By Ken Jackson

Sports Writer

Harmony and Gateway seek their second wins when they meet Friday at Longhorns Field, but the way each got to 1-0 last week proved one thing:

It’s not how, it’s how many.

The Panthers needed a second-half comeback, a 94-yard fourth-quarter drive, and double overtime to defeat Poinciana, 36-35, at Gateway.

The Longhorns required no such drama, taking a 29-7 lead at the half and running away with the game — literally, thanks to 498 yards rushing — in a 50-17 romp at Lake Nona.

Friday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff will feature a pair of quarterbacks with big-play potential. Harmony used halfback Christian Acevedo in a Wildcat-type role and he ran for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

Gateway’s Roger Allen carried 26 times for 156 yards and four scores, spearheading a comeback from a 13-0 halftime deficit.

“Three big plays almost killed us,” Gateway Coach Marlin Roberts said. “We made mistakes and got called for chop blocks that negated some big plays, but you get that when you have two freshmen on your line.

“At halftime, Roger decided he was going to have a better second half. We figured that we could wear them down if we kept feeding him the ball.”

The three big plays Roberts referenced were all by Poinciana’s Mike Cirino. At cornerback in the first quarter, he stepped in front of an Allen pass and took the interception 42 yards for a touchdown.

In the second quarter, Cirino, the quarterback, on third-and-18 from the Eagles 12, found a wide open Joey DeComo near midfield, and the receiver high-tailed the rest of the way for an 88-yard scoring connection. C.J. Alcime added the PAT.

Gateway made it 13-7 midway through the third quarter after Jordan Spence recovered a fumble at the Eagles 23 to set up Allen’s first TD run from six yards, but Cirino answered by returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards. Edward Johnson’s two-point conversion made it 21-7.

An Allen 1-yard plunge with 10:36 left in the game made it 21-14, then the Panthers got the ball back at their own 6-yard line with 5:02 left. Gateway converted a pair of third downs on the drive, the first when Allen hit Zack Smith on a 23-yard pass from the Panther 25.

Allen carried five times for 61 yards on the drive, including a 37-yard gallop, but the big play was his dive over the right end from the 1 on fourth-and-goal with 26 seconds left.

Roberts said he felt confident before that drive, despite his offense being 94 yards from just tying the game.

“Offensively we had fresher legs and had some timeouts,” he said. “Their line did a good job inside but you could see they were a little gassed.”

In the overtime, DeComo scored on third-and-7, and Allen matched it in just one play from the 10. The teams traded two-point conversions to set up a second overtime.

Gateway’s Devonte Dobson scored from 11 yards out and Roberts elected to send kicker Felipe Oliviera out for a PAT, which he hit to make it 36-29. Poinciana answered in one play, when Cirino found Allyn Sanchez on a slant route. PHS Coach Michael Timpson elected to go for two and the win and called a pass play, but the Panthers brought a heavy rush, forcing Cirino to toss a desperation pass that fell incomplete.

Harmony used a one-two punch of Acevedo and fullback C.J. Clayton, who shredded Lake Nona’s defense for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns in a little over a half.

“We’ve been practicing with Acevedo at quarterback; we put some of it in there on Friday and it worked,” Harmony Coach Dayne Brown said.

“We figured we needed to be physical on both sides of the ball, and we got consistency from the offensive line. Everybody who carried the ball went six or seven yards before they got touched.”

Clayton scored on runs of 1, 8 and 33 yards, and Acevedo scored on 18 and 4-yard runs and a 96-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter. Adam Harvey, the starting quarterback in the Longhorns’ standard package, scored on a 14-yard run.

Brown said the challenge this week has been keeping his kids on task preparing for an improved Gateway. Harmony won 42-8 last year.

“They’re really athletic and look better up front than I’ve seen before,” Brown said. “They’re getting it going and we have to be ready.”

Roberts said Friday will be “The pupils against the mentor,” as he and two other GHS assistants worked under Karl Schroeder, the Panthers head coach from 2001-03 and current Harmony offensive line coach.

“I’m sure he won’t want to take it easy on us, but we have Roger and we’re developing the supporting cast around him,” Roberts said.

“We should fare better against them than last year. Granted, Lake Nona doesn’t have the greatest defense, but Acevedo and Clayton just gutted them. We will have our hands full. We can’t wait around and make the mistakes we survived last week.”

Poinciana hosts Palm Bay Heritage Friday at 7:30 p.m. for its home opener.