Injured Cedric Baxter sits, but Edgewater still wins

OCOEE, FLORIDA – Quarterback Chase Carter ran for a touchdown and caught a pass for another, and Kaden Shields-Dutton ran for another score Friday to help the Edgewater Eagles outlast Ocoee, 23-13, between teams ranked in the Top 5 in their classes.

The Eagles played without Texas commitment running back C.J. Baxter, who suffered a leg injury Monday against District 3-3Metro foe Wekiva.

Carter ran for 83 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown. He also completed 4 of 10 passes for 31 yards. Shields-Dutton ran for 80 yards on 12 carries. Semaj Fleming ran for 78 yards on five carries and caught three passes for 45 yards. He also threw an 18-yard halfback pass for a touchdown.

Edgewater coach Cameron Duke said that the Eagles are much more than Baxter.

“Pure grit and guts, and a team win. It is not a one-man team,” Duke said. “No. 4 (Baxter) is special. And what he shows you tonight is he’s on the sideline coaching guys up, he’s encouraging. We’ll get him back soon enough, and he’s an unbelievable leader.

“The rest of the guys stood up and made a way, which I knew they would.”

Josh Alexander also blocked a field-goal attempt on Ocoee’s opening series and an extra-point attempt on the Knights’ first touchdown. He also had four tackles for the Eagles, who withstood Ocoee running back Keyondray Jones’ fifth 100-yard game of the year.

Both teams face key district battles next Friday. The Eagles (8-0, No. 1 in Sentinel Super 16) close District 3-3Metro play at home against upstart Horizon. Duke lauded his team for surviving a gauntlet of three games in eight days.

“We got better in the fourth quarter and battled through adversity,” Duke said. “When you’re getting better on defense – I think we allowed 19 points in three games – that’s a testament to our defensive staff and our defensive players to play selfless football.”

Jones ran for 126 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries for the Knights (5-2, No. 5 in Super 16), who carry a 1-0 record into a three-game stretch against the rest of District 5-4Metro. That stretch starts Friday against Windermere, then at Dr. Phillips on Oct. 27. The Knights close on Oct. 31 in the Shield Game at West Orange – a game that was rescheduled due to Hurricane Ian.

Darien Wharton completed 11 of 21 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown for the Knights. Ahlston Ware caught three passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Ocoee coach Aaron Sheppard said the Knights will look back at several mistakes as opportunities lost. “They’re a good team. We just can’t make mistakes down the stretch against a great team, and that’s what we did,” Sheppard said. “We made too many mistakes down the stretch.”

Both story lines played out in the first quarter. The Eagles withstood Ocoee’s opening salvo when Alexander blocked Marlon Munoz’s 27-yard field-goal attempt.

Then Eagles answered with a 94-yard drive on six plays. Semaj Fleming’s 51-yard run on an end-around put the Eagles on Ocoee’s 30. After an incompletion, Carter ran right for a 30-yard score that put the Eagles up 7-0.

Ocoee also challenged the Eagles. Ware tackled Edgewater’s A.J. Howard for a 4-yard loss, forcing the Eagles to settle for a Bailey Stokes 24-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead with 1:58.

Wharton drove the Knights quickly, setting up Jones’ 3-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left. Wharton hit Tavion Greaves with a 34-yard pass and found Ware for a 32-yarder to set up the touchdown. Alexander, however, sapped the Knights’ momentum by blocking the extra point, leaving the Eagles up 10-6 at half.

“I had to dominate,” Alexander said. “I had to play with my team. We had to play like brothers.”

Acetron Ealey shook up the Eagles with an interception on the 50. Wharton took advantage by hitting Ware on a 7-yard slant play for a touchdown and a 13-10 Ocoee lead.

Two key Ocoee penalties let the Eagles retake the lead. An offside penalty with Edgewater in punt formation turned a fourth-and-3 into a first down. Two plays later, an Ocoee pass-interference penalty moved Edgewater to the 18.

Then Edgewater pulled a gadget play for a 16-13 lead. Carter handed off to Dutton, who then handed off to Fleming. Fleming then rolled right and found an open Carter near the sideline. Carter then broke a couple tackles and beat a defender to the pylon for an 18-yard touchdown.

“It’s how we dialed it up,” Fleming said. “I saw him wide, and I just threw it.”

Shields-Dutton then took a direct snap on the next series for a 41-yard touchdown.

Duke didn’t say whether Baxter would be ready for the Horizon game. But Carter said the team can shoulder the load.

“The leadership on this team and the family we built for the past years and this summer, that’s what prepared us for this,” Carter said of sharing the load without Baxter. “We were ready for it.”

Calvin Smith had eight tackles, and Ezekiel Brinson had four tackles and an extra-point block for the Knights.