Coach of the Week: Guershom "Coach D" Demosthenes

by Nick Bell

For Coach of the Week, we chose to highlight Coach Guerschom Demosthenes, or "Coach D" as he's known here at OCP, where he's been working since 2013. He is extremely deserving, as he led our football team to claim the SSAC State Championship title this year!

Coach D began his career not knowing he was going to coach. In 2001,  he had just finished college and was not sure what he wanted to do. His high school football coach gave him a call and offered him an opportunity to coach under him at Dr. Philips High School. He began coaching in 2002, where he found his passion in molding and developing young men into better players and citizens of this world.

Coach D has picked up years of experience, coaching at six different schools. When he was offered the head coaching job at Orlando Christian Prep, it was an offer he couldn't refuse, and has proved to be the right fit for him. During the first practice Coach held at OCP, only eight players showed up. Many would have been discouraged, but Coach kept faith in God and repeatedly said to players and coaches “Jesus gon' bring 'em,” and indeed He did! 

During Coach D's first year at OCP, the football team made it to the SSAC State Championship, but unfortunately suffered a defeat, coming home runners-up. The next year they did the same. After that, it took a few years before he got the team back to the dance, but when he did they made the most out of the opportunity -- winning the State Championship against St. Stephens with a score of 35-14! Coach D had this to say about the season: "This was a special season, in which we had great players, great administration, and [it showed] what hard work and dedication can do when you trust and believe in God."

OCP is very lucky to have coaches like Coach D on staff. He has established a legacy of excellence with a record (so far) of 49-12. He teaches his players faith in the Lord, as well as great techniques on the field. He also works very hard trying to find them opportunities to play football in college so they can have a discounted or free education. Coach D is a walking image of a true OCP Warrior!

Christmas in Orlando

by Aaron Bass

With Christmas quickly approaching, there are a lot of events that will be happening around Orlando during this special time of the year.

At Walt Disney World, Mickey’s "Very Merry Christmas Party" runs until December 21. This special after-hours event allows you to go and spend the day with Mickey and all the others at Disney! Sea World will be hosting a variety of unique, themed animal shows to celebrate the holidays - some have never been shown at Sea World before! 

If you and your family want to enjoy a nice holiday buffet with a special Christmas show, The Rosen Plaza is the place to be. There will be buffets, shows and guest speakers from 12:00-4:00 pm on Christmas Day. "Light Up UCF" is going on now until January 1st. There are many attractions such as a ferris wheel, movies, new music and a world class light show presented by Duke Energy. There is also ice skating, sledding, and more. Light Up UCF is fun for all ages so be sure to check out before it is over!

Finally, if you want to spend some time with God and with your church, Orlando Baptist Church will be having a Christmas Eve service at 5:00 pm.

Merry Christmas from the Warrior Weekly!

Coach of the Week: Ryan Hopkins

by Aaron Bass

This week we decided to feature our new coach, Mr. Ryan Hopkins. Coach Hopkins is in his second year as a teacher here at Orlando Christian, with math classes such as Algebra and Financial Agebra. This is his first year as the new head coach of the varsity soccer team.

Coach Hopkins has a passion for soccer, not only as a coach but as a player as well. He played competitive soccer in high school team, and played a lot of pick up during his time in college at UCF. This season, Coach Hopkins hopes to put more wins on the table and advance, to the district tournament, as well. He and his players train extremely hard and are looking forward to the season progressing. 

All of us here at OCP are excited to have Coach Hopkins on board, and we wish him and his team the best of luck.

Basketball Recap, December 7

by Raymond Rodriguez

This was a busy week for basketball in the Warrior Nation. Our 7th and 8th grade "Gold" basketball team started it off for us, playing two games on Monday night, winning the first game against Montverde Academy’s middle school team by 11 points, and losing the second game to Montverde Academy’s 9th grade team by only 3 points. 

On Tuesday night, our 7th and 8th grade "Blue Team" demolished Bishop Moore’s Freshman team. Varsity Girls followed them, but unfortunately took the loss to Hagerty High School by a close score of 35-39. 

On Thursday night, both our JV and Varsity Boys basketball teams played. JV took the win in a very close game against Cypress Creek that came down to the buzzer, ending with a final score of 62-59! RJ Morgan hit the winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of the game, and finished of with 21 total points. The Varsity team easily defeated Cypress Creek, as well, with a score of 73-60. Junior Eric Butler, guard, finished with 21 points.

UCF: Champions Again!

by Aaron Bass

The University of Central Florida has done again, securing back-to-back undefeated seasons and AAC conference championships!

After a horrific knee injury to the starting quarterback Mckenzie Milton, the UCF Knights were able to defeat Memphis this weekend to secure themselves another AAC championship. Memphis and UCF took last year’s championship game to double overtime, and earlier this year their regular-season match-up was decided by one point. Saturday’s championship game proved to be just as exciting! After a weak opening, UCF dug deep to prevail, outscoring the Tigers 35-3 in the second half. 

UCF has been undefeated for two seasons now, with 25 straight wins now. Last year, they made history as the first team to go from a 0-12 record to 12-0 in only two years! After taking out strong opponents such as Navy, USF and Maryland this season, UCF is currently ranked 7th in NCAA football and number 1 in the American East district. They will be playing #11 LSU in the Fiesta Bowl on January 1st in Glenade, Arizona. 

We are all so proud of our local college for performing so well again this year, and we will be rooting for them in the Fiesta Bowl! Go Knights!

OCP Football: Championship Season Re-Cap

by Nick Bell

On Saturday, November 17, the 2018 OCP football season came to an end on a great note, with the Warriors being declared 2018 SSAC State Champions! The Warriors had a great season that got off to a slow 1-2 start, but caught some fire and finished with an eight game winning streak, and only one of those eight games was won with less than a two-touchdown lead!

Amidst the Warriors' great season, there was some individuals that stood out along the way. Senior quarterback Connor Edel completed 74 passes of 135 attempts for 23 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. Senior Athlete and Illinois State commit Jalen Carr had 94 carries for 1073 yards, boasting an impressive 11 yards per carry and adding 15 touchdowns on the ground, as well as another 300 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns through the air. Senior wide receiver and University of South Florida commit Xavier Weaver had 34 catches for 584 yards and 10 touchdowns. These are just a few of the many standout players on this year's OCP football team.

If you ask Coach D, he would say the Warriors won the championship long before the season even began. It started through much prayer, and a powerful event that brought this team closer to God, and each other, than any OCP team has been in the past. The team sacrificed some preseason practice and conditioning time to have sermons preached by Pastor Mike, Mr. Groves, and a few others. This resulted in over half the team and one coach being baptized on the 50 yard line of our very own football field. Many players' spiritual lives have changed much as they have grown much closer to God. This was just one step in making a public dedication of their lives to Christ.

The Warriors had a tough road to the state championship, facing Windermere Prep, who defeated the Warriors last year in a shootout 48-49. This year was different, as Coach D felt God calling him to show an act of trust in Him. The whole team marched around the middle of the field 7 times to represent the Israelites being given the win in the battle of Jericho. Coach D declared, “the battle is already won fellas, we just gotta trust in God and execute. I believe in this team!” All the players and coaches believed and it showed, God truly gave them the victory, with a score of 44-10!

This season impacted the whole team, with many players receiving college scholarships and all of the players making memories that they will never forget. A state championship is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and this year our Warriors made the most of it. Let's continue to congratulate them on such an amazing season. 

From the OCP student news staff to all the football players and coaches: Congratulations, Warriors!

College Decision Highlight

by Raymond Rodriguez

This week, we decided to highlight some college decisions as they begin to occur in the Warrior Nation. We sat down with two of our varsity football players, who were each a part of our 2018 State Championship team: Xavier Weaver and Jalen Carr.

Xavier Weaver is currently committed to the University of South Florida. Xavier had offers from several schools, like Troy University, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Tennessee State, and many other offers. He chose USF over the others because he felt like it was the right fit when he visited the campus, he felt very strong about the coaching staff, and believes he'll get some good playing time. 

Jalen Carr, this year’s FACA "Player of the Year," has decided to attend Illinois State University. Jalen is very excited to be playing for Illinois State's Coach Spack and becoming a Redbird. It meant a lot to him that the coaching staff at Illinois State wanted him, despite his size. “Big things come in small packages," Coach Spack told Jalen.

Weekly Re-Cap: November 30

by Aaron Bass

It was a busy week for Orlando Christian Prep!

On Monday, after a 130-105 win over The First Academy, our Quiz Team was able to qualify for the playoffs of the Orange County Quiz Bowl League, for the first time in our school's history. Be sure to congratulate all of the coaches and players on the quiz bowl team! In the first round in the playoffs, they will play the 1st seed Trinity Prep, so wish them luck! 

On Tuesday, our Soccer Team was unfortunate to take a loss against Faith Christian Academy in a 5-1 defeat. The soccer team's next outing is against Circle Christian at 7:00 pm on Friday night. The JV Boys Basketball Team was victorious in Tuesday's game against Forest Lake. The Girls Varsity Basketball Team, unfortunately, lost to Forest Lake by only 3 points. 

Our Varsity Boys Basketball Team was in action on Wednesday against a strong and mighty Winter Springs High School, and were able to take a destructive win. The Warriors face Cypress Creek on Friday. Also on Wednesday, our Middle School Boys Basketball players were in action in Winter Springs, as well, and they were also able to come out on top of the scoreboard and take home the win.

On Thursday, the Quiz Team participated in an online national tournament called "3-2-1," participating in the high school, middle school, and, for the first time, elementary, divisions. The students had a great time, ate pizza, and performed well!

Next week proves to be another exciting one for OCP. Go Warriors!

Quiz Team Highlight

by Christian Smith

Quiz bowl is an academic, team based competition that tests students on different areas of knowledge. The Orlando Christian Prep quiz team was established during the 2011-2012 school year by Mr. Soucie, where two middle school teams competed in the FACCS Brain Bowl. A high school team started the following year with the help of Mr. Salomon. Mr. Sango came on as a co-coach in 2013, which was also the first year that OCP competed in the Orange County Quiz Bowl League. The OCP quiz team competes in various formats and tournaments in addition to the FACCS Brain Bowl and the Orange County league, and has even been to national competitions on several occasions.

So far this year, OCP’s quiz team has experienced ups and downs, finishing their fall season 5-6. Some peaks this season include winning their first two games, which put them “undefeated” for a time, and winning their final game against the higher-ranked First Academy. The hardest loss was against Trinity Prep, primarily because OCP was up at the half, but then Trinity Prep caught a second wind and took the win. 

OCP is headed to the Orange County playoffs for the first team this year. They will play at Olympia High on Monday and face the #1-ranked Trinity Prep in the first round. They will then shift gears as they begin to prepare for the FACCS Brain Bowl, which is a two-day state-level tournament held in Daytona in January. 

The OCP Quiz Team continues to improve. We hope they follow their best fall season to date with their best Brain Bowl performance ever this winter!

Florida Election Results 2018

by Nick Bell

The past few weeks have been very important for our country and state. Tuesday, November 6 was voting day for our midterm elections, and Florida residents voted for a new governor and a US senate position. Many amendments were on the ballot, as well. 

With Rick Scott’s term over, our two primary candidates for a new governor were Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis. Election night results put DeSantis on top, but the race was so close that it went to a recount. For the US Senate race, the main candidates were Republican Rick Scott and the incumbent, Democrat Bill Nelson. This race was also extremely close, with Rick Scott winning the initial count. But, with Nelson’s refusal to concede, it too went to a recount. In the end, after the recounts were settled, DeSantis was named governor with a margin of less than 33,000 votes out of 8 million cast, and Scott is headed to the Senate, with a margin of just over 10,000 votes! In true Florida fashion, even our race for agriculture commissioner went to a recount.

One of the most talked about constitutional amendments on the ballot was Amendment 3, which allows voters to control the right to authorize expansions of casino gambling. This amendment received a lot of attention and voters took notice by passing it. Amendment 4 was passed, allowing non-violent felons the right to vote after they have served their time. Amendment 13 was also passed, which will end dog racing in Florida starting in 2020. Proponents say this will help end cruelty towards racing greyhounds.

Even though most of us students cannot vote yet, it is good to stay informed on political issues in our world. We encourage everyone to stay informed on all politics in our state and country. When we're 18, let's be sure to head to the polls ourselves. In today's day of tiny margins and recounts, it's clear that every vote matters! Let's all continue to pray for our country as new leaders come into power.