Orlando Apollos

Orlando Apollos Bid Farewell as American Alliance of Football Operations Ends

Published

5 years ago

April 3, 2019

Orlando Apollos running back Akeem Hunt (#25) makes a run against the Memphis Express at Spectrum Stadium. Photo: Willie David/Florida National News.

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – The Orlando Apollos have said their goodbyes to each other and to the fans after word began to spread that the American Alliance of Football, the league that Orlando Apollos belongs to, would be suspending operations Monday. Apollos Head Coach Steve Spurrier was initially in disbelief, but at 5 p.m. EST Monday, Spurrier released an official statement regarding the end of the Orlando Apollos and the league’s suspension of operations.

Spurrier’s Statement

“On behalf of everyone with the Orlando Apollos organization, we were shocked and incredibly disappointed to learn of the decision to suspend football operations in The Alliance of American Football.

The Alliance produced a quality professional football product, and it’s been our privilege to build the Orlando Apollos into a championship team with a league-best 7-1 record. The Greater Orlando community embraced our team from the beginning. Enthusiasm continued to grow throughout the season as large crowds of passionate fans supported us at Spectrum Stadium for our home games, and many others watched and rooted for the Apollos’ success from afar.

While all startups encounter some challenges, we believed we could address ours in the offseason after bringing the City of Orlando a championship and a successful completion to the league’s first season.

We are extremely grateful to our players, coaches, staff, corporate partners and especially our fans who fervently supported us as Orlando’s professional football team.

We hope to be able to share information from The Alliance about ticket refunds in the future.

Thank you for your support and for believing in us.”

___________________________________________________________

Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com

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Orlando Apollos

Apollos Defeat the Stallions in the Snow 20-11

Published

5 years ago

March 2, 2019

Willie David

The Orlando Apollos broke open a close game in the second half with two long touchdown drives and defeated the Salt Lake Stallions, 20-11, in snowy Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday night. The Apollos remain undefeated at 4-0 and the Stallions fell to 1-3.

Apollos head coach Steve Spurrier said, “This was a fun one. I told the guys beforehand if us Florida boys can come out and win one in the snow in Utah, we’ll have something to talk about.”

Told he was now undefeated in his career in Utah, Spurrier said, “Well, that’s not the big deal. Winning in the snow, that’s the big deal.”

The first half was a battle of field goals as neither offense was able to have much consistency.

The Apollos grabbed a 3-0 lead when Elliott Fry kicked a 43-yard field goal with 1:05 to play in the first quarter. Salt Lake tied the game with a Taylor Bertolet 36-yard field goal with 11:38 remaining in the second quarter.

Fry provided Orlando with a 6-3 halftime lead when he made a 42-yard field goal with 6:10 left.

The Apollos took a 14-3 lead with 6:01 to play in third quarter on a 10-play, 91-yard drive in which they actually gained 101 yards because of a 10-yard penalty. The possession ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Garrett Gilbert to wide receiver Donteeya Dye Jr. and a 2-point conversion pass from running back D’Ernest Johnson to tight end Sean Price.

The Stallions answered with a 75-yard drive of their own and got to within 14-11 on as 14-yard run by running back Joel Bouagnon and 2-point conversion pass from quarterback Josh Woodrum to running back Terrell Newby with 27 seconds left in the third quarter.

Orlando scored the final points of the game on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Akeem Hunt. Hunt carried four times for 32 yards on the possession and Gilbert was 4-for-4 for 43 yards.

On Salt Lake’s four possessions of the second half not including the touchdown, the Apollos held the Stallions to 65 total yards.

Gilbert completed 22 of 32 passes for 244 yards with a passer rating of 101.6. Wide receiver Charles Johnson caught nine passes for 105 yards.

For Salt Lake, Woodrum was 16 of 22 for 161 yards and a 93.2 passer rating.