The Storm's Jayden Rodriguez (26) takes on Eagle defenders on Friday nightat Poinciana High School.
On a night when neither team could get much going on offense, the Poinciana defense scored two touchdowns and set up a third in a 20-0 win over Celebration. The game’s start was delayed two hours by area lightning.
The victory gave head coach Taron Mallard his ninth victory in 12 games since taking over the Poinciana program last year. It also gave Mallard a perfect 6-0 record against Osceola County opposition.
“Our defense carried the night for us. What did we force? Five turnovers?” Mallard said. “The thing is, last year the leadership came from our offense. We relied on Cam (QB Cam Brown), Ernest (WR Ernest Nunn) and Wil (RB Wil Nevius) to carry our team. Now that leadership has to come from our defense and they came up big tonight.”
Neither team could score in the first half. Celebration came closest but saw field goal attempts of 35 and 45 yards sail right.
Poinciana got on the board midway through the third quarter as its defense set up the first score by sacking Celebration quarterback Dai Dai Blackman for a 12-yard at midfield. Taking over on the Celebration 36, Poinciana picked up a quick first down before Daevion Williams took a handoff, broke four tackles and carried two Storm defenders into the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown run and a 6-0 lead.
It would be all the offense Poinciana would need, as the defense took over. On Celebration’s ensuing possession, Blackman completed a pass to Evan Couch, who fumbled. Jeremiah Brown was ‘Johnny on the Spot,’ picking up the loose ball and racing 77 yards for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead.
Celebration pieced together its best drive of the night, moving from its own 37 to the Poinciana 6. But on a fourth and goal from the 8, Poinciana’s Chance Frazier intercepted a pass in the end zone and raced untouched 101 yards for a score to make it 20-0 at the 7:53 mark of the fourth quarter.
From there, Poinciana came up with another fumble recovery and an interception to record their first defensive shutout since a 56-0 win over Liberty in 2022.
Although Poinciana managed less than 150 yards of total offense, Mallard was not overly concerned. “Because of weather, we got outside just one time this week and missed many more days in the pre-season for the same reason,” he said. “It’s really hard to develop any consistency on offense when you are spending so much time in the film room and gym rather than on the practice field.”
Poinciana returns to action Friday when it hosts Harmony, who lost to Windermere, 43-3. The Eagles recorded their first-ever win over the Longhorns last year, 26-5.
Celebration travels to Winter Springs.
