ODA finds itself in regional final

SARASOTA — A year after Out-of-Door Academy’s first-ever playoff game came down to the final play, the Thunder sucked all of the drama out of Friday’s Class 1B-Region 3 semifinal.

A 21-point fourth quarter — and 34 unanswered points in the second half — powered host ODA to its first playoff win with a 41-17 dismantling of St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut Academy at Twin Lakes Park.

A.J. Strong embodied his name as the senior put on a show in the final period. Playing both ways, Strong blocked a Farragut field goal that could have tied the game two minutes into the fourth quarter. He followed that up with a 10-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive.

“What pushed me was my leadership to bring my team back,” Strong said.

While the Farragut players had their hands on their knees, the Thunder didn’t show one sign of fatigue. An option pitch was fumbled on the Blue Jackets’ next drive, and with ODA coach Brett Timmons pleading for one more score, Strong obliged on the first play after the fumble. He bounced off two tacklers, then shredded the grasp of the final would-be defender to waltz into the end zone with a 36-yard touchdown run. After Admiral Farragut (5-4) limited Strong to 45 yards on 14 carries in the first half, the Thunder’s workhorse had 186 yards on 10 second-half carries.

“We said all along we’ve been a second-half team,” Timmons said.

Strong shifted the momentum with his first carry of the second half, a 54-yard burst off the left side. Until then, the Thunder (9-1) and its eight-game winning streak looked in jeopardy thanks to a stubborn Farragut team. The visitors grabbed a 10-point half time lead with 11 points in the final 1:21 of the first half.

After Strong’s big run on the first play of the second half, Brian Ragone threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to his brother, Chris. The quarterback added a 1-yard sneak later in the third, and Chris Ragone erupted the crowd with a 100-yard interception return to close out the scoring with 1:34 in the game.

ODA now must face district rival Evangelical Christian after it upset Victory Christian, which knocked ODA out of the playoffs a year ago with a 9-5 win in Lakeland.

Strong helped the Thunder beat Evangelical 39-28 during the regular season and he’ll need another big game in the Class 1B semifinals Friday when the teams clash at Sarasota High School.