Marion County high school football: Raines wins top 10 matchup against Trinity Catholic
OCALA — Despite a solid defensive performance, the Trinity Catholic Celtics fall to top-10 Class 2M foe Jacksonville Raines on Friday night at Celtics Stadium.
The Vikings, No. 9 in the USA Today Florida rankings, earned a 20-17 victory after fighting back from a deficit before cementing their win with big plays on both sides of the ball. Trinity Catholic entered Week 5 ranked No. 3 in 1S.
Here are takeaways from one of the Star-Banner's Week 5 games of the week.
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Trinity Catholic’s defense
It was a tale of two tapes for the Celtics defense. The 11 guys on the field were solid the entire game but special in the first half.
“We played good solid defense. There’s only a few plays and obviously the fake punt. I think we only had 10 guys out there. We’ve been working on something special all week. A couple guys got caught off guard. I probably should have called timeout. I didn’t notice it soon enough. I’ll take that. I’ll take this loss, but we’re going to get better,” said TC coach John Brantley.
Raines didn’t gain more than 10 yards on its first five drives. Penalties and turnovers helped keep the Vikings in check, but the secondary and frontline held their own. Junior safety Jeremiah Rhem even opened that scorebook with a 60-yard interception.
In the second half, the Celtics' energy faltered, and Raines took advantage of it. The Vikings saw gaps and attacked them to outscore Trinity Catholic 14-10 in the second half.
“Our midterm grade for this season is about a B- but from here on out, we’re going to improve our report card. Let me tell you that,” said Brantley.
Beau Beard moves the chains
It wasn’t a great offensive game for Trinity Catholic plus penalties were a problem, and turnovers impeded on any major movement in the first half.
“We got the ball down there. We should have been up a couple of touchdowns early but we let those get away from us,” Brantley said.
Luckily, senior running back Beau Beard knows gains. Beard is averaging 130 yards per game with a season-high of 222 yard against Clearwater Central Catholic. Brantley trusted him with a ton of touches and he produced running for more than a 100 yards again.
Trinity Catholic’s running backs coach Terrell Snowden talked before the game about what’s made Beard a better player. He said Beard has added 15 pounds of muscle and has the ability to move his feet after contact. That hard running moved the chains for the Celtics, who handed it off on the majority of their snaps.
Raines shows grit
The Vikings never say die. They started the game in the hole after multiple penalties and a pick six. It was a back-and-forth affair until the Vikings put their foot down in the second half.
“This week was an excellent week of practice. It was competitive on both sides, and it showed tonight," said Raines coach Donovan Masline. "Defense played lights out. We gave up some big runs. They drove the ball down in the third quarter, but we hang our hat on just making sure we continue to fight, line up right, and fire off the ball. We know their offensive line was big, but we know we’re athletic... That’s what we showed.”
Senior running back Sincere Cohen made the Vikings' first appearance in the end zone with a rush from the 1-yard line. He had put Raines back in scoring territory before the half after grabbing an interception.
Quarterback Roman Doles would be the second Viking to score from the red zone with a 12-yard sprint to put Raines up 14-10. Junior Jaylen Clark put the game away with a 44-yard rushing touchdown off a fake punt giving the Vikings a 20-17 edge.
“The first punt, I got it off, but they called it back. I said that’s cool. I’ll punt it again. They didn’t call that play. I got the ball. I didn’t see anybody over there. I saw a chance, and I took it,” Clark said of his game-closing run.
Raines works on that play, but no one expected to see it Friday night. It was a confidence booster for a team heading into its homecoming game.
What’s next?
Both teams are heading into homecoming looking for wins. Raines will play Riverside (2-3) on Oct. 1. Trinity Catholic faces off with St. Joseph Academy (1-3) on Sept. 30.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: High school football: Raines wins top 10 matchup at Trinity Catholic
