First Coast Varsity Weekly: Westside's Jordan Hall sets final four for early signing day
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Circle Dec. 22 as Decision Day on Firestone Road.
That's the date when Westside defensive tackle Jordan Hall is scheduled to finally select the destination for his recruiting odyssey, putting pen to paper during the NCAA early signing period and choosing from a quartet of SEC giants.
The candidates? A Who's Who of the gridiron: Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU.
But it's bye-bye to the Buckeyes. Ohio State, which Hall originally listed as one of his finalists this fall, didn't make the cut to the final four.
The 6-4, 295-pound Westside star, a Times-Union Super 11 selection before the season, ranks as a four-star prospect for the major recruiting services, rated among the top 10 senior defensive linemen nationwide. In July, he was selected to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
Even though offenses focused on him as Westside's chief defensive threat, Hall was unstoppable in 2022. He dominated the trenches for 31 tackles for loss and nine sacks, six pass deflections and a pair of forced fumbles.
Wherever he signs, Hall will be making history. He's the first Super 11 selection from the school since linebacker Brandon Hicks signed with Florida in 2007, when Westside was still known as Forrest High School.
Hall's live on-campus signing, an early Christmas present for one SEC power, is an oasis of normalcy in a signing season shaken up by this year's shift in the NCAA calendar.
With the early signing period bumping backward to Dec. 21-23 this year — a period during which many schools are closed ahead of Christmas — many players and coaches are having to alter their normal signing day routine.
Bolles got the football rolling on Monday, holding an early signing ceremony to recognize tight end Connor Cox and center Cooper Fordham ahead of their signings with South Carolina and Louisiana, respectively.
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Weekly scoreboard:Northeast Florida high school sports scores for December 12-17, 2022
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Ware County chomps to GHSA title
Northeast Florida football closed 2022 with a rare championship shutout.
But for Southeast Georgia, and particularly for Waycross, football season's final whistle rang in a long-awaited triumph.
Ware County wrapped up its first-ever Georgia High School Association football title on Saturday inside Atlanta's Georgia Dome, a 38-13 victory against Warner Robins to place the exclamation point on a 14-0 season.
Niko Smith connected on 16 of 26 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns, two to Jarvis Hayes and one to Brandon Washington, while Dae'jeaun Dennis rushed for two more scores to clinch the Gators' Class AAAAA championship. Hayes was the day's unstoppable force at receiver, catching six passes for 171 yards.
The championship was the first for a Southeast Georgia school since 2009. Ware County had previously reached the final in 2012, but lost 49-13 to a Gainesville squad led by quarterback Deshaun Watson.
All-American honors for local pair
Not one but two athletes with Northeast Florida ties highlighted the Associated Press All-American team for college football in a banner year for the 904.
Former Bartram Trail wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson of Iowa State made the All-American first team at wide receiver, with former Fleming Island running back DeWayne McBride of UAB on the third team at tight end.
Hutchinson, who was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, caught 107 passes for 1,171 yards for the Cyclones, ranking in the Division I top 10 in both categories.
McBride, the Conference USA offensive player of the year, rushed 233 times for 1,713 yards and 19 touchdowns. The Blazers are scheduled to kick off the bowl season Friday with the Bahamas Bowl against Miami-Ohio.
Stovall flies high in Carolina
December falls into that gap between the end of cross country season and the start of outdoor track. So track and field athletes are taking some time off, right?
Definitely not for Vivian Stovall.
The Bolles senior achieved a milestone outside the FHSAA calendar, clearing 12 feet, 9 inches to win the indoor pole vault at the Coros Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Stovall, who finished sixth at the Class 4A championships for the outdoor pole vault in 2021 and finished fourth in regionals this spring, shattered her personal best by more than seven inches. MileSplit lists her performance as the second-highest girls indoor pole vault for a Florida high school athlete, behind only Nicole Carroll of Tampa Catholic in 2015.
She's the third Bolles pole vaulter to clear 12-9 since 2020, following Laine Roberts and Audrey Wuerffel.
Blais, Leapley capture golf awards
The awards keep rolling in for Ponte Vedra golf.
Class 2A state champion Brock Blais won the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Golf award for the top overall player in boys high school golf, and the Sharks' Mickey Leapley was recognized as the boys golf coach of the year.
Blais chipped in on the final hole to secure the Sharks' sixth consecutive Florida High School Athletic Association team championship, and won a five-hole playoff against Middleburg's Chase Carroll for the individual title in November in Howey-in-the-Hills.
He's the first Northeast Florida player to win Mr. Golf honors since Mandarin's Brandon Mancheno in 2016.
Bolles' Heck, Lancaster win junior nationals
Time for Bolles swimmers to add to that trophy collection from the USA Swimming Speedo Winter Junior Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.
Three-time state champion Will Heck helped lead the charge by winning the boys 100-yard breaststroke in 53.66 seconds, with Bolles teammate Wyatt Porch close behind in third and Aidan Paro in 12th. Heck also took second place in the 200 breast and eighth in the 200 IM.
Bolles junior Carter Lancaster also won the boys 400 individual medley in 3:46.65, to go with a fifth in the 200 IM. Lila Higgo also earned eighth place in the girls 100 backstroke as the Bolles Sharks club placed fourth overall with 486.5 points.
Other top Bolles finishers included Kayden Lancaster's ninth in the boys 200 free, Paro's 11th in the boys 200 breast, and 12th and 13th for Andy Kravchenko and Seth Tolentino in the boys 50 free.
Meanwhile, the quartet of Landon Kyser, Carter Lancaster, Porch and Kravchenko set a 15-16 national age group record of 3:13.95 in the boys 400 medley relay.
Keystone's Shaw tops 30 goals
Yet again, there's no slowing down Kiersten Shaw.
The Keystone Heights soccer sophomore has already cleared the 30-goal mark for the fourth consecutive season, courtesy of her six-goal performance in Friday night's 8-1 win against Newberry.
She has already tallied seven hat tricks this season, including seven goals in one game against Trenton on Nov. 11, striking 160 career goals through three-plus seasons.
Shaw scored 31 goals as a seventh-grader with Keystone's high school squad in 2019-20, 36 in eighth grade and 58 last season. She's on pace to surpass the state career goal mark of 238 set by Miracle Porter at Matanzas from 2013-17, albeit over six years rather than four.
She's also exceeded 100 kills in volleyball in each of her last two seasons, and placed top three in the spring district track championships in the high jump, the long jump and the 100-yard hurdles.
Soccer powers team up for holidays
Four of Northeast Florida's premier boys soccer squads are coming together to show some holiday spirit next week.
Bartram Trail, Mandarin, Nease and host Creekside are coming together for the second edition of the Holiday Cup on Dec. 20. Bartram Trail and Mandarin meet at 5:30 p.m., followed by Creekside and Nease in the 7:20 p.m. game.
Donations are encouraged for the event, which will benefit Soaring High and the Betty Griffin Center.
In addition, Bartram Trail and Mandarin are collecting pillows, towels and twin bed sheets, and Creekside and Nease are collecting blankets, books and socks as part of a donation drive that will be completed on Dec. 20.
Around the area
Episcopal pitcher Grace Jones committed to Mercer softball. ... Trinity Christian's Landen Moore committed to Mars Hill baseball. … Ponte Vedra senior Tanner Parlette committed to Stony Brook men's lacrosse. … Fleming Island's Kaden Schaefer committed to Bucknell wrestling. … Yulee's Jye Thompson committed to Valdosta State football. … Middleburg promoted assistant Meredith Forkum to head volleyball coach, after last month's retirement of longtime coach Carrie Prewitt. … Former Bartram Trail center Dyllan Hanna, now at FAU, won the Conference USA freshman of the week award for women's basketball. ... Paetyn Miller scored her 1,000th point for Ridgeview girls basketball Monday against Clay. ... Fleming Island's annual Battle on the Island basketball tournament is scheduled for Dec. 20-22, with the following opening-round matchups: Wolfson-Friendship Christian, Columbia-Auburndale, Fleming Island-Lake Minneola, Gainesville-Miami Southridge, Bolles-Deltona Trinity Christian, Naples Golden Gate-Ribault, Baker County-Orange Park, and Jackson-Martin County. … Friday night's Bolles-Providence girls basketball contest raised funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with Bolles winning 52-35 behind 31 points from Abby Knauff. … Impact Christian is among the teams invited to the Dec. 19-20 Kreul Classic in Fort Lauderdale. ... Clay freshman Jacob Sanders led Northeast Florida high school half-marathon runners by running 1:32.29 to finish in 75th place at Sunday's Ameris Bank Jacksonville Marathon, while Episcopal's Lucrezia Gowdy ran 1:38.06 to lead area girls.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: Westside DT Jordan Hall's final four
