First Coast Varsity Weekly: Englewood, Tocoi Creek among football's surprise squads
Raise your hand if you expected Englewood, Palatka and Tocoi Creek to all hold unbeaten records through Labor Day.
Welcome to the 2-0 club for the Rams, for the Panthers, for the Toros and for several other programs in unfamiliar territory as unbeaten teams two weeks into the high school football season.
It's expected to see the likes of Bartram Trail, Bolles and Trinity Christian at 2-0. But some others? Not so much.
Palatka, which has outscored opponents Umatilla and Port Orange Atlantic by a combined 83-7 margin, won only once last year and hasn't started 2-0 since 2008. Englewood has held Paxon and Menendez to 13 total points for its first 2-0 start for seven seasons. Second-year Tocoi Creek is one win away from matching its win total from all of 2021.
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Add to that mix the likes of North Florida Educational Institute, which had never started 2-0 in its seven years of 11-man play, as well as Cedar Creek Christian and Harvest Community, who won five games combined last year but opened this season with a pair of victories.
For each of the programs in turnaround mode, the winning formula has been a little bit different.
Quarterback Jamarrie McKinnon (26 of 40, 427 yards, 5 TD) has sparked Palatka, a school seeking a return to its glory days when Panthers teams included the likes of future NFL stars like John L. Williams. But the program has been mired in two decades of struggle, with one winning record (6-5 in 2013) in the past 18 years.
Englewood has relied on a bruising defense, keyed by Jalen Scarver and J'Sean Scarver. Tocoi Creek is stampeding on through the ground game, where Kaiz Ragland, Davian Garcia and Wendell Dean highlight an offense that averages more than 430 yards per game.
NFEI, now under former Westside coach Rodney DuBose after a revolving door of sideline leaders for the past half-decade, is profiting from stability. Willie Scruggs returned two interceptions for touchdowns last week against Stanton, and sophomore quarterback Mikell Reddick gained 178 yards with three touchdowns in the victory.
On paper, Palatka might have the best chance to keep its run going. They next meet two winless schools in Alachua Santa Fe and Lake Weir, as the Panthers seek a 3-0 start under second-year coach Patrick Turner. They haven't opened at 3-0 since 2003, when they began with seven victories in the last season of the 21-year tenure of Jim McCool.
Air game buzzing for Hornets
Ten years ago, Derrick Henry carved out Yulee's own chapter in the football record books for rushing. In 2022, a new pair of Hornets are taking aim at some milestones in the air game.
Yulee wide receiver Zack Drawdy and quarterback Chris Turner are topping Florida's stat lists in receiving and passing as part of a Hornets offense that's grown wings this fall.
Turner has thrown for 599 yards, completing 50 of 71 passes, while Drawdy is up to 23 catches for 342 yards after another week with double-digit receptions in Friday night's 26-21 win at Titusville.
It's early, but Drawdy, committed to UConn, is already on a blistering pace. The region's single-season receptions record belongs to Matt Frier, who caught 99 passes for 1,716 yards during Suwannee's run to a Florida High School Athletic Association championship in 1988.
Barracudas, Lions claim first wins
Welcome to the win column.
Week 2 made a little bit of history for Beachside and Impact Christian, both victors for the first time on the 11-man gridiron.
The Barracudas rallied in the fourth quarter to take down Fernandina Beach 17-13 in Friday night's game at Bartram Trail. Brick Balcita threw touchdown passes to Will Dudley and Cohen Beebe, the latter pushing Beachside in front inside the final three minutes.
For Impact, meanwhile, eighth-grade quarterback Hans Price passed for four touchdowns and the Lions' return game roared with two other scores, a kickoff return by Leon Gamble and an interception return by Jaquel Buckman, for a 38-22 against Trenton Riverside Christian.
Trinity V-ball takes Nike title
Already a two-time defending state football champion, Trinity Christian is bringing some volleyball hardware back to Jacksonville.
The Conquerors stormed through the Elite bracket at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Wesley Chapel near Tampa, beating six opponents in two days Friday and Saturday.
Trinity dropped only two sets during the tournament, defeating Vero Beach, Carrollton, Fivay, Miami Palmetto, Gainesville Buchholz and finally Lyman in the 24-team bracket.
Winning the trophy wasn't the only milestone for the Conquerors: Sophomore Amaria King reached the 1,000-kill mark for her Trinity career during the tournament.
Ponte Vedra also competed in the National bracket, while Bishop Kenny and Middleburg played in the Premier brackets.
Volleyball time: Teams, players to watch
Creekside, Nease scorch scoreboard
The next time Creekside and Nease face off in football, don't be surprised if the scoreboard decides to call in sick.
Friday night's 62-41 Creekside victory, complete with five touchdown runs for Knights running back Nicky Williams, is just the latest in a series of barnburners from the St. Johns County schools.
The scores in the series (the teams didn't meet in 2016, because of Hurricane Hermine, or in Creekside's inaugural year of 2008): 62-41, 37-27, 31-17, 58-51, 52-29, 49-37, 34-14, 51-35, 34-19, 23-20, 24-23, 34-14 and 47-35. That's an average of 69 points per game, including five with more than 80 points.
Williams' five-touchdown night was the second time in the last four regular season games that a Knights rusher found the end zone five times, after Preston Strope's 312-yard night against Oakleaf last Oct. 29.
The 62 points marked the second-highest single-game total in Creekside's history, after the Knights' 72-40 win over Episcopal on Sept. 14, 2018.
This year's Creekside game joins more than 40 others in Northeast Florida varsity football history to reach the 100-point mark, and the fifth matching St. Johns schools. In addition to the 2019 edition of Creekside-Nease, Florida Deaf defeated Beacon of Hope 66-50 on Oct. 10, 2013; Bartram Trail topped Ponte Vedra 52-51 in overtime on Oct. 9, 2015; and St. Augustine beat Nease 55-45 on Oct. 18, 2019.
Spartans' Livingston wins 500th
The last point was scored, and the celebration was on.
"It was a big surprise," St. Johns Country Day volleyball coach Traci Livingston said. "I had no idea the girls were planning that."
The St. Johns Country Day 500-win club got a new member Tuesday when Livingston won her milestone match on the Spartans' sideline Tuesday. Ashlyn Anderson led the attack with 14 kills, supported by 27 assists from Bella Gomez, to top Bishop Snyder 25-20, 25-21, 25-19.
A St. Johns graduate herself, Livingston is in her 28th season as head coach, including 20 playoff appearances and a trip to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class A championship in 2001.
The 500-match winner paid tribute to the lessons she learned from her predecessor, Linda Guswiler, who coached Livingston during her own playing career and served as a mentor during her initial coaching experience.
In the early going, the Spartans are looking like a potential final four candidate once again. St. Johns has opened the season with five consecutive victories through the Labor Day weekend, and Anderson (78 kills), Gomez (150 assists) and Kate Jacobs (113 digs) are among the area's early stat leaders.
The 500-win club is becoming trendy at St. Johns. Livingston is the school's second coach to hit the mark in 2022 after Mike Pickett, 14-time state champion with the girls soccer team, in February.
"I'm blessed to be able to touch a lot of lives and to have been touched by a lot of lives here," she said. "It's pretty special to be a part of that."
Bolles swimmers named nation's best
On top of the city. On top of the state. And now, No. 1 in the nation.
Swimming World magazine named Bolles as the national high school champion in boys swimming for the 2021 season. The school earned an inside feature for the 2022 edition of the magazine, long regarded as the publication of record in the aquatic world.
Bolles, which placed ahead of Carmel (Ind.) in the Swimming World ranking system, led the nation in the 200-meter freestyle relay (Andres Dupont Cabrera, Will Heck, Tucker Peterson and Ethan Maloney) as well as the 400 free relay, made up of Dupont Cabrera, Carter Lancaster, Kayden Lancaster and Seth Tolentino.
The championship is the ninth for the Bolles boys all-time and the first since 2014. Bolles also won the national boys title in 1972, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Bolles is scheduled to host its first home meet of the season Wednesday against traditional rival Episcopal, followed by the Byron Plapp Invitational at home on Sept. 17.
Sharks sweep cross country
Ponte Vedra secured a Shark sweep at its home meet, winning the boys and girls individual and team titles at Saturday morning's Craig Speziale Invitational for cross country.
Grant Doherty (16:17), Davis Brown (16:36) and Nicolo Fasanelli (16:47) gave the Sharks three of the top four spots at the ninth annual race, which winds around the school's athletic complex. Nease took second and Bishop Kenny third.
Ponte Vedra also won the girls title ahead of Gainesville Buchholz and Bishop Kenny, led by winner Lindy White (18:45), fourth-place finisher Daisy Ross (19:21) and sixth-place runner Sofia Bushkell (19:42).
Meanwhile, Bolles girls cross country further underlined its dominance with a 1-2 finish from Jillian Candelino (18:26) and Ella Mickler (19:06) at Saturday's Florida Horse Park Invitational in Ocala.
The Bulldogs, who also got a sixth-place result from Elizabeth Csikai, outdistanced Miami Braddock and Episcopal in the girls team standings. In the boys meet, Bolles took second behind Belen Jesuit, with Fleming Island fourth.
Despite the graduation of last year's leading quartet — Lauren Conover, Lindsay Gonzales, Annie Loehle and Alyssa Wyatt — the Mandarin girls earned the team title at Saturday's DeLand Invitational. Arianna Vializ (21:31) and Ashlin Price (21:54) led a balanced Mustangs squad.
Hitting the road: Teams, runners to watch in cross country
Swafford, Weeks pick colleges
Two of the First Coast's top pass rushers confirmed their college plans this week.
Heading to Marshall is Ponte Vedra edge rusher Layne Swafford. Swafford, listed at 6-3 and 230 pounds, finished last season with 28 tackles and three sacks but is well on his way to surpassing that count this year. He followed his commitment with two sacks Friday night against Class 2S No. 1 Florida High.
A multi-sport athlete, he placed fifth at the state meet last year in the shot put with a distance of 52 feet, 6 3/4 inches.
Then, on Saturday, Riverside defensive end De'Avary Weeks committed to Division II Albany State, competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
The 6-3, 230-pound Weeks recorded eight sacks and 19 tackles for loss last season, and has already forced three fumbles in 2022 for a Generals squad that's held opponents to 12 points so far.
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11 locals make AVCA list
The American Volleyball Coaches Association selected 11 Northeast Florida players to its annual Phenom List, recognizing leading freshmen, sophomores and juniors in high school volleyball nationwide.
Fleming Island setter LeeAnn Maysonet, Middleburg outside hitter Connor Rahn, St. Johns Country Day libero Kate Jacobs and Mandarin middle blockers Paola Aviles Morales and Kylie Spraggins represent Jacksonville-area juniors on this year's list.
Sophomore selections are Olivia Ryno (Bishop Kenny), Sarahbelle Jameson (Creekside) and Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra). Freshmen on the team include Molly Fitzpatrick of Bartram Trail, and Sofia Muino and Alexis Sowers (Bishop Kenny).
Around the area
Providence senior infielder/pitcher Brett Dennis committed to North Florida for baseball. ... Fleming Island named Mike Hayward, formerly at Middleburg, as its new girls basketball head coach. ... The city of Keystone Heights formally installed signs recognizing the school's 2022 state champion team in weightlifting. ... Former Ponte Vedra midfielder Jaiden Thomas scored her first goal of the season for N.C. State women's soccer in Thursday's 2-1 win over Elon. Thomas already has three assists. ... Former Episcopal goalkeeper Julia Kato, now at American University, was named Patriot League women's soccer goalkeeper of the week. ... Columbia's basketball world is remembering middle school coach and former Tigers player Javontae Foster. The 27-year-old died in an Aug. 28 car crash.
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: Englewood, Tocoi surprise in high school football
