Week Seven

Friday, Oct. 2

Middleburg, Clay, Fleming Island, Orange Park BYE

Ed White at Oakleaf: Ed White quarterback King Boylston was a definite impact player in last year's Oakleaf win. The Knights don't have Fareed Coleman's 400 yards and five scores back. This could be a barnburner. White has scored 47, 48 and 50 points in their last three wins to be at 4-1  before Friday's game. Boylston has seven TD passes, but six interceptions could be a factor. Boylston also has six scores on the ground as the third runner for the Commanders. He has 478 rushing yards, while Rontrez Loyd has 674 yareds with six TDs and Tavaris Jones has 593 with six scores. White beat Trinity Christian in Game 1, lost a 21-12 thriller to Raines and knocked off tough Camden County, 48-44. The Commanders then bashed 4A Yulee, 47-0, last week. Oakleaf, 3-2, rebounded from a 42-24 loss to Bolles with a 56-6 Homecoming snoozer over West Port last week. Quarterback Jaidan Delaune hit for 238 yards and five TD passes. He threw two touchdown strikes apiece to Michael Conner and Syncere Murphy, and one to Jace Jackson. All four passes to Connor and Murphy were between 30-and-60 yards. Oakleaf's running game has been waning as of late. Delaune's passing arm is getting locked in with his very fast receiver corps. On defense, safety Quassim Swain recovered a fumble and took it to the end zone late in fourth quarter.

Paxon at Ridgeview: A good 4-2 Paxon team will get banged up Ridgeview, which got knocked off 42-8 to Middleburg (See Chapman Sellars story) last week. Paxon lost 21-0 last week to 4-1 Andrew Jackson. Paxon quarterback Javier Dixon has eight TD passes, while senior running back KJ Palmer has with 11 scores in his 1,219 rushing yards.

Keystone Heights (2-4) at Crescent City (0-5): This is one of the toughest rivalry games for Keystone Heights, and one that could offer a big boost for new coach Cameron Porch. Both teams have tough kids, play aggressive and have big fan bases. Keystone Heights had two unfortunate first quarter mishaps to get behind quickly against Atlantic in a 41-6 loss last Friday, while Crescent City lost 26-2 to Branford (5-2).

Week Eight

Friday, Oct. 9

Dixie County at Keystone Heights: This is Homecoming for the Indians, so it should be a great atmosphere for another upset win. QB Cole Crabtree could be back. Kicker Ryder Thomas is a solid striker inside the 50.

Orange Park at Middleburg: Orange Park had an upset years ago, and it could be ready for another to upset a Middleburg playoff run. Middleburg may have too much weaponry to counter the Raiders attempt. Having Braydon Ventura back is a plus, while Sam Craven and Dalton Motes could be trouble for the Raiders. The Broncos is defense is stout. Blake Mulanax could be the sleeper player in county.

St. Augustine at Ridgeview: Speaking of impact, could Ridgeview pull off an upset of epic proportions? Never say die. Jason Smith is a high-target coach.

Oakleaf at Ocala Forest: Ocala Forest a solid team, while Oakleaf is coming off a homecoming game that could cool the season jets. Don't hiccup here. Forest lost 38-20 to Buchholz last Friday, so Oakleaf will have a good measure of their game plan for their Buchholz game on October 23. Buchholz is 6-0 and ranked 33rd overall and seventh in 5A. Oakleaf is 17th.

Game of the Week

Clay at Fleming Island: The rivalry moves to Week 9 but doesn't mean it gets any less impactful. If the numbers line up, this could have ramifications for the playoffs. St. Augustine's district games have a little impact on playoff points, win or lose. Fleming Island will have Middleburg and St. Augustine to follow.

Flag-fest Battle of Blanding goes to Middleburg, 42-8

By Chapman Sellars, Correspondent

ORANGE PARK - Despite running 32 plays to Ridgeview’s nine, and out-gaining Ridgeview by 100-plus yards in the first two quarters, Middleburg was only up five points going into the half.

Penalties were part of what held Middleburg back. There were 31 total penalties between the two teams. However, Middleburg was still able to do what they do best: run the ball in a 42-6 district win Friday night at Ridgeview.

Broncos running back Braydon Ventura returned from an injury the past two games and punched in two touchdowns on the ground to help Middleburg jump out to an early 13-0 lead. However, mental errors and penalties allowed Ridgeview to make the first half competitive.

After what would have been a short conversion for Middleburg, a personal foul after the play forced a punt from deep inside its own territory late in the second quarter. Ridgeview return man Tyaun Edmonson took advantage of the short field on the first play by taking a handoff up the gut 35 yards to the house. A successful two-point conversion made the score 13-8, with Middleburg still in the lead. No more points were scored in the first half.

After forcing a quick three-and-out on Ridgeview's first possession of the second half, Middleburg received the ball on its own 41-yard line and proceeded to run the ball six times in a row for 59 yards and a touchdown to make it 21-8.

The following drive for both teams was identical: Ridgeview again went three and out and punted back to Middleburg, and the Broncos kept it on the ground seven plays in a row for 65 yards with running back Khaden "KK" Robinson’s scoring the second touchdown in two drives.

When asked about how starting quarterback Dalton Motes’ absence due to a shoulder injury would increase the workload on the running backs, Robinson gave all the praise to his teammate C.J. Williams, a wide receiver who filled in at quarterback for the injured Motes.

“C.J, he went to go fill in for Dalton, and he helped me throughout," Robinson said. "I couldn't have done it without him.”

Ridgeview never found a rhythm in the second half. The Middleburg defense forced an interception on three of Ridgeview’s last four drives, and before you knew it, the score was 42-8.

The Broncos will get a week off before hosting Orange Park on Oct. 9 in a district matchup. Ridgeview will host Paxon as part of a four-game home stretch before, the Panthers finish their final three games on the road.