The Florida Gators, seeded No. 3 in the tournament, advanced to the field of eight for the sixth time in program history and first time since 2005. They defeated the Miami Hurricanes 4-3 in 10 Innings on Saturday night in front of a large crowd of 5,783 at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville.

The Hurricanes committed seven errors in the game, including one in the top of the 10th by right fielder Chris Pelaez, who misplayed a fly ball hit by freshman shortstop Nolan Fontana, out of West Orange High School. Fontana would end up scoring the game-winning run on a RBI double by Austin Maddox.

Lake Brantley High School alum Greg Larson entered the game in the bottom of the 10th with one on base and one out. The sophomore proceeded to catch freshman Michael Broad looking on strikes and then force sophomore Rony Rodriguez to ground out to Fontana at shortstop, who fired a bullet across the diamond to Preston Tucker at first base for the final out. Larson collected his third save and was greeted by teammates as the celebration began.

The Hurricanes made nine errors in their two games of Super Regional play, which as a result denied local kids such as freshman Steve Ewing out of University High School and Ethan Bornstein from Winter Park High School a chance to make it to Omaha. The Gators opened Super Regionals with a 7-2 win on Friday night.

Fontana and Larson join sophomore Ben McMahan and senior Clint Franklin as players from the Central Florida area with spots on the Florida roster. McMahon played his high school ball at Bishop Moore while Franklin played at Timber Creek.

Joining the Gators at the World Series are the Florida State Seminoles, who are making the trip for the 20th time in program history and 14th time under head coach Mike Martin. The Seminoles defeated Vanderbilt 7-6 in the decisive Game 3 of the team’s Super Regional matchup at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee.

FSU, like the Gators, have four players from the Orlando area on its roster including senior outfielder Ohmed Danesh out of Dr. Phillips High School. Junior infielder Stuart Tapley and freshman Corben Madden both played baseball at Boone High School. Junior pitcher John Gast hails from Lake Brantley, where he was a teammate with Florida’s Larson from 2005-07.

For Gast, Tapley, and Danesh, this marks their second trip to Omaha in three years as FSU advanced in 2008, going 0-2 after losing to Stanford and Miami. The Seminoles open play this time around against TCU while Florida takes on No. 6 UCLA. The two state rivals could meet up early on as both are in the same bracket.

– More Local Players In College World Series –

Senior second baseman Mike Freeman out of Edgewater High School and sophomore shortstop Brad Miller from Olympia High School helped Clemson advance to the World Series. The Tigers take on No. 1 Arizona State to start the week’s final round of elimination play. Junior utility player Robert Beary out of Apopka started in 22 games for South Carolina, playing in 41 games on the year. The Gamecocks get underway against Oklahoma.

In the second day of the MLB First-Year Player Draft, local baseball players began to be selected by big league clubs. Below is a look at who they were, where they were picked, and what team made the call.

– 2010 MLB Draft Top-10 Local Picks –

– LHP Justin Nicolino (University) selected No. 80 overall by Toronto in 2nd round. WESH Video

– RHP A.J. Cole (Oviedo) selected No. 116 overall by Washington in 4th round.

– CF Mason Williams (West Orange) selected No. 145 overall by NY Yankees in 4th round.

– LHP Alex Burgos (Osceola/State College of Florida) selected No. 163 overall by Detroit in 5th round.

– LHP John Gast (Lake Brantley/Florida State) selected No. 199 overall by St. Louis in 6th round.

– RF Jose Dore (The First Academy) selected No. 244 overall by San Diego in 8th round.

– SS Mike Freeman (Edgewater/Clemson) selected No. 331 overall by Arizona in 11th round.

– RHP Cody Allen (Boone/UCF/St. Petersburg JC) selected No. 480 overall by Cleveland in 16th round.

– RHP Owen Dew (UCF) selected No. 630 overall by Cleveland in 21st round.

– C Shane Brown (Winter Park/UCF) selected No. 715 overall by NY Yankees in 23rd round.

– More Local MLB Draft Picks –

LF Chris Duffy (Cypress Creek/UCF) at No. 801 overall to Philadelphia (26th round); CF Jay Gonzalez (Freedom) No. 833 overall to Boston (27th round); RHP Tim Griffin (Rollins College) No. 852 overall to Seattle (28th round); LHP Ronald Schreurs (Freedom) No. 1,296 overall to Toronto (43rd round); LHP Jimmy Hodgskin (Bishop Moore) No. 1,311 overall to Philadelphia (43rd round); OF Tyler Marincov (Timber Creek) No. 1,453 overall to Detroit (48th round).

– Draft Notes –

– The UCF Knights have had nine different players selected in the MLB Draft over the last three years, including Brown, who has now been drafted twice by the Yankees. Last season he was picked in the 47th round. In all, UCF has had its baseball players drafted by MLB organizations 73 times since 1979. Dew was taken in the 33rd round in 2009 by the Los Angeles Angels. Duffy, who was selected in the 9th round out of high school, completed his four-year career as a finalist for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award as one of the top amateur players in the nation.

– The Florida Collegiate Summer League had the highest number of current or former baseball players drafted over the three-day MLB selection process as 25 FCSL players were taken, including five in the first eight rounds. A complete list of draftees is available at Florida League.

But in the third game between the two rivals, the comeback attempt for Edgewater was not enough as Winter Park’s Brett Comer dropped 23 points to help the Wildcats move along to the region finals – on Saturday at Jacksonville First Coast – with a 70-59 win.

Also still alive in the hunt for the Class 6A state title is Dr. Phillips, who will host St. Petersburg this weekend after winning 57-45 over Vero Beach. Oak Ridge will host Brooksville Nature Coast in Class 4A after narrowly escaping Gainesville Eastside, 55-54.

– Winter Park over Edgewater –

– 1st Quarter

The Eagles got early production in the first quarter on both ends of the floor from Patrick Diop (four points, rebound, forced turnover), Kent Gainous (blocked shot, rebound) and Alex Brayman (43rd 3-pointer of season, rebound) while Winter Park got going behind the likes of Adam Jones (four points, three rebounds) and Robert Lovaglio (two points, rebound) on Tuesday night.

Most impressive was that Edgewater held Winter Park standout guard Austin Rivers to zero attempts from the field over the opening eight minutes. What hurt them most though was that they failed to capitalize on scoring chances when they were there for the taking. And that seemed to be the theme the entire night.

The Eagles lead 9-8 with under a minute to play before the game changed in favor of the Wildcats for good once John David Swanson knocked down a 3-pointer near the baseline to put the Wildcats up 11-9.

The standout play of the quarter came nearly two minutes into the game, when Comer swatted the ball from Gainous near the foul line, saved it from going out of bounds, then sent a no-look pass down court to Isaac Turner. Edgewater’s Kendrick Perry got in on the action shortly thereafter by flinging a pass over the head of Rivers to find Gainous under the hoop for an easy lay-in.

– 2nd Quarter

Rivers wouldn’t take his first shot of the night until less than four minutes remained in the second quarter. That’s when he hit a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc to put the Wildcats up big, 27-9.

Winter Park opened the period with the kind of run in the first four minutes that would knock the wind out of most anyone. Edgewater turned the ball over three times and missed five-straight shots during that stretch until Perry put an end to the bleeding by converting a 3-point play that kick-started a 7-0 run. He would end the quarter with a buzzer-beater for the Eagles, though that barely cut into Winter Park’s 33-18 lead.

The Wildcats again got solid play from Comer (nine points, two rebounds, assist), Jones (four points, two blocks, assist) and Lovaglio (four points, two rebounds, assist, blocked shot) in the quarter.

Comer’s second highlight-worthy play of the night came early in the quarter when he took a long pass down court from Lovaglio, faked to his right with Perry guarding him, then came back to his left and leaned forward as he hoisted an underhanded shot that bounced high off the glass and fell through for a score. A foul on Perry sent him to the line where he completed the 3-point play.

– 3rd Quarter

The Comer Show continued in the third as Winter Park kept holding off Edgewater even as the Eagles cut the deficit to 10 points for a brief moment with 2:35 to go in the frame. That’s when Comer promptly drove inside for a layup and Swanson connected on a 3-pointer to help keep the cushion intact.

The third jaw-dropping play on the night from Comer took place with nearly a minute to spare as he spun off of a defender, fell to his knees while keeping his dribble, and emerging from the hardwood with the ball in tow – just as Brayman made a play on it – and drained a shot from just inside the paint.

Winter Park led 51-37 after three as Comer scored seven with an assist and Jones scored four with a blocked shot.

Edgewater kept fighting though behind the charge of Brayman (four points, two rebounds, steal), Perry (six points, rebound, steal) and Devinn Heard (four points, rebound).

– 4th Quarter

The final quarter proved to be nothing more than a formality as the Eagles could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, even as Winter Park gave them every opportunity to do so plenty of times late in the game.

It was missed baskets and turnovers that kept the home team at bay.

The final push for the Eagles was orchestrated by the efforts of Diop (10 points, block), Perry (five points, rebound, steal) and Gainous (two points, two rebounds, steal).

Lovaglio was the standout for the Wildcats in the fourth with eight points, three rebounds and a steal. Rivers, who despite having trouble at the foul line (4-for-9 on the night), finished with six points in the quarter to help secure the win.

Adam Jones

On Saturday the Class 6A, District 4 title will be decided at Edgewater and the No. 2 Eagles are hoping to be a part of it when the game tips off, in what would likely be a rematch against the top-seeded Wildcats.

To get there, Edgewater first must get past No. 6 Colonial in the semifinals while Winter Park takes on No. 4 Boone for the right to advance.

A month ago Winter Park visited Edgewater and came away with a 58-39 win. Earlier in the week the Wildcats eliminated East River and Edgewater turned away Freedom to start postseason play.

Should both teams continue on toward the championship game, it would be a fitting conclusion for two programs that closed out the regular season with impressive finales.

– Edgewater defeats Evans –

If anyone wondered if Patrick Diop was listening to coaches at halftime of last week’s rivalry game against Evans, it didn’t take long to find out.

Diop scored a game-high 22 points – 11 in the third period – as Edgewater closed out the regular season on senior night with at rousing 58-40 win.

The Trojans held a 25-23 lead at the halfway point before the Eagles, who were forced to play recently with only eight players because of suspension and injuries, put the game away on an 18-2 tear in the third.

“All we really talked about at halftime was being tougher,” said Edgewater coach Matt Turner. “On the boards, on offense, on defense, we just needed to play together and not be so selfish like we were in the first half.”

Turner, in his first year at Edgewater after four seasons at Oak Ridge, said much of the conversation was directed toward Diop.

“I called him out at halftime,” said Turner. “I told his he was being soft and that he was making excuses and we were not going to allow that.”

Diop returned to the floor and reaped trouble on the Trojans throughout the remainder of the night. He created turnovers, grabbed rebounds, blocked shots and routinely found the open man for scores down court.

Evans (12-11) came in as a team fighting complacency over the past month, according to head coach Matt O’Callahan. They were held scoreless from the field in the third quarter and made just two of eight attempts from the free throw line.

“You’ve really got to give him credit,” said Turner of Diop.

Evans would pull to within 10 points twice in the fourth but found the deficit too much to overcome down the stretch.

Edgewater (23-3) also got 13 points apiece from seniors Kendrick Perry and Alex Brayman. Both Perry and Diop entered the game averaging 16 points per game. Maurice Turner dropped 19 points on the night for the Trojans.

The Eagles three losses this season came at the hands of Winter Park, Dr. Phillips and Lake Brantley.

– Winter Park defeats Pine Crest –

Last Friday two of the best high school basketball guards in the nation went head-to-head in front of ESPN2 cameras in Boca Raton as Winter Park (22-4) closed out its schedule with an 87-76 win over Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest.

Austin Rivers and Brett Comer

Winter Park junior Austin Rivers was named player of the game after scoring 41 points on 14-of-24 attempts and grabbing seven rebounds, while teammate John David Swanson hit 6-of-7 shots from long range and finished with 22 points.

The win for the Wildcats improved the head coach coaching record for David Bailey to 100-19 overall through four years on the bench.

Pine Crest senior Brandon Knight, who came in averaging 32 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game, scored a game-high 48 points on 15-of-35 attempts at Florida Atlantic’s FAU Arena.

If fans were keeping score at home, they witnessed Rivers and company dismantle a Pine Crest team (the two-time defending Class 3A state champ) that relies heavily on Knight.

And as far as one-on-one comparisons go, Rivers started the game by blowing past Knight early in the first quarter for an easy layup. He ended the contest by draining three three-pointers and converting a three-point play in the second half against the highly coveted recruit.

While Rivers has reportedly given a verbal commitment to Florida with his senior season still on the horizon, Knight is considering Florida, Kansas, Miami, Connecticut, Kentucky and Syracuse.

Winter Park held a comfortable 41-33 lead at the break despite 24 points from Knight as the Wildcats got plenty of contributions from a seven-man rotation.

In the first quarter Robert Lavoglio scored six of his eight points on the night before going on to add eight rebounds. In the second quarter, Adam Jones was moving the ball to open teammates, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. The Fairfield University commit finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal.

Brett Comer, playing in the same arena he may oneday suit up in at the collegiate level, scored six points and finished with seven assists.

Winter Park is currently riding a 13-game win streak and has defeated top teams from Georgia, New Jersey, Washington and Washington D.C. while dropping games against East Ridge, Nevada’s Findlay Prep, New Jersey’s Paterson Catholic and Alabama’s Butler.

The lopsided win in Class 4A Region 2 came courtesy of several contributors on both sides of the ball. That now sets up this week’s matchup in Lakeland against Lake Gibson, who defeated St. Cloud 42-12.

After missing out on the postseason for the first time in 10 years the Eagles were reclassified to 4A by the state and are now just one of three local teams below Class 6A to still be alive in the playoffs. On Friday, Lake Highland Prep is at Tampa Catholic in Class 2B and Osceola takes on Lakeland High School in Class 5A.

In the opening round the Eagles held the visiting team virtually immobile as Haines City compiled just 88 yards, 64 of those on the first drive of the game, in a penalty-plagued first half that saw Edgewater get out to a 22-0 lead.

Sophomore linebacker Karl Joseph stuffed a run play on fourth down from inside the five on that first possession for Haines City and tallied four tackles-for-loss on the night.

The Eagles would take over at their own five but stall themselves nine plays later when they also came up shy of a first down following a fourth-down attempt. But with the Edgewater defense playing so well, field position was in their favor from that point on. Haines City went on to punt three times and have another drive end with the halftime whistle in the first half to help set up quarterback Kent Gainous and the Edgewater offense.

“Our defense helped our offense out greatly because it gave us good field position and an opportunity to score,” said Gainous afterwards.

Gainous reached the end zone for the first score of the night on a 15-yard run up the middle – on the third play of a drive that started at their opponents 26 – by sidestepping a number of defenders with 1:34 to go in the first quarter. He went on to rush for two scores on 116 yards rushing while also throwing five completions to four different receivers, one of which went for a score, for 136 yards through the air.

In the second quarter a 40-yard return by senior C.J. Stevens followed a Haines City safety that set up another touchdown for Edgewater as Gainous found R.J. Altman in the end zone from six yards out with 6:05 left in the half. At 16-0 the route was already on.

“If we’re going to advance he’s got to stay healthy and make those kind of plays,” said Edgewater Head Coach Bill Gierke of his quarterback.

Stevens broke up a couple key pass plays in the secondary while other big plays on defense were turned in by junior Kelvon Davis, senior Jayson Patrick and senior Xavier Hicks.

Senior Tyler Williams returned a punt 19 yards and caught passes for 58 and 22 yards in the win while junior Keith Craven (42 yards) and freshman Johnathan Altman (38 yards) contributed out of the backfield.

Edgewater has now won their last eight opening-round playoff games since Gierke came on board in 2000.

–– More Edgewater Football Coverage ––

- Video highlights at WFTV

- Story at Orlando Sentinel

The game started with a bang for Boone when senior defensive end Kyle Adams recovered a fumble from Edgewater senior quarterback Kent Gainous, who lost the ball deep in the Eagles’ territory. After scoring an early touchdown Boone senior quarterback Sam Hutsell connected with senior Denard Lucas for a big 20-yard reception to get the Braves inside the 10-yard line. Hutsell then sent a lob pass to Adams for the second score on the night.

Freshman running back A.J. Turman would later break away for a 65-yard run to the Edgewater 10-yard line before taking a pitch to the left on fourth down and getting free before reaching the end zone. Gainous responded for Edgewater late in the second quarter by breaking tackles and running in for a score from 13-yards away to cut Boone’s deficit to 21-7 at the half.

Gainous later connected with senior Latavious Smith with 55 seconds to go in the third quarter for a 22-yard touchdown, but that would be it for the Eagles.

The Braves got interceptions and pass break-ups from seniors Tabarie Sullivan and Garrett Lattin while seniors Ryan Orlando, Travis Armstead, and Sage Shearhouse each had sacks in the win. R.J. Altman had an interception and Smith had a sack for Edgewater.

On Friday, Boone travels to Apopka to face the Blue Darters in the first round of the playoffs and the Eagles play host to Haines City.

– To nominate athletic performances for inclusion each Wednesday to the Top-5 list of Orlando Sports Central Standouts, send over an email to JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com –

Ali Schrader (Photo by Jim Hogue)

1.) Ali Schrader – Rollins Tars – The freshman forward helped the Rollins College women’s soccer team win its first Sunshine State Conference tournament title when her goal in the 50^th minute held up in a 1-0 win over Florida Southern over the weekend. With the win, which came on their home field, the Tars (15-1-2) earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament against the winner between Florida Tech and Saint Leo on Saturday. Schrader was named SSC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after scoring her first three goals of the season at the tournament.

2.) Han Kim – Lake Mary Rams – Last week Kim dominated the field at the Class 2A Golf State Finals in Ocala as he shot a 9-under par 135 over two days at Silver Springs Shores to earn the gold medal. His day one score of 70 and day two efforts of 65 (on the Par 72 course) were six strokes better then all other competitors and helped Lake Mary win the team title by two strokes.

3.) Tom Smith – Apopka Blue Darters – The junior running back rushed for 152 yards on 11 carries, scoring four touchdowns and three two-point conversions in the first half for Apopka as they raced out to a 66-14 win on the road over Ocoee last week to claim the Class 6A, District 5 title. (Game Recap)

Mike Sims-Walker

4.) Jalen Singleton – Bishop Moore Hornets – By scoring three touchdowns in the second half and making big plays in the secondary for the Hornets, Singleton helped Bishop Moore wrap up the Class 2A, District 4 title in a 23-0 win at Jones. Singleton rushed for 162 yards on 22 carries, which included scores from 43, 5 and 5 yards out. (Game Recap)

5.) Mike Sims-Walker – Jacksonville Jaguars – The former Edgewater and UCF football standout posted the best receiving-yards effort for the Jaguars since 2000 on Sunday when he caught six passes for 147 yards and a touchdown in a 24-21 win against Kansas City. It was his third 100-yard game of the season.

More ––

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 11/4/09

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 10/28/09

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 10/21/09

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 10/14/09

Those recent championship efforts came on the heels of Metro Conference titles won by each team several weeks ago. Not bad for two schools that opened up together back in 2002.

Following next week’s regional tournament action (on Monday and Tuesday) both the Class 1A and 2A State Championship will take place in Marion County, Nov. 7-8. Last year Lake Brantley came in fourth and Olympia fifth on the boy’s side while Lake Howell and Lake Mary finished one-two in the girls state finals.

–– Timber Creek Girls ––

Four girls at TCHS made the All-Metro East team after finishing as undefeated conference champs at 14-0. Joining Lake Nona’s Ashley Holder and Rebecca Hyltin on the squad is Timber Creek senior Sara Bolivar (season-best nine-hole round of 36), freshman Paige Lyle (36), senior Lauren Lyle (37) and junior Emily Montero (37). The Wolves won with a 163-190 score over Lake Nona while Winter Park posted a 196.

At Tuesday’s 18-hole Class 2A, District 7 Tournament, hosted by Lyman at The Country Club at Deer Run, Timber Creek swept the top spots in the individual standings to come away the district win. Montero tied Winter Park’s Brandi Rodriguez for the title with a round of 77 while Lauren Lyle (79), Bolivar (83) and Paige Lyle (86) followed suite.

Moving on with TCHS to regional action next week at Hunter’s Creek Golf Club are Winter Park and Lake Brantley.

–– Olympia Girls ––

At the Metro Conference West Tournament, the girls at Olympia overcame the first and second-place individual efforts of Mia Campbell (30) and Sydney Woolfolk (32) from Edgewater to take home the title thanks to solid nine-hole outings from Jessica Uem (32), Alyx Carrasquel (33), Mia Semaan (34), Mariah Ming (44) and Christin Rouse (45). Olympia won by a 143-180 margin while the Eagles settled for runners-up.

The Titans then defeated both Edgewater and Dr. Phillips in the District 8 Tournament at MetroWest Golf Club as Uem shot a district-best 79 to help lead the team to an overall score of 354.

–– Timber Creek Boys ––

The boys golf team at TCHS won the Metro East Tournament with a score of 292 following a four-under par first-place showing from senior Keanu Kia (68) and a runner-up effort turned in by junior teammate Felipe Quiroga (71).

The Wolves carried that momentum over into the Class 2A, District 7 Tournament as they won the title, at Timacuan Golf and Country Club, for the first time as Quiroga took top honors among the field this time around with a two-under par round of 70. Kia shot a 75 for fifth overall and senior Jeff Dougherty shot a 76 for the Wolves (302), who narrowly got the better of Winter Park (316) and Ocoee (324) to advance to regionals at Windermere Country Club on Tuesday.

–– Olympia Boys ––

Considered among the best golf programs in the area, if not the state, the boy’s team at Olympia wrapped up the Metro Conference West title last month after overcoming the individual efforts of champion Austin Collins of West Orange.

The Titans lost just once this season and will play host to regionals after winning the District 8 Tournament with a score of 320 this week at Orange Tree Country Club. West Orange finished second at 325 and Edgewater followed in third with a district championship effort turned in sophomore Harrison Winger (76) and an overall outing of 330. Olympia junior Davis Hall took third with a 78, while juniors Joey Petronio (80) and Mikey Hauer (80) were joined in the Top-10 by senior Steven Yang (82) at the event.

It was his biggest outing since catching six balls for 79 yards and a score in a win Nov. 8, 2008 at Minnesota. Mathews caught five passes in two different games last year (at home against Toledo and again against Northwestern). But two of the best games statistically that Mathews has enjoyed as a Wolverine both came in 2007.

During Michigan’s season-opening loss to Appalachian State that year Mathews had seven receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown. He later hauled in seven passes for 62 yards in a win over Florida at the Capital One Bowl in Orlando to wrap up the schedule.

More on Greg Mathews of Edgewater:

Stats as compiled by ESPN

Video highlights at ESPN

Player profile at MGoBlue

More from MGoBlue

Game coverage at WFTV 9

High School highlights at Rivals

Jeff Arnold provides his point of view at AnnArbor.com

From the start, the home team did nothing to get the crowd involved in the game. Much less forget about the dismal season that took place a year ago. The Knights actually trailing 7-0 until the final minute of the first half, when with a new quarterback in the huddle they pieced together a drive that helped them enter the break with some dignity intact.

The fireworks finally got started though at the beginning of the third quarter. UCF and Samford came out from the halftime break tied at 7-7 and proceeded to battle it out like two school kids in a back alley following the final class of the day.

Local product Quincy McDuffie, a freshman out of Edgewater, took the opening kick of the half 95 yards for a score to give the Knights their first lead of the night. But then the point-after failed. And UCF was thrown back against the ropes just a few plays later once Samford replied, almost immediately, with a trick-play touchdown pass that went for 66 yards.

Senior UCF quarterback Brett Hodges (Photo by Scott McCall)

That put the Bulldogs up 14-13. Samford would build on that lead soon after when fifth-year senior Brett Hodges, a transfer from Wake Forrest who put together an impressive prep career at Winter Springs, threw an easy interception which was taken back 41 yards the other way. Just like that, the Knights trailed 21-13 less than two minutes into the second half.

“That was a big mental error on my part,” said Hodges of the errant pass. “But luckily we were able to come back on the next drive and score.”

Hodges put the mishap behind him by engineering an 11-play drive over 71 yards that marched UCF into the red zone on the ensuing possession. The drive culminated in a 1-yard plunge over the goal line by Brynn Harvey, who then caught a screen pass on the 2-point conversion attempt to tie the game at 21-21 with still plenty of time to play.

And still, the Knights would have to reply yet again early in the fourth quarter in order to secure the win.

Throughout the second half it seemed as if despite the beating UCF was taking that they kept getting up for more. That’s a bright spot in a cloud of a dim reality against a Division I-AA opponent that had never beaten a team in college football’s highest division.

“We didn’t give up,” said defensive lineman Torrell Troup, more relieved than proud. “We should have played a lot better but it’s the first week and we have a lot of time to improve.”

That’s an obvious point head coach George O’Leary touched on afterwards. That, and the reality that too many points were left on the field in the form of turnovers and missed field goals. The Knights also needed their defensive unit to provide better pressure on Samford’s quarterback. But the mental errors and mistakes on both sides of the ball piled up the longer the night wore on.

With a chance to take over on offense following a failed field goal attempt by Samford, the Knights were flagged on the play. The Bulldogs made the most of their second chance and took the lead, 24-21, with a couple minutes left in the third quarter.

One of two missed field goals on the night by the Knights followed. As did another punt by Samford. Then it finally happened. UCF took the lead for good when Hodges found Jamar Newsome for a 9-yard touchdown just one play after a pass was dropped in the end zone. Less than 11 minutes remained in the game.

The end result proved to be a far cry from the expectations placed on a team that did so poorly a year ago. But depending upon how the rest of the season shapes up, should the Knights get their ship righted in conference play, nobody will care to remember how this one truly went down years from now.

– More UCF vs. Samford coverage:

Photos from the game at UCF Sports

Coverage and comments at Central Florida Future

Coverage and comments at Bleacher Report

Coverage and comments at Orlando Sentinel

George Diaz provides commentary at Orlando Sentinel