High School football: Bartow, Ridge, Auburndale spring jamboree takeaways
AUBURNDALE — Three area Polk County high school football teams competed and fine-tuned their strategy and skills in Auburndale’s football jamboree on Thursday night at Bruce Canova Stadium.
In three controlled scrimmages spanning two quarters each, Auburndale and Ridge Community ended the first contest in a 6-6 tie; Bartow won 14-8 over Auburndale in the second; and Bartow was victorious,14-0, over Ridge in the third and final scrimmage.
Below are observations of each team.
Bartow takeaways
• Last year the Yellow Jackets went 5-6 and lost four all-county players on offense, including quarterback Lin Johnson. Quarterback KJ Valentine stepped in and did a good job of managing the game well enough to put Bartow in scoring position vs. Auburndale. Valentine led an offense that moved the ball into the red zone in the matchup vs. Auburndale, and running back Jase Thomas capitalized with a 5-yard touchdown run with 4:41 to go in the first. In the game against Ridge, running back Tequan Jones ran 90 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter, but it was called back due to a penalty. Still, the Yellow Jackets were able to run the ball effectively despite having a new offensive line. “(They) worked extremely hard this spring. They did enough to get by tonight ... I was pleased with that,” Bartow coach Richard Tate said.
• Bartow defensive tackle Quavion Bird was an absolute beast vs. Auburndale. Leading the Bartow defense, Bird produced a sack for loss on third down late in the first quarter and then he scored a touchdown following a fumble that was the result of a botched swing pass at the Auburndale 10 with 10:21 left in the second. Bird’s score made the game 14-0. “I thought we had some big stops and some big plays,” Tate said. “I was pleased with how our spring went and how we finished up. And I’m just looking forward to a big summer and try to get better."
Ridge Community takeaways
• The Bolts were a .500 team (5-5) last year and lost six all-county players on offense, including quarterback Zach Pleuss, who transferred to Lakeland. Insert Aidan Young, who made some accurate throws in the flat, the middle of the field and on some deep-out 20-yard passes. Specifically, Young connected on a deep touch pass to Andre Berry in the beginning of the second quarter vs. Bartow. He did, however, throw a pick near the end of the game — a ball that was intercepted by Bartow’s BJ Walker. Young is competing for the quarterback job with freshman John Kostuch, who played in the first game vs. Auburndale. “We've got a great competition. I think it’s always great when you have one,” Ridge coach Carl White said. “I think we all have a lot of maturing to do in a lot of different ways. That game is really fast when you are freshmen and you’re getting some varsity reps. Then you had Aidan come in against Bartow. He did his thing. It’s going to be a competition until somebody takes the job. But I definitely think all of us are comfortable with whoever takes it and runs with it.”
• Ridge was able to accomplish its goals heading into the jamboree, including staying healthy and establishing confidence in a young team. In the game vs. Bartow, White played all of his second-team players. “They've got to get some confidence in themselves that they can go out and make some plays, so when they go in, the drop-off is not as big, but we can only do that if they are getting game-time reps,” White said. “I’m really, really proud of all of them. We got some great film to teach off of when we get back.”
Auburndale takeaways
• In 2021, the Bloodhounds had a stellar year with a 9-1 record and also won a game in the playoffs. This year they lost a slew of all-county players, including Division I competitors Zach Tanner (quarterback), Elijah Davis (wide receiver) and Arquis Ward (offensive lineman). Overall, Auburndale lost 22 seniors. They were missed Thursday night as Auburndale’s lone score vs. Ridge Community came on a 64-yard touchdown run by running back Ja’Tavious Scaife with 4:46 to go in the second quarter. The running game was solid but head coach Kyle Sasser experimented with freshmen quarterbacks Amari Turner and Robbie Gaskin. “We've got a lot to work on in the spring with trying to figure out once we watch the film how the experiment worked so we can kind of grade those two out and know where they stand heading into the summer,” Sasser said. Turner did put points on the board thanks to a 43-yard TD on a quarterback keeper with 3:15 to go in the second quarter vs. Bartow. “We tried some different stuff and we have a lot to work on in the spring,” Sasser said.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: High School football: Bartow, Ridge, Auburndale spring jamboree takeaways
