ODA finds familiar foe in region final

SARASOTA — Coaches and players will tell you it’s hard to beat a team twice in one season.

The opposing team is aware of your tendencies and your scheme. They can correct what they did wrong the first time, and they are emotionally charged to exact payback for the first loss.

So what’s the best answer to beating an opponent twice?

“I don’t think you change your overall philosophy or your overall scheme,” Out-of-Door Academy coach Brett Timmons said. “You just add a couple different wrinkles here and a couple different wrinkles there.

“To me that is being totally conceited to come in and think you can do the same thing you did a several weeks ago to the opponent, so I think you are setting yourself up for failure.”

The Thunder will get a chance to make it two straight wins over Fort Myers Evangelical when they host the Sentinels in the Class 1B-Region 3 final at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sarasota High.

On Oct. 9, the Thunder (9-1) defeated Evangelical 39-28 in a 1B-District 6 game, and ODA eventually won the district crown, with the Sentinels (9-2) as district runner-up.

The game is even bigger this time because the winner punches a ticket to the state semifinals, a level the Thunder have never reached.

In order to advance, ODA must have its running game working, which is led by tailback A.J. Strong, who has rushed for 1,490 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. The senior tailback scored three times in the Thunder’s Region 3 quarterfinal victory over St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut last Friday.

“We are going to stick to our regular offense and do what we do,” ODA quarterback Brian Ragone said. “We haven’t put in any new plays from other games, and I don’t think we need to score a lot of points to stop them. I trust our defense that we are going to stop them a lot this game. It was kind of a fluke that they scored so many points on us. We are going to get things done on offense either way, so it doesn’t matter.”

Realistically, ODA knows Friday’s contest won’t be an easy win.

The final eight Class 1B teams in the state are suiting up this week for a reason. And make no mistake about it, Fort Myers Evangelical has its own playmaker in senior quarterback Colton Lynch.

Lynch has passed for 1,730 yards and 19 touchdowns, and he’s rushed for 1,424 yards and 23 scores.

Everything the Sentinels do offensively starts with Lynch.

“I don’t think you stop a kid like that, you just try to contain him,” Timmons said. “He’s the kind of kid that’s going to get his. It’s the supporting cast that we have to neutralize. It’s a daunting task trying to beat a team twice.”

The Thunder don’t have a choice if they want to be one of the final four teams left after Friday’s game.

“We need to play smash-mouth football and be running on all cylinders,” ODA linebacker Jake Siciliano said. “It’s going to be tough. We beat them one time, and who says we can’t beat them again.”