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Highlands Today

Red Devils fall to Highlanders

Jasmina Meyer, Highlands Today

Avon Park quarterback Teddy Allen throws a pass during Friday night's district game against Lake Highland Prep at Joe Franza Stadium.

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By DAVID BREED

For Highlands Today

Published: October 31, 2009

Updated:

AVON PARK - Avon Park was one game-winning touchdown drive away from pulling off the upset of the year against the No. 5-ranked team in the state in Lake Highland Prep on Friday night at Joe Franza Stadium.

"Our guys played one heck of a football game," said Avon Park coach Andy Bonjokian. "We just couldn't pull it out in the end. We had some things happen and I'm real proud of our guys."

After trailing for most of the game, Avon Park senior quarterback Teddy Allen, who was playing only his second game at the position, seemed destined to help the Red Devils pull off a miracle on the final drive.

Allen converted a pair of fourth-down conversions to keep the drive alive before eventually throwing an interception with under two minutes left in the game as Lake Highland Prep hung on for the 23-19 district win.

Allen, who rushed for 177 yards and scored three touchdowns, added 75 yards passing and was the entire offense for the Red Devils.

"He is an amazing player," Bonjokian added. "Let me tell you, He showed why he's going to be playing on Saturdays next year.

"The team followed his lead and played up to our expectations."

Allen helped Avon Park set the tone early, leading the dragons on a 17-play, 90-yard drive which the elusive runner capped with a 6-yard scoring jaunt to give the Red Devils the early lead.

Lake Highland Prep answered by reeling off 16 unanswered points heading into halftime behind the powerful running of senior tailback Zack McCarrell and freshman running back BJ Simpson, who combined to rush for 200 yards on the night.

With Avon Park facing a fourth down on its opening drive of the second half and not wanting to give the Highlanders another chance to extend their lead, the Red Devils called a fake punt and Allen ripped off a 47-yard touchdown run, narrowing the gap to 16-13.

Lake Highland Prep marched right back down the field on the following possession and scored a touchdown to extend its lead to 23-13.

With the fourth quarter approaching Allen led the Red Devil offense on another scoring drive using both his legs and his arm.

Senior wide receiver Tyler Kirkland, who finished with 75 receiving yards, hauled in a 39-yard pass from Allen to set up a touchdown to bring the Red Devils closer.

Avon Park eventually forced Lake Highland to punt the ball giving its offense the ball on the 3-yard line with six minutes left in the game.

Destiny seemed to be on the Red Devils side as they converted a tough fourth down when Allen, who dropped back to pass, was flushed from the pocket and had to scramble to pick up the first down.

After converting the fourth down the Red Devil offense stalled and Allen's last pass was intercepted to help Lake Highland seal the Class 2B-District 5 win.

The Red Devils, who dropped to 3-5, played hard all night and never felt like they didn't deserve to be on the same field as the highly ranked Highlanders.

"We knew we had a good chance in this game when we stepped on the field," Bonjokian said. "We go into every game with a chance. We just need to keep doing what we are doing."

Bonjokian hopes that the attitude his team displayed against Lake Highland Prep (8-1) will continue and help his team finish the season on a high note.

"If you play ten ball games with that kind of effort out there, we're not 3-5. We're a lot better off," Bonjokian said. "We'll be dangerous these last few weeks."

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