Savanna Wins, Will Face Valencia Next

It wasn’t as easy as it could have been, but Savanna High stayed in the Orange League title chase Friday night by defeating Magnolia, 19-13, at Glover Stadium.

Savanna fumbled twice--once two plays after intercepting a Magnolia pass--and had five penalties for 55 yards to keep things close, but still improved to 6-2-1 and 4-0 in league play against the underdog Sentinels (2-7, 1-3).

The victory set up a showdown with unbeaten Valencia for the league title Friday at Valencia.

“We have to improve all the way around (for that game),” Savanna Coach Fred DiPalma said.

Magnolia scored on a 34-yard run by Darren Myers on its first possession to take a quick 7-0 lead.

But Savanna rallied with first-half touchdowns to make it 13-7, on a 43-yard run by Curtis Morris with 7:06 left in the first quarter and a 15-yard pass from Brad Belanger to Paul Waldrop with 2:13 left in the second.

Magnolia was never really in it after that. Sentinel quarterback Darrell Turner completed just five of 18 passes for 47 yards and three interceptions. He threw for just six yards and two interceptions in the first half.

Savanna put the game away with 1:14 left when running back Jeff Ragos, who carried 24 times for 132 yards, scored from the seven to make it 19-7.

Belanger completed 16 of 23 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions.