FLEMING ISLAND - With an explosive 30-yard scoring sprint from Sebastian Cruz and a 65-yard pass play to kicker Parker Sirdevan, the surprises offered by Fleming Island High football coach Tom Macpherson were plentiful in an upset 21-10 district 3-5A win over Middleburg on Friday.

"My teammates trusted me, and I trusted them to use me, and we got it done," said Sirdevan, who caught the catch to set up Cruz's five-yard scoring run, then kicked off into the end zone to pin Middleburg at their own 40 with the Fleming Island defense forcing a punt. Sirdevan then nailed a punt at the Bronco one-yard line on his final kick of the night.

"I don't think I've ever run 65 yards."

For Macpherson, the win was a matter of being cognizant of what the personnel on his team can do and creating a plan to be successful. Fleming Island turned losses to Ponte Vedra and Creekside into wins the past two weeks over Parker and now Middleburg with 7A-Flagler Palm Coast (3-6) and a weather makeup game with district 3-5A's Beachside on Nov. 4 remaining. Fleming Island and Beachside are both 2-1 in district games with Ponte Vedra leading the district at 3-1, 7-2 overall.

"We looked at what we had been doing through the season, and we made some changes in personnel and our game plan," said Macpherson, now 5-3 with Middleburg dropping to 7-2. "I think we moved to the ninth spot with the top eight in the region to go to playoffs. We win this week against 7A-Flagler Palm Coast (3-6), then Beachside (6-2) in the Nov. 4 makeup game, we have a chance. All we can do is win out."

For Middleburg coach Ryan Wolfe, the game was as good a rivalry game as fans would have expected.

"They did a lot of things we knew about, but executed them better than we defended them," said Wolfe, who is now 7-2, 2-2 in district play. "We had a big play flagged for us that could have changed the game, but give Fleming Island credit, they were prepared for us."

The call Wolfe referred to was a blocked field goal by defensive end Dominic Swilley on an attempt by Sirdevan that Middleburg defender Ronell Seward picked up for a 65-yard touchdown fumble recovery. He got flagged for a block in the back despite Seward running unchallenged from the 50 to the end zone.

"That was a momentum killer that probably cost us the game," said Wolfe, who last week beat Beachside with a blocked PAT kick by Dominic Swilley on an overtime game won by the Broncos 37-36.

Fleming Island, in the second half, employed some quick shift movements with offensive linemen shifting prior to snap, first, getting an offsides flag on a key fourth down for the Eagles, and second, creating Cruz's touchdown sprint that blew the game open with the track-fast Cruz finding a seam and hitting the jets.

"That play works every time we run it in practice, and I know the guys up front get psyched to block and this time it worked," said Cruz. "We tried to twice against Creekside and it didn't work so the coaches tweaked it a bit and, oh man, did it work."

Around the county, in the district 2-6A championship game at Mandarin High, Oakleaf lost in their second attempt in two years to supplant the Mustangs hold on the title with Mandarin winning 31-14.

At Orange Park, in a second key district 3-5A game, the Raiders nearly pulled off the upset of the year with a strong 31-28 loss to Beachside. The Raiders led for most of the race.

In two games in district 3-4A, Clay and Ridgeview had to endure two of the top teams in the state with St. Augustine and Columbia both winning decisively in both games: 66-6 for the Panthers and 21-0 for the Blue Devils. For Keystone Heights, a visit with former weightlifting state champion coach Lantz Lowery, now at Palatka, earned a 46-3 loss to keep the Indians winless in nine games.

At Fleming Island, Middleburg opened with a successful onsides kick recovered near midfield but could only muster a field goal as Fleming Island got stellar defense on Bronco running back Gino Addison to force a punt.

Middleburg, with starting quarterback Mason Bacus in street clothes with an injury, had Dalton Motes under center. Motes got a pass blocked by Eagle defensive tackle Landon Howard on his first pass but would find wide receiver Jordan Williams twice with passes; eight yards and 25 yards to the Eagle 24 where kicker Brock Araujo finished with a field goal and a 3-0 Bronco lead.

Fleming Island went with running back Cedrick McNeil for a series of runs to the Bronco 17 where quarterback Eric Gentry hit wide receiver Tristan Stevenson on a post and run play for a 7-3 Fleming Island lead.

That's when the fireworks started as Stevenson snagged an interception just before the second quarter with Howard chasing Motes, but Middleburg got a block field goal attempt by Dominic Swilley on Sirdevan that defender Ronell Seward ran 65 yards to an apparent score except for a late flag left on the field 70 yards away.

The flag would put the Broncos at the Fleming Island 40, but Araujo shanked a one-yard punt on fourth down to put Fleming Island at their own 35.
Both teams would attempt midrange passing strikes with near misses, drops and a penalty flag negating any more scores to halftime.

With Middleburg getting the third quarter kickoff, Fleming Island defensive coordinator Derek Chipoletti started sending his troops to chase Motes with linebacker Ty Street, Howard and freshman Kyree Beaman causing Motes to miss a wide open C.J. Williams behind the Fleming Island secondary.

Gentry and McNeil orchestrated a 12-play drive for Fleming Island that got stalled by Middleburg defensive end Darius Swilley catching Gentry with back-to-back sacks for downs of second and 20, then third and 18 to force a punt.

Sirdevan punted superbly to the Bronco one-yard line, but the Fleming Island cover grabbed the loose ball with a foot in the end zone to put Middleburg at the 20 instead of the one.

Fleming Island again stopped Motes and got the ball back near midfield with McNeil and wide receiver Oliver Piechota making plays to the Bronco 28 where Cruz blasted his first touchdown of the night for a 14-3 lead.

"That play with the offensive line right side shifting left, then the snap, is a play we couldn't get to work against Creekside in that loss, but we tweaked it a bit and it worked here," said Fleming Island offensive lineman Corbett Yarbrough. "Just a matter of execution on our part and Sebastian using his speed."

Williams took the ensuing kickoff from the goal line to the 50 but two flags put Middleburg at the 30 instead. Middleburg went Gino Addison Wildcat in the fourth to get a 14-10 game off a 10-yard run by the burly speedster with 9:15 left in the game.

Fleming Island responded with a pass to Noah Voltin to the Bronco 40 before Gentry lofted a pass over top to Sirdevan who caught the ball near the 35 and got to the five-yard line before Cruz blasted in for the score at 7:02 with Fleming Island up 21-10.