MIDDLEBURG - Not many people have ever had as good a night as Middleburg’s Austin Cruce did on September 22. The two-way star had three and a half sacks and a tackle for loss to spearhead a suffocating defensive effort by the Broncos and scored the game-winning touchdown as Middleburg notched its first win of 2023 with a 14-0 shutout of visiting Ribault. As if his onfield heroics were not enough, the senior was named Homecoming King at halftime.

“I have been doing this for 20 years, and he is one of the baddest dudes I have ever coached,” Middleburg head coach Ryan Wolfe said of Cruce. “He is the ultimate competitor. You show up to coach players like him.”

After a scoreless first half in which each team squandered possessions that had reached the red zone, Wolfe inserted Cruce at quarterback on the Broncos’ first drive of the third quarter. Cruce had three teammates lined up to his right behind the tackle in what Middleburg calls its heavy package. Cruce took the shotgun snap and followed his three blockers over the right side. The 6’0”, 200-pounder found a crease and cut back against the grain as Ribault safety Dayniel Martinez overran the play. Cruce then turned on his considerable speed, leaving the Trojans behind and racing 38 yards for his first high school touchdown. Kaleb Robison added the extra point, giving the Broncos a 7-0 lead with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.

Cruce was instrumental on defense, as well. The Trojans appeared determined to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, putting together consecutive first downs to reach their own 40-yard line. But Cruce blitzed up the middle from his middle linebacker position and sacked Ribault’s Timothy Cole on fourth down, turning the ball over and leading to Middleburg’s second touchdown.

“It definitely feels good,” Cruce said of his night. “But it was definitely weird not seeing what our game plan was coming out in the second half.”

After being outscored 93-14 in losing their first three games of the season, Wolfe and his coaching staff made changes on both sides of the ball. More of the Broncos’ best players played both offense and defense. Jayden Jenkins was moved from slot receiver to quarterback as the Broncos operated out of their heavy package more than half of the time, usually at a no-huddle tempo.

“We were out of character for three weeks and needed to get back to Middleburg football,” explained Wolfe. “Middleburg football is ‘Line up and shove it down their throat,’ and that’s what we did.”

Middleburg ran the ball a whopping 43 times for 196 yards while throwing only six passes, three of which came during the two-minute drill at the end of the first half. Jenkins rushed 22 times for 79 yards and scored the clinching touchdown. After Cruce’s fourth down stop, Jenkins ran the ball on four straight plays to move the ball to the Ribault five-yard line. From there, he ran the same play that Cruce had scored on, following the three lead blockers over the right side and falling over the goal line to give the hosts a 13-0 lead with 5:39 left in the game.

“We went back to basics,” said Wolfe. “Who are our best players? Let’s get the ball in their hands.”

For his part, Jenkins enjoyed the increased touches.

“I loved it,” he said. “The plan was to get the ball in my hands and for me to make big plays.”

The strategy worked well on the initial drive of the game. The Broncos used up seven minutes on a 14-play, 61-yard march that reached the Trojans’ nine-yard line. However, running back Wain Sulph was hit hard by Ribault’s Jayven Knighton, causing a fumble. Trojans’ linebacker Jamel Bailey caught the ball in midair to quell the threat.

While the offense pounded the Trojans with the ground game, the Middleburg defense bottled up a Ribault attack that had scored a combined 81 points in its last two games. The Trojans mustered only seven rushing yards on the night, an effort that was not helped when starting running back Bernard Brown, III, went down with what appeared to be a serious lower leg injury on the first possession of the game. Middleburg sacked Cole, who had been impressive in leading Ribault to a 3-1 record entering the contest, eight times and limited the sophomore to eight completions on 18 attempts for 110 yards.

“We started out bringing wide pressure with the defensive ends and corners, and then later we switched to widening our defensive ends and blitzing up the middle,” said Wolfe.

Cruce credited pre-snap movements along the defensive front with confusing Cole and the Trojans’ linemen.

Ribault drove inside the Broncos’ 10-yard line twice in the first half, but defensive end B.J. Carter sacked Cole from the blind side on fourth and goal from the nine on the first occasion and cornerback Landon Nalepa broke up a slant pass intended for Johnny Braziel on the second.

Middleburg, now 1-3, visits Clay County rival Ridgeview on September 29 in what will be the first District 3S-3 matchup of the season for both teams. The Panthers will also enter the game with a 1-3 record.

None of the four members of District 3S-3, which also includes Orange Park (2-3) and Lake City Columbia (0-4), has a winning record. Wolfe feels like the district is wide open.

“We are a good football team who played three juggernauts,” he said, referring to early season opponents Hawthorne, Bradford County and Ponte Vedra. “The teams we played got us battle-tested and ready for the rest of the season.”