November 28, 1992|By Joe Williams of The Sentinel Staff
LAND O' LAKES — Although it had been 21 years since Leesburg last
appeared in the playoffs, Leesburg tailback Oran Singleton seemed right
at home,
scoring four touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets rolled to a 47-0 victory
over Land O' Lakes Friday night in the Class AAAA, Region 4 playoff
game.
Singleton, a 5-foot-6, 150-pound senior, scored on
Leesburg's first offensive play, a 55-yard run, and finished with 237
yards on 14 carries. He also had an 89-yard kickoff return for a
touchdown to start the second half and didn't play past the middle of
the third quarter.
Singleton scored two more first-half touchdowns on runs of 80 and 43
yards. He came close to a fifth touchdown but fumbled at the 2 on an
11-yard run. The ball bounced into the end zone, where it was recovered
by Leesburg's Aaron Blake, giving the Yellow Jackets a 28-0 lead with 14
seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Ninth-ranked Leesburg
(10-1), whose defense recorded its seventh shutout of the season in
front of a crowd of about 2,000 at Gator Stadium, advanced to next
week's Section 2 playoff against Seabreeze, a 32-14 victor over Merritt
Island.
''You take him (Singleton) out of the game, and it is a
much better ballgame,'' Land O' Lakes coach John Benedetto said. ''We
couldn't handle him at all. Once he got into the secondary, we had
nobody at all who could handle him.
''They are just a great ballclub and we are not on that level.''
Land O' Lakes (9-2) has been to the regional playoffs five times in 16 years but has never won.
''We prepared real hard for the game,'' Leesburg linebacker Beau Young said.
In
addition Singleton's kickoff return to open the half, the Yellow
Jackets also scored on a 45-yard halfback pass from Herbert Ellis to
D.J. Keith with six minutes remaining in the third quarter, and reserve
fullback Alan Neiford scored on a 2-yard run with 9:02 left in the
fourth quarter.
''Oran scoring that first touchdown on the first
play really gave us an emotional lift,'' Leesburg coach Ed Hoffman said.
''It helped make up for the last 21 years that we haven't been in the
playoffs.''
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