ORANGE PARK - We are ready! Football has arrived in Clay County and the Friday and Saturday (Nease at Oakleaf) preseason games will give area fans a quick glimpse into the readiness of the county …
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ORANGE PARK - We are ready!
Football has arrived in Clay County and the Friday and Saturday (Nease at Oakleaf) preseason games will give area fans a quick glimpse into the readiness of the county boys.
Oakleaf with a rugged Saturday scrimmage against state power Trinity Christian Academy as a warmup flexed some muscle there and took some big hits with a quality outing, comes home for a Saturday night bonanza for Knights fans as Nease visits to be the only game in town for the weekend. Fans must decide on Oakleaf vs. Nease or Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tampa Bay on the Saturday date night.
The top matchup on the list has to be Orange Park hosting the Mandarin Mustangs, last year's state runner-up and the Class 8A champion in 2018.
Orange Park, on the converse of Mandarin, has a third-year coach, Marcus Wimberly, bound and determined to convince Raider players that the yesterday Raiders aura can be reignited in Hoyt B. Cotney Stadium.
Mandarin, knocked a win over Bartram Trail in regular season play, ran four wins in playoffs then finished with a state runner-up finish to Miami Columbus in a shootout, 38-19.
The Mustangs lose a stable of two thoroughbreds in the backfield, but a hot quarterback and a hot wide receiver.
Foy comes back with a new quarterback, a solid running back, and one of the best receiver corps around plus a whole bunch of very big and agile linemen on both sides of the ball.
Wimberly can answer with a seasoned quarterback, junior Gabe Taylor, two strong wide receivers; Ryder Fulmer and track-fast Daniel Richardson, and two mammoth linemen in Andrew Austin and Jeremiah Hamilton.
Will that be enough against a team with a graduated quarterback playing on national champion Georgia? Hoyt B. Cotney is a fabled place to host a home football game.
In one of the inter-county preseason games that may be an interesting one, rookie coach Merlin Smith drives his new Ridgeview Panther team down to Keystone Heights to take on Steve Reynolds bulked up and cowboy rough Indians with a cool quarterback, junior Baylor Ford; a rough backfield, Zane Leger and Colton Hollingsworth; a wispy wide receiver in Jackson Parmeter and a line of 300-plus pounds across the front led by center Bryce Daniels.
Smith has a field-tough quarterback in Jack Buchholz, a downhill runner in Christian Felder and a three-year linebacker Gavin Huey to answer.
Could be the best game of the night.
Clay will host usual district nemesis Menendez for their game with coach Kyle Kennard coyly smiling about his team led by two-way horse Javaris Roberts and the twin monsters of Dominic and Demetrius Swilley on defense plus Eli Oscoa, at the center, assuring Blue Devils' fans that the storied Blue Devil offensive line and its history of bludgeoning will return in 2024.
Now, Menendez upset Clay last year and I'm sure Kennard reminded them of that.
For Fleming Island, a coaching upheaval has left the Golden Eagles with a familiar name up top, Derek Chipoletti, but will that be enough to quell the tumultuous waters? Westside, 0-10 last year, could come in with athletes and make the game fast.
The tell will be Fleming Island being a bit peeved from last week and Westside taking the hit.
Middleburg lost most of their opening four or five regular season Final Four teams to open their schedule, but Baldwin comes in as a legit district title probable in their ranks. Bronco quarterback Carson Stewart can get things started with a decisive first half of action with the weapons around him; Jordan Avellino and Williams; Jaden Boyd, Wein Sulph and deep threat Deshun Green. Light up the game and roll into six wins to start the season.