Dominant First Half Propels O'Connor to Win Over Xavier Prep

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O’Connor dominated Xavier College Prep to continue a strong start to the season, defeating the Gators 34-21.

The story of the game was how quickly the Eagles came out firing.

O’Connor head coach Robert Latona said the fast start was very much welcomed.

“That was a welcome,” Latona said. “Normally we take our time getting started. So it was nice to see that we can come out of the gate and score points early.”

From the start, the Eagles took full control.

On their first four possessions to start the game, O’Connor found the end zone.

In the first four minutes, the Eagles got on the board.

2027 quarterback Kylie Pruitt got her offense moving quickly to get into scoring position.

Capping off the Eagles' opening drive, Pruitt lofted a pass to 2028 wide receiver Kyleigh Adams for a 20-yard touchdown.

Not only was the offensive unit strong for O’Connor, but their defense kept forcing the Gators to punt.

It wouldn’t take long for the Eagles to get the ball back, and as soon as they did, they wasted no time.

The first play of the second drive for the Eagles saw Pruitt launch a deep bomb to 2028 athlete Kiley Olson for the score.

Rounding out the first quarter, it seemed like the Eagles could not be stopped.

Coming through on the defensive side, O’Connor 2027 defensive back Taylor Kunz made a ridiculous interception after the ball was tipped in the air.

The Eagles took full advantage of the turnover and quickly added on six more points.

Just like the previous drives, O’Connor only needed a few plays to find the end zone.

Throwing her third touchdown pass of the first quarter, Pruitt connected with 2029 wide receiver Eva Herrera for a 15-yard touchdown.

Coming out on fire, O’Connor got out to a quick 20-0 lead.

O’Connor got out to a quick start, and Pruitt said the team was ready to play.

“It’s fun coming out of the game super hot,” Pruitt said. “The girls were ready; they were ready to play.”

The end of the first quarter, however, saw Xavier Prep get their first points on the board.

Leading them down the field was 2029 quarterback Molly Lim.

Lim is a true dual-threat quarterback, and she used her legs on multiple occasions to get down the field.

After the methodical drive, Lim scampered one more time to score a 15-yard rushing touchdown.

With one quarter down, O’Connor led 20-7.

For most of the second quarter, both offenses came out slow, and each team was forced to punt at least once in the quarter.

The Eagles got back into a rhythm to score the last touchdown of the first half.

Once again, for O’Connor, they relied on their signal caller to get a long score.

Throwing her fourth touchdown of the first half, Pruitt connected once more with Herrera, this time for a 50-yard touchdown.

Heading into halftime, O’Connor held a strong 27-7 lead.

The third quarter was almost identical to the second quarter.

Both teams stalled a bit on the offensive side and had to each punt the ball away.

However, just like they did in the second quarter, the Eagles would be the team to get their offense going and add to their lead.

In what was almost the same play, Pruitt tossed her fifth and final touchdown pass of the game, and again it landed in the hands of Herrera.

Around the midway mark of the field, Pruitt threw a moon ball over to Herrera, who was left wide open for a 50-yard score.

With only 12 minutes remaining in the game, O’Connor had all the momentum with a 34-7 advantage.

Even though the first three quarters were rocky for Xavier Prep, the fourth quarter belonged to them.

Early in the fourth quarter, 2029 defensive back Emma Barney came out of nowhere to snag an interception in the end zone.

The Gators made sure to feed off the play as they put together their longest drive of the game.

A big play for the Gators during the drive was when 2029 running back Mae Rawls got a handoff off a reverse play and picked up 20 yards.

After the run, the Gators had the ball set up at the 1-yard line and knocked on the door of scoring again.

For the second time in the game, Lim called her own number and ran up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown.

The momentum kept favoring Xavier Prep.

O’Connor looked to march downfield and add to their lead, but they would end up turning the ball over again.

For the second straight drive, Barney would come away with a huge interception to give Xavier Prep the ball right back.

Around three minutes left in the game, the Gators chipped away at the lead again.

Xavier Prep was met with a fourth and goal, but they stayed aggressive and went for it.

Lim would buy enough time in the pocket and find 2029 center Hailey Monroe for a 10-yard touchdown.

While the fourth quarter was all the Gators, time was not on their side, and they could not find their way back into the end zone for the rest of the contest.

O’Connor got their work done early in the game and went back home with a 34-21 victory.

For the Eagles, they now sit at 4-1 on the season, but they look to keep getting better every day as the season progresses.

“We just gotta keep climbing,” Latona said. “ It doesn’t matter if it’s an inch, a foot, a mile or a day. We just gotta get better every single day.”

Next up: 4-1 O’Connor looks to add to their win total when they take on 3-0 Mountain Ridge. 1-2 Xavier Prep looks to get a bounce-back win when they face 1-1 St. Mary’s.