Brutal stretch continues for AP

By taking a closer look into his backfield, Avon Park coach Andy Bonjokian has finally found his starting quarterback - albeit six games late.

No matter. It's never too late for a signature victory, he said.

"If I look back at all the coulda, woulda, shoulda, you can't control anything except what we have in front of us," said Bonjokian, whose Red Devils travel to play No. 3-ranked Tampa Catholic in a Class 2B-District 5 matchup at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

"Maybe we won't be upset about what we could have done and what we did."

Senior Teddy Allen, the team's leading rusher, is Avon Park's new starting quarterback, and for good reason.

He amassed 252 yards of total offense, scoring three touchdowns, in last week's 23-19 loss to Lake Highland Prep, also ranked in the top 10 in the state. Three weeks ago, in his first-ever start under center, he totaled 244 yards and three scores against, yes, another top-10 team in Fort Meade.

"That's just the way it worked out, man," Bonjokian said.

Against Lake Highland Prep, the Red Devils moved the ball at will, shut down the Highlanders' potent offensive attack and came within a few plays of a stunning defeat that would have reshaped the high school football landscape.

Instead, it served as another lesson in patience for Bonjokian's bunch.

"We always talk about how the negative things impact you, but it's how the good things impact you, too," he said. "We had a nice drive to start out and all of a sudden, we're not playing the No. 5 team in the state anymore, we're just playing football and we're not bad ourselves. We can step in there and trade punches with anybody."

Now, the second-year coach is hoping his Red Devils have saved their biggest proverbial haymaker for Tampa Catholic, which enters tonight's game with a lofty ranking - No. 3 - and significant postseason aspirations.

The contrasts are startling: Tampa Catholic, which has won 14 of its past 15 regular-season games, has scored at least 17 points in each game this season, all wins. Avon Park, meanwhile, has lost four straight - to be fair, against strong competition - and dropped 14 of its past 15 road games, dating to 2007.

Bonjokian said whatever carryover effect lingers from last week's closer-than-expected game against Lake Highland Prep will only go so far.

"We know that we've got to hunker down and get ready to fight and go in there with the best gameplan that we can," he said, before adding: "It was disappointing to lose last week and if we sit and cry about what we could have done, we're going to get mashed the next two weeks. We can only handle what we can control and we've got to work on playing hardcore football."

Red Devils at Crusaders

When: 7:30 p.m. tonight

Where: Tampa

Cost: $5