Apopka uses bye week to reset and refocus

With four games remaining in the season, the Apopka football team used its bye week to clean up its fundamentals, sharpen individual roles and continue building the team mentality that coach Marcus Neeson believes has started to change the program. 

“I would say the mentality of our players has been the biggest change. Going into the season they were all about stats, ‘Oh, I got to get my stats,’” Neeson said. “They now realize when that’s our focus, then we can’t really get the wins that we want.” 

That shift began to show heading into Apopka’s game against Olympia, Neeson said. 

“It’s about we, and they’re wanting to win more than getting their stats,” Neeson said. “That’s the mentality that you want. It’s a team game, and they’re starting to understand that.” 

The bye week gave the Blue Darters an opportunity to reinforce that mentality without preparing for an immediate opponent. 

Instead of adding a large number of new plays, Apopka focused on what it already does well and worked on individual and position-group fundamentals. 

“Maintenance is usually the goal of a bye week, and fine tuning your focus,” Neeson said. “As the coaching staff, we’ve laid out the guys that need improvement in certain areas, and we’ve hammered in drills to get the guys to understand their roles for the rest of the season.” 

Tuesday and Wednesday featured individual work, including wide receiver and defensive back one-on-ones and half-skeleton drills. Neeson said the break allowed the coaching staff to return to some of the basic techniques taught at the beginning of the season. 

During a normal game week, much of the practice time is spent preparing specifically for an opponent. The bye week allowed the Blue Darters to return to those foundational drills and remind players why they use certain techniques. 

“It’s that hard reset sometimes that you need for the guys,” Neeson said. 

Thursday brought a different kind of work. 

The Blue Darters held a competitive practice featuring live game situations between the first-team offense and defense. The session became increasingly physical, with Jakyvion Kemp breaking loose for touchdown runs and defensive ends Jakendall Kemp and Marcus Young creating pressure in the backfield. 

Nyzier Collington came down with multiple touchdown catches, including a one-handed sideline grab, while quarterback Hunter McNenney caught a pass on a trick reverse. Kemp also caught a deep touchdown on a wheel route from McNenney. 

The defense answered with sacks and incompletions of its own. 

To finish off the bye week, the competitiveness carried over into a fun “capture the flag” competition between the offense and defense. Players protected footballs with water balloons while trying to steal the opposing side’s ball with blocking and strategy. 

Joshua Taylor slipped behind the defense, grabbed the football and raced up the sideline with blockers to score a point for the offense. Both sides had their share of highlights while nailing each other with water balloons. 

The competition day reflected what Neeson wants from his players: aggression between the whistles and control when the play is over. 

“Football is controlled chaos,” Neeson said. “As long as they’re physical and allowed to be violent between the whistles and in a safe manner, that’s what you want. When the whistle blows, play is done, they go back to their huddle and they’re ready for the next play. But for seven seconds, they’re all out.” 

Their defensive intensity has been led by senior captain Le’Melle Griffin, who has 71 tackles through six games, an average of nearly 12 per game. 

Griffin believes the Blue Darters already have what they need to finish the season strong. 

“The season is really like a puzzle,” Griffin said. “We got the pieces, we just got to put them together. Just got to work together to execute.” 

Griffin has emphasized physicality to the defense throughout the season, something he believes can keep the unit as the heartbeat of the team. 

“I always talk to my defense to always be physical. Every drive, every play, be physical and play fast,” Griffin said. 

Griffin also wants the defense to create opportunities for the offense through turnovers and strong field position. 

“It’s really about getting turnovers for the offense to get them back on the field,” Griffin said. “We really just want to keep the offense on the field most of the time, just to keep the game going. We want to put the offense in the right position for them to score the ball.” 

The numbers show how important both sides have been to Apopka’s season. 

Junior running back Jakyvion Kemp has accounted for 42% of the Blue Darters’ total yards, totaling 589 yards and six touchdowns on the ground and through the air. 

Freshman quarterback Kai Goodling has thrown for 482 yards and two touchdowns while adding three rushing touchdowns. 

Collington leads Apopka’s receivers with 20 catches for 202 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Jaylen Laster has 158 total yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions, while junior Ceon Cotton has eight catches for 129 yards. 

Defensively, Griffin’s 71 tackles lead the team by a wide margin. Junior David Wemberly has 51 tackles and leads the Blue Darters with two interceptions. 

Senior edge rusher Jakendall Kemp has four sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. 

Griffin has seen firsthand what Kemp brings to the defense. 

“He comes with a lot of energy. A lot of energy, who plays fast and physical,” Griffin said. “He’s a dog.” 

Now, Apopka takes its reset into the final four games of the regular season. 

The Blue Darters return from their bye week Friday night when they host Lake Brantley (3-3) for homecoming. Apopka is 2-4 and will look to turn its midseason reset into momentum for the final stretch.