Eagles' seniors complete career gridiron sweep of Chargers
Poinciana's Daveon Williams rumbles for a chunk of his 107 rushing yards Friday. He also scored two touchdowns against Liberty. (Photo/Ken Jackson)
Poinciana's seniors accomplished a great feat in Friday's Battle of the Boulevard rivalry football showdown.
Those Eagles turned a series around that they had never won since it started in 2007, and claimed their fourth straight win over the Chargers, 38-0. Those seniors never lost to Liberty.
And Poinciana's coaches didn't even bring the Battle trophy out of the office.
Junior Kamari Lewis ran for a caught and caught a touchdown pass in the first half, and running back Daevon Williams ran for 107 yards and two scores to get Poinciana to 3-6 heading into the season finale next Thursday at Timber Creek.
"To me, this group is special," PHS Coach Taron Mallard said. "The record doesn't reflect these kids' leadership. We had a bunch of transfers come in late in the offseason, and we put a lot on them to get cohesion and chemistry early. If we can win next week .... well, 4-6 may not sound great, but closing with a pair of wins will be great momentum going into next year with a lot of kids coming back."
Liberty (0-9), who still leads the all-time Boulevard series 15-4, will try to finish the year with a win at Lake Buena Vista Thursday.
The Eagles gained the upper hand just three minutes into the game. The defense forced a three-and-out, Lewis returned the ensuing punt 66 yards to the Chargers 19, and four plays later Lewis scored on a sweep from the 9.
In the second quarter, Liberty free safety Feelce Bryant looked to give the Chargers momentum with an interception, but the game swung the other way. Liberty fumbled it away, Mallard turned to a power running game with Williams to get down the field, then Terrell Jones, who was 13-of-19 passing for 207 yards Friday, hooked up with Lewis on a 35-yard touchdown pass. Rodney Malet then recovered the ensuing bouncing kickoff, and the Eagles made it 22-0 after a couple big Williams runs, including an 8-yarder for a score.
Williams scored on a 9-yard run on Poinciana's first possession of the second half to salt the game away. Tristan Fletcher caught a 3-yard touchdown pass to send it to a running clock late in the third quarter.
The Eagles defense did not allow a Liberty scrimmage play of longer than six yards, and surrendered just 20 yards.
"I'm pretty happy with what we did tonight, with it being a big rivalry game and everything that goes with it," Mallard said. "It feels like a pretty complete win."
