MIDDLEBURG - A 21-point third quarter, off a handful of ill-timed interceptions, negated a strong Middleburg High football effort in a rain-soaked district 3-5A contest with Ponte Vedra as the Sharks punched up a 41-14 win that ended an undefeated season start by the Broncos.

"We were in the game with them; 13-7 at the half, then had a bad four-minute stretch in the third quarter," said Middleburg coach Ryan Wolfe. "An old football adage is that three plays in a game of this magnitude will usually decide the outcome. Well, they got the three plays."

In two district 3-4A contests, state ranked St. Augustine and Columbia visited Clay and Ridgeview and delivered wins of 49-7 over Clay and 44-0 over Ridgeview to keep both in the playoff hunt. St. Augustine achieved the district title with their 41-21 win over Columbia on Sept. 26. Clay will travel to Columbia on Friday while Ridgeview heads to Impact Christian Academy (4-3), a 25-14 winner of Paxon last week.

Impact is ranked 27th in Class 1A and features a balance attack of 150 yards on both rushing and passing. Keystone Heights remained winless, 0-7, with a 35-6 loss to Santa Fe. The Indians will travel to Chiefland (7-1) on Friday.

Chiefland defeated Taylor County 30-15 on Friday. Chiefland lost in the first round of the Rural region playoffs last year to Final Four finisher Williston. For the Broncos, who were well aware of the high-octane passing attack of the Sharks under quarterback Cole Rosendahl, a string of somewhat questionable pass interference flags kept the chains moving for Ponte Vedra despite great defense by Broncos defenders Darrick Marshall and Floyd Reed as well as lineback Mason Peevy.

Middleburg's season gets another dose of high-octane offense with district leader Beachside visiting Middleburg on Friday.

"We played them close and it is a judgment call when the ball is thrown," said Wolfe, now 6-1 with district leader Beachside next up for the Broncos. "We want our defenders to be aggressive. We were right there, but things didn't go our way."

Broncos defensive back Darrick Marshall was near stellar in the secondary for the Broncos and defensive coaches Jay Stilianou and Benjamin Straywick with two outstanding pass breakups; one an end zone knockdown, the other a sideline strip that prevented the Sharks' scoring attempts.

In the first quarter, Marshall's knockdown on an end zone pass to Sharks wide out Angelo Kekelik forced a field goal for Ponte Vedra. Ponte Vedra got a four-down stop on Middleburg's ensuing drive and forced a goal line punt from Broncos kicker Brock Araujo that set up a 20-yard scoring run from Sharks running back Alex Winkles to put Ponte Vedra up 10-0.

Middleburg answered quickly on their next drive with quarterback Mason Bacus whipping a swing pass to wide out Jordan Williams on a short slant pattern from the Broncos' 45. Williams dipped, cut and surged away from four Ponte Vedra chasers to score on the pass and put the score at 10-7 as the first quarter was to end. As the second quarter started, Peevy picked up a Ponte Vedra fumble off a hit by Blake Mullanax at the Broncos' 25 and got to near midfield to put Middleburg in scoring position.

"We answered and that gave us a boost," Wolfe said. "We're close to the caliber we want to be at."

Bacus nearly found wide out Deshun Green open on a post pattern but overthrew the ball. A screen pass got Bacus rocked and left a floating football in the middle of the Sharks' defense momentarily, but the floater hit the ground forcing a punt.
In the second quarter, a second outstanding pass defense by Marshall upended a long pass down the Middleburg sideline near the Broncos' 25-yard line.

Running back Gino Addison started blasting the interior of the Sharks' defense and got a facemask flag to put Middleburg at the Sharks' 45 before grabbing a pass in the flat from Bacus to the 35-yard line as Middleburg looked to chip away at the Sharks' defense.

A holding flag moved the Broncos back 10 yards to the 43-yard line where Braydon Ventura powered to the 40, but Ponte Vedra sacked Bacus for a loss for a punt near midfield. An ankle tackle by Lorelle Pitt on a breakaway from Winkles prevented a potential long run with defensive tackle Gabe Baker stuffing the next play. The trio of Dominic Swilley, Peevy and Baker kept the Sharks run game intact for most of the first half.

After a Ponte Vedra field goal to 13-7, Sharks linebacker Fionn Day intercepted Bacus for the first of two picks in the game to end the half. In the third, Ponte Vedra struck first with a 30-yard scoring pass to 20-7. Addison, on Middleburg's next drive, powered past the Sharks defensive line for a 28-yard run to midfield.

With Travis Pinkard in to take some running back reps, Middleburg looked to use the run game to eat the clock and pound the Sharks' interior defense with Addison pumping for two yards on third and one inside the Sharks' 40.
Bacus missed Green on a post pattern before overthrowing Williams on the sideline to force an Araujo punt. Araujo's punt stuck Ponte Vedra at their own four-yard line as Middleburg sought a chance to flip the field.

A long pass by Rosenblum got snared by Lorelle Pitt to put the Broncos offense at the Sharks' 42. Bacus tossed a swing pass to Addison that got deflected into the hands of Ponte Vedra defender Cooper Sobiecki who got tackled at the one-yard line after a 50-yard runback.

Ponte Vedra scored on a plunge from JP Dolan to 27-7 at 2:07 in the third.
Ponte Vedra would score one more just before the end of the third to 34-7.
Ventura would power in Middleburg's last touchdown with 9:51 left in the game to 34-14.