After weeks of rumors and speculation, The Apopka Chief confirmed this week that Tyson Davison, Apopka football’s starting quarterback for the last three seasons, will be playing for the Ocoee Knights for his senior season.
The confirmation comes from multiple sources, including the Davison family and Jett Davison, the current Ocoee High School offensive coordinator and former Apopka High School offensive coordinator. Coach Davison and Wendell Davison, Tyson’s father, told the Chief that Tyson would play for the Ocoee Knights football squad this fall.
Both sources confirmed that Tyson has been practicing with the Knights for the past few weeks but has been waiting to make an official announcement until he was enrolled at Ocoee High School.
“I am excited for this new opportunity and a chance to compete with this new group of guys,” Tyson Davison said in a phone interview.
In another phone interview, Tyson’s father said college recruiting was one of the biggest reasons Tyson decided to step away from the Blue Darter football team. As a senior, Tyson is in the middle of one of the most critical six-month periods in his athletic career. It’s all or nothing right now as he tries to get an offer from a Power Four school.
His father also said that Tyson is working hard to graduate by December so that he can start training with his college team in the spring.
Tyson’s father said college recruiters told him they need to see certain things out of Tyson this year, which they have not seen in his film at Apopka. He needs to start the season off hot and on a roll, as most teams will have made recruiting decisions by the end of the season.
With a young and inexperienced team left in the wake of other transfers and the departure of head coach Jeff Rolson, Tyson had to make some tough decisions, Wendell Davison said.
Tyson has been and always wanted to be a Blue Darter, according to his father, and bleeds blue and white. He said Tyson was a part of the program before he was even on the high school team.
“Nobody was more Apopka than Tyson,” Wendell Davison said. “I remember he was 6 years old; he cried like a baby when they lost the state title game in the citrus ball. And he promised he would bring the title to the city, and he almost did his freshman year.”
For six years, Tyson has worked alongside Rolson in the program, starting as a ball boy in 2019, three years before his freshman season.
“It was a decision that was a hard one, and one that Tyson made himself… one that he didn’t want to make, Wendell Davison said. “It was very difficult for him to make that decision. He brought it to me and talked to the coaches about it. And it’s still something I don’t think he wanted to do, but he felt like he had to do.”
Tyson’s father emphasized that no one from Ocoee High School ever reached out to him or Tyson to ask him to come be a Knight. Tyson made this decision independently after weighing all his options and prioritizing his future.
Tyson and his father agreed that the Apopka football program and its coaching staff deserve praise for their efforts. Still, they acknowledged the need for a different environment. Tyson’s father said he appreciates and respects Rolson and his coaching staff more than anyone could know.
“Honestly, if you look at his record, Coach Rolson has done more with less than anybody in the state,” Tyson’s father said. “Just look at what he’s done. He’s gone to the state title three times, and each of the three times he went to the state title game, he’s done it against these power teams.”
But the landscape of high school sports is changing. The transfer portal and the formulation of stacked programs have put Apopka football in a tight spot. Apopka football has always been about homegrown Apopka kids who work harder than anyone else to put a winning team on the field. Tyson’s father said that’s not enough to compete with these power teams anymore, as we have seen these past few seasons.
This summer has been busy for Tyson as he has visited different colleges and universities and worked out with their football programs. He recently returned from visits to the University of West Virginia and Arkansas.
Tyson has a 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 5.0 weighted GPA, sparking a lot of interest from Ivey League schools.
“A lot of people are not aware that he’s a high GPA kid, and that’s all thanks to Apopka,” Wendell Davison said. “They put him in this position. He’s been educated in Apopka his whole life. That a very big deal to him and one of the reasons he’s so proud of being a Blue Darter.”
Over the last two seasons, Tyson put up 1,346 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a completion rate of 47.6%. He also racked up 1,399 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.
Coming into the spring game against Jones last month, Tyson said he was excited for his senior year as a Blue Darter. Now, he will play his final year of high school football as an Ocoee Knight.
Tyson wanted everyone to know how important his time at Apopka was in his development as a player and a man.
“Apopka football was extremely important and I am thankful to coach Rolson for the trust he but in me early on to lead the team,” Tyson said. The biggest lessons I learned from Apopka were that hard work and discipline are essential to being a student athlete and part of building character while representing your team, school, city, and yourself.”
Apopka and Ocoee are set to face off in their annual season opener at Ocoee on Friday, Aug. 22. Apopka has won all three matchups since the two schools started opening their seasons against each other. Tyson said he is looking forward to hard fought game and knows that Ocoee and Apopka will treat this game like a playoff game.
“We’re not going to look back,” Tyson’s father said. “He’s going to give the same effort to the Ocoee Knights. So, it’s going to be different coming out of a different tunnel and seeing Apopka across the field from him. But that game on August 22 will be charged up, so everybody get your ticket loaded.”
