OH Football Notches Upset Win Over District Powerhouse Dwyer, 25-22

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The OH football team listens to words of praise from defensive coordinator Bieness “Coach B” Alfred after its upset of Dwyer.

In only his third game as a head coach, Baz Alfred notched one of the most stunning wins in the Olympic Heights football program’s history as his Lions upset the Dwyer Panthers 25-22 on the road Thursday night at Blum Stadium’s Rick Hubbard Field.

Lions senior quarterback James Micioni passed for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead OH past the fourth ranked team in The Palm Beach Post’s rankings of area high school teams.

Micioni hooked up with receiver Michael Ippolito for two of his touchdown passes: a six-yarder three minutes into the second quarter and a 54-yarder midway through the third quarter that staked OH to an 18-7 lead. Ippolito had 152 receiving yards on the night on eight catches. Micioni’s also found tight end Shane Ellis in the end zone just before the end of the first half.

Although the Lions led throughout the game, the win was not secured until the final play of the game when the Lions’ defense sacked Panthers’ quarterback Trevor Omans on the final play of the game as Dwyer attempted to snatch victory on its final possession drive.

It looked like the Lions had put Dwyer away at with 2:36 remaining in the game when Micioni scored on a two-yard run, but the Panthers answered quickly when Omans hooked up with receiver Myron Levy on a 69-yard touchdown pass to pull the Panthers within three.

The Lions were unable to run the clock out and had to punt, setting Dwyer up for one last chance to win the game. But, the Lions defense came up big, putting an exclamation point on the upset with the sack of Omans to seal the victory.

Despite giving up two long touchdown passes, the OH defense held the Dwyer offense in check throughout, holding the Panthers to 34 yards of rushing and three first downs in the first half. The defense also forced six turnovers.

The Lions won’t have long to savor one of the program’s landmark victories, however, as they basically have the weekend to get ready to take on rival West Boca on Monday, Oct. 2, in a home game at Corey Lewis Stadium. The rare Monday game is a make-up of the originally scheduled Sept. 15, game that was postponed due to Hurricane Irma.