left no doubt about who was the …
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MANDARIN – The Oakleaf Knights redeemed themselves after a year of dwelling on a heartbreaking 2019 34-33 loss against the Mandarin Mustangs. This time they left no doubt about who was the better team Friday, riding the backfield of quarterback Walter Simmons III and running back Adrian Grey to a convincing 35-12 road victory. The Knights jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
The loss last year was followed by a subsequent loss to Bartram Trail that knocked the Knights from the playoffs. Bartram Trail would finish as 8A runnerup to Apopka.
“This is one we definitely circled on the schedule,” said Oakleaf head coach Frank Garis. “It doesn’t matter what the situation is, record-wise. It’s one that we definitely wanted since last year. We kind of preached it to the kids. It’s been 371 days. This is that bad taste we got left with at the end of the game last year. We wanted to make sure all that pain and heartache kind of came out tonight.” Simmons III, Grey, and company left no doubt.
Simmons III set the tone early, opening the scoring with 8:56 remaining in the first quarter on a 13-yard touchdown run that showed his strength and elusiveness. From that point, the rout was on.
“We can’t operate without him [Simmons III],” said Garis. “Anytime it’s a play that’s taken away or becomes a broken play, he does an unbelievable job of making the smart heady play of not forcing turnovers or forcing the issue.”
On the next drive, Simmons III connected with his favorite target, Terrance Anthony, for a 24-yard touchdown down the seam.
“I think they [the team] did a great job of being locked in and dialed in early because we’ve had some slow starts this season,” said Garis. “But the way we started this game is a great sign for us from our standpoint of we’re fixing our issues.”
While Simmons III got most of the attention, Grey was the Knights’ workhorse, punishing Mustang defenders and driving his legs all night long to the tune of 178 rushing yards.
“Last year they stopped me, so this year I just had to come out and play,” said Grey. “this is an every week thing. I do this every week. I try to come out 110%; leave it all on the field every week.” The Oakleaf offensive line blocked well all night, opening holes for Grey on 13 different carries of five or more yards. When the holes weren’t there, he ran hard, breaking tackles, driving his legs, and almost always finishing runs falling forward. The Knights leaned on Grey all night, handing him the ball 29 times.
“He’s our guy; he’s our heartbeat,” Garis said of Grey. “We had a situation, were coming into the game we were down to two running backs, so Adrian [Grey] had to carry us. He said, ‘Yes, sir, let’s do it.’ You guys see how electric he is. It’s hard to tackle that kid because you don’t know if he’s going to try to run you over, make you miss, or try to stutter you and jump-cut. To us, he’s the perfect running back for our offense, and we go how he goes.”
Oakleaf (4-2) plays next week at Bartram Trail (5-1), while Mandarin (1-4) hosts Sandalwood (5-0).