First Coast Varsity Weekly: Iowa is destination for Bishop Kenny quarterback James Resar

The train of young Jacksonville QBs on the track to college football is picking up steam — and it might not slow down for years to come.

Bishop Kenny junior quarterback James Resar punched his Big Ten ticket early, committing Sunday to play college football at Iowa.

Rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports and a three-star by Rivals, the 6-4, 200-pound Resar becomes the most recent underclassman commitment in a loaded group of Northeast Florida quarterback prospects. Already committed is Fletcher junior Marcelis Tate, who chose USF over the summer.

Resar has already taken two unofficial visits to the Iowa City campus, including Saturday's battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy.

An Iowa commitment would reunite him with former BK center Michael Myslinski, who has risen onto the second line of the Hawkeyes' depth chart entering his redshirt freshman season.

Based on the numbers, Iowa's offense (one offensive touchdown through two games against South Dakota and Iowa State) could use some fresh punch, and there's no doubt about Resar's ability to make highlights happen in the high school game. He's scored seven touchdowns so far this season, four rushing and three passing, with 632 total yards through three contests.

Resar's commitment may be the first of many in the next couple of seasons. Among notable recruited area quarterbacks in the 2024 and 2025 classes still uncommitted: Bartram Trail's Riley Trujillo, Bolles' D.J. Moore, Fleming Island's Cibastian Broughton, Mandarin's Tramell Jones, St. Augustine's Locklan Hewlett and Trinity Christian's Colin Hurley.

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BK's Cavanaugh joins 1,000-kill club

Resar's commitment isn't the only news on the BK campus, the site of a volleyball milestone — and almost two milestones — in Thursday's match against Bolles.

Senior outside hitter Ally Cavanaugh belted her 1,000th kill during the third set of the Crusaders' 25-23, 25-11, 25-10 sweep. She finished with 13 on the night, tied with junior teammate Claudia Stockard, as Bishop Kenny used her power and the serves of Lizzy Austin and Sarah Seabrooke to seize command.

Cavanaugh has 89 kills in 2022 for the Crusaders, and her hitting percentage to date is a career-high .382. She's closing in on the mark of 1,016 set by Denvyr Tyler-Palmer from 2011 to 2014.

"Just hearing everyone cheering for me, it was awesome, the best feeling ever, especially since I've been working four years for this," Cavanaugh said.

Teams of the Decade series: 2014 Bishop Kenny volleyball

The match nearly turned into one of the rarest of rarities: In addition to Cavanaugh, Grace Albaugh of Bolles also had a chance to notch her 1,000th career kill on the same night. But the Bulldogs' senior ended the evening with 998 kills, leaving her milestone moment for a later evening.

The two have long played together at junior levels, and they're even on the way to colleges with similar names: Cavanaugh is going to Georgia, while Albaugh has committed to Georgetown.

Bishop Kenny enters the week in fifth in the MaxPreps statewide rankings for Class 4A.

"She came in with obviously a huge skill set, and she's just been willing to grow and adapt," Bishop Kenny coach Suzanne Winkler said of Cavanaugh's Crusaders career. "When we won states with her [in 2020] she was a middle, and then she moved outside and just fell in love with it."

St. Johns schools rule 5K course

Where's the center of Northeast Florida's cross country world in 2022? At least in the early going, for schools not named Bolles, it's in St. Johns County.

The county pair of Creekside and Ponte Vedra captured the top honors at Saturday's Bob Hans Invitational at Ridgeview. Creekside's Jacob Harvey and Tanner Simonds placed 1-2 in the boys race, with Jack Zurn fifth and Mac Williams sixth in a dominant morning for the Knights.

In the girls race, Creekside freshman Alyson Johnson crossed the line first in 20:13, while Ponte Vedra's Daisy Ross, Sofia Bushkell, Ella McGowan, Lindy White, Lily Darnell and Hilaree Vega all ran 21:30 or better to give the Sharks six runners in the top 10 and a team title.

Farther down the coast, Katelyn Lawrence broke 19 minutes for the first time to lead St. Augustine to the girls team title at the Joe McKinney Classic in New Smyrna Beach. Yellow Jackets teammates Lauren Voutour, Rylan Holmquist and Marian Gates also placed in the top six.

Mandarin's boys team placed second, led by 2021 Gateway Conference champion Gavin Nelson in 16:54, and the girls finished third at the Bobcat Classic held at Santa Fe College in Gainesville. Fleming Island's girls team came in second in that meet, with Katelyn Thompson crossing sixth overall in 20:35.

The cross country season is moving at full speed ahead, with two of the area's best-known meets in the next two weeks. Bartram Trail holds the Bale-N-Trail Original on Saturday, followed by the Katie Caples Invitational along the St. Johns River at Bishop Kenny on Sept. 24.

Winning ways take shape for Beachside

Pete Duffy's 200th career victory in a rare Monday night matchup wasn't just a personal milestone for the Beachside head football coach. The 34-24 victory over Christ's Church also highlighted the Barracudas' rapid growth over seven weeks from the start of fall practice.

From Brick Balcita's 289-yard passing performance to Eddie Craig's 14 tackles, Beachside's formula is taking shape. At 2-1, the St. Johns County school needs only two more wins to surpass county rival Tocoi Creek's result from last year.

First-year football programs for high schools launched in Northeast Florida since 2000 have, not surprisingly, struggled more often than not. Only Bartram Trail (6-5 in 2000), Fort White (6-4 in 2000) and Atlantic Coast (7-3 in 2010) have surpassed .500.

The others: Menendez (4-5 in 2000), Fleming Island (1-9 in 2003), Yulee (5-6 in 2006), Creekside (2-8 in 2008), Ponte Vedra (2-8 in 2008), Oakleaf (2-7 in 2010) and Tocoi Creek (3-7 in 2021).

"We grew a lot. The first couple of weeks, it was real sloppy," wide receiver Bryce Gee said. "But now, we've got everything under control."

Inside the independents: A closer look at Beachside, CCA and more for 2022 football

Milestone for Barracudas: Beachside wins No. 2, Pete Duffy wins No. 200: Monday night high school football takeaways

Williams, Smith all-weather stars

It's time to crown Creekside's Nicky Williams and Baker County's Cam Smith as all-weather running backs.

Both backs came up with three touchdowns apiece and huge yardage totals to lead their schools to victories in a storm-swept Border Classic in Brunswick, Creekside beating Glynn Academy 21-20 on Thursday and Baker County topping Richmond Hill 35-32 on Saturday.

Williams — already up to 10 rushing scores on the season — ran for 256 yards in the Knights' win, while Smith got 336 total yards (244 rushing, 92 receiving) in Baker County's seesaw success.

Their achievements kept the weather from earning the Player of the Week award. Thunderstorms doused much of the three-day event at Glynn County Stadium, and pushed back the finish of Baker County's game with Richmond Hill until 12:02 a.m. Sunday.

Both schools retain their berths on the list of Northeast Florida unbeatens, which also includes Bartram Trail (3-0), Bishop Kenny (3-0), Bradford (2-0), Cedar Creek Christian (2-0), Episcopal (2-0), Fleming Island (3-0), Harvest Community (2-0), Palatka (3-0), Trinity Christian (3-0) and University Christian (3-0).

Don't be shocked if the list shrinks a bit this week, because the schedules on tap for many of the still-perfect teams look formidable.

Among others, Bartram Trail travels Thursday to unbeaten Tallahassee Lincoln, Trinity Christian takes on 11-time state champion Bolles, Creekside faces 2021 state semifinalist Gainesville Buchholz, Bradford heads out to a Gainesville Eastside team that won its first two games and Fleming Island meets Oakleaf.

Week 3 football rewind: Bishop Kenny, Mandarin, University Christian among winners

Duval sets Gateway dates

Time to start marking that Duval County calendar. Dates and locations are set for the fall round of Gateway Conference tournaments, which begin in less than a month.

Both the Gateway diving and cross country meets are scheduled for Oct. 6 at Cecil Field, followed by the Gateway swim meet at the same location two days later. Mandarin swept last year's cross country championships, while Fletcher has locked up the swimming titles in each year since 2019.

The volleyball tournament will take place across three days from Oct. 11-13 at school locations to be determined after seeding. Fletcher has won the last seven editions.

Jacksonville Beach Golf Course is the host for both Gateway golf tournaments, with the boys competing Oct. 11 and the girls on Oct. 17. The Wolfson boys and Fletcher girls are defending champion.

Last on the list is the Gateway bowling tournament, at Bowl America Mandarin on Oct. 21. Mandarin lifted the trophy last fall.

Bolles, Nease highlight swim scene

Mark down Saturday as Splash Day on the First Coast, with two of Northeast Florida's premier meets on the high school calendar.

Bolles will be the host of the annual Byron Plapp Invitational, drawing hundreds of swimmers for the seventh annual meet.

Meanwhile, the second annual Frank Holleman Invitational is coming Saturday to Planet Swim Aquatics in St. Johns County, with Nease designated as the host school and 15 other teams participating from around the area.

The meet is expected to match established county swimming powers Bartram Trail, Creekside and Ponte Vedra with Nease.

Conquerors' Webb named All-American

It's official: Treyaun Webb is an All-American.

The Trinity Christian senior running back was honored in a virtual jersey presentation Wednesday for the All-American Bowl, which will match 100 of the nation's leading high school football players in an East vs. West contest at San Antonio's Alamodome.

The Super 11 running back, committed to Florida, added another touchdown last week against North Florida Educational Institute, although Webb and junior backfield colleague Darnell Rogers largely rested with five combined carries during the Conquerors' 40-6 victory.

Trinity plays Bolles on Friday, aiming to avenge last year's 35-0 shutout at the hands of the Bulldogs.

Super 11 profile: Treyaun Webb's legacy in Jacksonville is unfinished ahead of his senior season

NBA guard McPherson to lead Rams

Englewood hired former NBA guard Paul McPherson as its next coach for boys basketball.

McPherson, 44, played 55 games in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors during the 2000-01 season, including a 20-point outing against the Toronto Raptors.

A Chicago native, he attended Tallahassee Community College before transferring to DePaul, which was then under former Florida State head coach Pat Kennedy. McPherson averaged 11.2 points with the Blue Demons before entering the NBA Draft. He has also played overseas and in the BIG3 basketball league.

Englewood went 8-10 last year and has three consecutive losing seasons, but won consecutive district titles in 2017 and 2018 while coached by Jerry Battle. That ended a district drought dating to 2000.

Around the area

West Nassau senior pitcher Peyton Bass committed to Santa Fe College softball. ... Tocoi Creek senior Emma Reed committed to Shorter women's lacrosse. ... Jackson named Monica Gibson as the school's new girls basketball coach. ... Creekside volleyball coach Megan Bowers won her 200th match with the Knights this week. ... Fernandina Beach set two school swimming records in Thursday's tri-meet with Ponte Vedra and St. Augustine: Nate Janzow swam 1:04.22 in the boys 100-yard breaststroke, and the team of Neriah Giedrys, Cora Foxwell-Jones, Ivy Bradley and Zoe Fina swam 1:48.34 in the girls 200 freestyle relay. ... Richmond Hill quarterback Ty Goldrick threw for 356 yards in Saturday's 35-32 loss to Baker County at the Border Classic in Brunswick, 219 of those to Ravon Grant. ... Mandarin cross country is scheduled to travel to Saturday's Hare & Hounds Invitational at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, N.C. ... Bradford's Gavin Cook, Bishop Kenny's Kaylee Mahoney and Stanton's Tatum Register have been selected to the #FHSAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. ... The annual Jacksonville Juniors Volleyball Association River City Classic is scheduled for Friday and Saturday. ... Former Columbia defensive end Adeon Farmer, now at Fort Valley State, was named Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference newcomer of the week. ... White's 36-13 win over Englewood continues one of Duval County's longest runs of series dominance: The Commanders have won the last 18 meetings since Englewood edged White 16-13 on Oct. 23, 1987.

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: Bishop Kenny quarterback James Resar to Iowa: First Coast Varsity Weekly