First Coast Varsity Weekly: Bartram Trail girls soccer ready to score early and often

They've had three-quarters of a year to remember how last season finished.

Now, Bartram Trail girls soccer has two words for the Sunshine State: Watch out.

Six goals against Fletcher. Four goals at Gulf Breeze. Eight goals at Navarre in the Panhandle. And the Bears, who spent much of last season at No. 1 in the MaxPreps rankings, appear to be just getting started.

"We wanted to start our season off and send a statement, and we just wanted to get back into the groove of things," Bears senior forward Olivia Bori said.

So far, Bartram Trail looks like a team motivated to roar through the schedule after the shock ending to the 2021-22 campaign, when Creekside edged the Bears 3-2 in the Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-7A semifinal to end their season and their 32-game winning streak.

In Tuesday's season opener at Patton Park, the Bears' offense charged at full speed ahead against reigning Class 6A state champion Fletcher. FAU signee Bori and Carolyn Johnson tallied two goals apiece against a Senators team that was missing several key players, including senior goalkeeper Taylor Sweat.

Against Fletcher, Bartram Trail particularly threatened along the wings with fullbacks Anna Bachman, a Mercer signee, and Eden Freeman-Warren blasting upfield at every opportunity.

"Always having those threats coming from the outside, it puts a team on edge," Bears coach Jen Rodriguez said. "They never know where the attack's going to come from, and it's just somebody else for them to keep an eye on and to open up other things."

The Bears followed with four goals against Gulf Breeze in Pensacola, with Bori, Reese Henley, Grace Ivey and Laci Viola on the board, and an 8-1 rout at Navarre, the heaviest win inflicted on Navarre in at least the past decade. Bori, Ivey and Avery McCormack scored twice each.

"I was kind of anxious and nervous for the first game," Rodriguez said. "But we just talked about setting the tone early for the rest of the season, and I think this was kind of a statement."

Springs steps down from Fleming Island

After seven and a half seasons, Fleming Island head football coach Damenyum Springs is stepping away from the Golden Eagles, concluding one of Clay County's most consistent coaching tenures.

Springs resigned as head coach last week, following the Golden Eagles' season-ending 52-12 victory over Orange Park. The school announced its search for a successor through the FHSAA's classified listings.

He finished with a career record of 57-24 at Fleming Island, including four playoff appearances and 10-win seasons in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Springs took charge of the program midway through the 2015 season.

Springs has the rare distinction of achieving a winning record in all eight of his seasons at Fleming Island. This year, the Golden Eagles finished 5-4, but missed the playoffs after dropping their four contests in District 3-4S.

The former defensive coordinator at Fleming Island before taking over as head coach, he has spent 18 seasons with the program.

Friday football roundup: Bolles, Bartram Trail win first round games

Saturday roundup: Baldwin advances in rocky weekend for area teams

700 is magic number for Creekside

A 500-yard day of offense in high school football is a huge performance, and 600 is even rarer. But 700?

That's what Creekside achieved in Friday night's 47-20 win at Navarre, which propelled the Knights into a regional semifinal rematch with Bartram Trail in Region 1-4S.

Knights sophomore quarterback Sean Ashenfelder threw for 296 of those yards, with Ashton Reynolds (95 yards) and Brendon McMillan (83) the top targets, and rushed for 128 of Creekside's 410 yards on the ground. Junior running back Nicky Williams charged to a season-high 236 rushing yards.

Surpassing 700 total yards in postseason is a rare feat for area schools. The short list includes the likes of Bishop Kenny, which got a record 773 total yards from quarterback John Wolford in a 74-73 loss to Clay in 2013, and Lee (now Riverside), which gained 731 yards in a 61-59 playoff win over Bartram Trail in 2016. Generals quarterback Derrick Jones passed for 468 yards and ran for 195 in that game.

More notes from an eventful opening round of football playoffs:

* At this rate, maybe Chavaris Dumas might spend the next few months running basketballs or soccer balls back to the end zone. The Palatka defensive back just doesn't slow down.

Dumas added two more return touchdowns to his staggering season in Saturday's 29-12 loss to Baldwin in the FHSAA Region 2-2M semifinals, which ended the Panthers' season at 7-4.

He returned a pair of long interceptions to the house for the only points for Palatka. For the year, Dumas has scored eight times on returns, including four interceptions, two punts and two kickoffs.

* The season is over for Middleburg, but the season for T.J. Lane will be long remembered in Bronco country. The senior running back closed his high school career with 200 yards in Friday's loss to Escambia, giving him five 200-yard games on the year and raising his season total to 1,986 rushing yards.

It's the most yards for a running back in Clay County since Oakleaf's Keshawn King gained 2,017 yards in 2018.

* After downing Episcopal 38-6 in the regional quarters, Bolles needs two more victories to become the first Northeast Florida school to reach 100 playoff wins. Trinity Christian ranks next with 68, followed by University Christian with 54.

* When playoff time comes, the first rule of Jacksonville football: Never, ever, ever count out Raines. By beating White on Friday night, the Vikings extended their streak to 10 consecutive years of winning their first knockout football game.

Big plans for Stallions hoops

From Grayson Allen to Patric Young, Providence boys basketball coach Jim Martin has seen a whole lot of winning.

So when the longtime Stallions' coach has big expectations for a season, pay attention.

"We're going to play fast," he said. "We're much better than we were last year. We've got some guys moving up and it's so exciting."

Last year's Providence team went 25-5, losing to Florida High in the Region 1-3A final.

The three-time FHSAA champions return their three highest scorers from 2021-22 in senior guard Mason Lee, junior guard Chris Arias and junior forward Jaylen Robinson. Robinson averaged 11.6 points and 4.6 rebounds last year, while Lee averaged 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds and Arias combined 10.0 points with 3.0 assists.

They've also picked up a notable transfer in junior Caleb McAbee, previously at Creekside. The result this year is expected to be an up-tempo Stallions squad with the versatility to attack teams in a multitude of ways.

"I would say now we're playing a much faster pace, so the fast-paced teams won't be able to keep up with us," Arias said.

Mustangs' Nelson fourth in FACA race

Mandarin senior Gavin Nelson closed his high school cross country career with a top-five finish.

Nelson finished fourth with a time of 16:37.21 at Saturday's Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-Star meet, held at Holloway Park in Lakeland.

The two-time Gateway Conference champion led runners on the North team. Montverde Academy's Riley Novack won the race in 15:54, setting a course record.

Ponte Vedra's Nicolo Fasanelli came in ninth in 17:07.36, followed by Menendez's Ryan Jones (17:41.48, 20th), St. Augustine's Dillon Mantei (17:49.10, 23rd) and Fleming Island's Danny Sakowski (17:50.77, 24th).

Oakleaf's Sierra Barrera led locals in the FACA All-Star girls event with a 12th-place finish in 20:15.20. Fleming Island's Katie Thompson (20:22.70, 14th), Nease's Katherine Mueller (20:44.60, 18th), and Ponte Vedra teammates Aide Trejo (21:00.30, 20th) and Lily Darnell (21:08.80, 23rd) also represented the North team in the competition.

Around the area

Bishop Kenny wide receiver Jackson Burnett committed to Army football. ... Nease defenseman Jordan McGovern committed to North Greenville men's lacrosse. ... Ridgeview pitcher Connor Howell committed to FSCJ baseball. ... Union County outfielder Tamia Young committed to West Georgia softball. ... Bolles outside hitter Grace Albaugh was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America third team. ... Former Bolles midfielder Avery Patterson scored one goal and assisted another as North Carolina women's soccer beat Old Dominion 5-0 at the NCAA Tournament. ... The Insider Exposure Thanksgiving Classic begins Monday and stretches through Wednesday, with dozens of girls basketball teams from inside and outside Northeast Florida competing at Bolles and San Jose Prep. ... Clay County presented its coach of the year rings Monday to Rodney Keller (Clay boys weightlifting) and Carrie Prewitt (Mandarin volleyball). ... The Sunshine State Athletic Conference announced that Impact Christian will join for football in 2023. ... Monday marks the start of the FHSAA regular season for girls wrestling.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: Bartram Trail girls soccer starts fast