Oviedo QB Luke Rucker credits teammates after tossing 7 TD passes
Oviedo quarterback Luke Rucker was midway through a remarkable performance Friday when he stopped to marvel at the effort of his teammates.
Making just his fourth varsity start, Rucker returned to the sideline at one point during the team’s home opener and told first-year head coach Kolby Tackett that the offensive line was “doing a great job.”
Rucker, a sophomore, tossed seven touchdown passes while leading the Lions (2-0) to a 56-21 win against visiting Harmony (0-1). He completed 23 of 27 pass attempts for 463 yards in only three quarters of play.
“The whole night I was touched maybe once or twice. It felt like I had all the time in the world back there,” said Rucker. “The offensive line did a phenomenal job. That is part of the reason I had those stats, it was them giving me so much time in the pocket to be able to see the field and make my reads.”
Only three players have thrown for more than seven scores in a game. Lake Nona’s Tucker Israel set the area standard in 2011 when he threw for 534 yards and 10 TDs in a 68-10 win vs. Celebration. Leesburg’s Undra Mitchem (2010) and Colonial’s Mike Mitchell (1998) each tossed eight touchdown passes in lopsided wins against Mount Dora and Poinciana, respectively.
Rucker led the Lions to a 24-10 win at home last October against rival Hagerty in his first varsity start. Oviedo went on to lose the following week at Port Orange Spruce Creek as Rucker rounded out those two games by throwing for 341 yards, 3 TDs and one interception.
He figured he’d get a chance to throw the ball around a bit on Friday since the team had lost starting running back D.J. Scott to an ankle injury two weeks ago during a rainy 28-9 win at Colonial. But he never imagined the kind of night that would transpire.
“I figured we’d be leaning toward airing it out a little more, but not that much,” Rucker said with a laugh. “I’m just grateful. The wide receivers we have were making some big plays.”
Oviedo fell into an early hole when the Longhorns returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Two plays later Rucker launched a deep pass to Alex Saunders for a touchdown to tie the game.
Saunders led the team with four receptions for 130 yards and three scores.
Keith Nemasango caught two touchdown passes while Sebastian Vargas and Matthew Rucker hauled in one TD apiece. Winston Brown finished with five catches for 120 yards.
Oviedo plays at Orlando University (0-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
“It was a perfect storm on Friday. He was really letting it fly,” said Tackett. “It didn’t really register with us at the time, it just happened. And then the [public address] announcer says, ‘He’s just broken the school record,’ and we’re thinking, ‘That’s a pretty good school record to break.’ ”
Recent Oviedo grad Morgan Mitchell and NFL quarterback Blake Bortles, who played college football at UCF, previously shared the single-game touchdown passes record with five each, according to the school.
Rucker said he was hearing chatter on the sideline about the school record during the game, but that he and his teammates were just happy to be playing after COVID-19 delayed the start of the season.
“He never gets too up and he never gets too down, which is rare when you’re really good,” said Tackett. “He always puts other people first. That’s a great characteristic about him. He’s always all about the team.”
This article was published first on OrlandoSentinel.com. Reporter J.C. Carnahan can be reached by email at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com
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