25-TD rushers Devonte Lyons, Tiant Wyche key to Mandarin, St. Augustine football finals
Northeast Florida's 25-touchdown rushing club is getting crowded.
St. Augustine senior Devonte Lyons and Mandarin senior Tiant Wyche both hit the 25-TD mark in state semifinal victories last Friday, and both could further add to their totals at the FHSAA championships at Tallahassee's Bragg Memorial Stadium.
They're the not-so-hidden ground engines for two offenses renowned statewide for their future ACC quarterbacks (Wake Forest commit Locklan Hewlett for St. Augustine, Florida State commit Tramell Jones for Mandarin) and an array of downfield receiving targets.
The message to Florida: As the passing stars receive their well-earned accolades, nobody should forget these running backs.
Lyons, on fire in the postseason with 12 touchdowns in four playoff games, added three more scores in the Yellow Jackets' 35-14 Class 3S semifinal over Fort Myers Dunbar to boost his season total to 27. He needs only 24 yards in Thursday's title game against Daytona Beach Mainland to reach 1,500 for the year.
For Mandarin, Wyche hit 25 with his three-score night against Coconut Creek Monarch, climbing above 1,700 yards on the season. His backfield teammate, Deshard Wescott, also surmounted the 1,000-yard mark in the same game.
Northeast Florida can now claim three 25-touchdown running backs this year. Bartram Trail's state rushing leader Laython Biddle had already tallied 26 before the Bears' regional final loss to Gainesville Buchholz, his second consecutive season above 25.
The last time three area rushers surpassed 25 touchdowns was 2018, when Oakleaf's Keshawn King ran for 30, Trinity Christian's Marcus Crowley scored 28 and Menendez's Tye Edwards recorded 26.
Public school trio in rare territory
Mandarin and St. Augustine are both headed to Bragg Memorial Stadium, and so is Bradford: Three Northeast Florida public schools in the FHSAA football finals. That's rare.
The success for the Tornadoes, Mustangs and Yellow Jackets marks only the third time in First Coast history that three public schools earned the right to play for football championships.
This most recently occurred in 2017, when Raines edged Class 4A opponent Cocoa 13-10 at Orlando's Camping World Stadium for the second championship in Vikings history. Bartram Trail lost 37-24 to Venice in Class 7A, and Baker County lost 44-15 to Plantation American Heritage in Class 5A.
Before that, the only other triple trip for public schools occurred in 1967, when the FHSAA contained only three classes for football. Columbia beat Auburndale 27-7 in Class A and Clay shut out Graceville 33-0 in Class B; Wolfson lost 21-7 in Class AA to the 1960s Coral Gables juggernaut.
Holden shines in Bartram-Creekside battle
Bartram Trail goalkeeper Lily Holden started Wednesday afternoon with a college commitment and ended it with a shutout against the Bears' main rivals.
"It's been a crazy day, all around," she said.
The junior was the star of the show as Bartram Trail and Creekside, the Longleaf Pine Parkway rivals who have combined for the last four Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A girls soccer championships, renewed their rivalry with a 0-0 draw.
A newly-committed future Florida Gator, Holden made four first-half saves, including an acrobatic dive on a Lily Paisant shot headed for the top corner and a rapid reaction dive on a low drive from Creekside's Jaclyn Bessman. On the one shot she didn't save, the frame of the goal came to the Bears' rescue when Paisant's third-minute free kick clanked off the crossbar.
"I just had to be calm and know that my team's got me, that everything will work out," Holden said.
Intense contests are the norm for reigning national champion Bartram Trail, Class 7A champions in 2020, 2021 and 2023, and for Creekside, who won it all in 2022. Each team is the most recent local opponent to beat the other — Bartram Trail topped Creekside in last year's regionals, after the Knights had derailed Bartram hopes in February 2022.
Bartram Trail next turns its attention to the annual Montverde Women's Invitational Showcase Tournament in Lake County, which pits the Bears against Lakeland Christian on Friday and host school Montverde on Saturday. St. Johns Country Day is also competing at the WIST, facing Doral Academy and Plantation American Heritage.
Wednesday's Bartram Trail-Creekside battle may not be the last. They've also met in district and regional tournaments the last two years and could do so again, although other rivals — notably an Atlantic Coast squad that's 6-0-1 entering Tuesday's matchup with St. Johns Country Day — might stake their own claims.
"It's definitely really big, especially keeping them at zero," Holden said. "It's definitely good. We'll get our attack working by districts."
State awards for Middleburg pair
Add two more awards for Middleburg volleyball.
Senior outside hitter Connor Rahn received the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 5A player of the year award and first-year Broncos head coach Meredith Forkum was also named best in Class 5A after Middleburg won its first-ever championship last month.
Both now enter the balloting for statewide honors, to be announced later this week.
Rahn finished with 124 points to lead Class 5A voting, ahead of Aisha Keric of Barron Collier and Ashlyn Koerner of Tallahassee Lincoln. She collected 425 kills and 304 digs in the Broncos' historic run.
Bishop Kenny's Suzanne Winkler finished third in coach of the year voting for Class 4A, with Trinity Christian's Emma Roberson third in Class 3A.
Bolles' Espernberger second at U.S. Open
Former Bolles swimmer Martin Espernberger finished second in the men's 200-meter butterfly in 54.69, among the local leaders at the four-day USA Swimming U.S. Open Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
Espernberger, a University of Tennessee sophomore who represents Austria's national team, also placed second in the C final (53.28) for the 100 fly. The annual meet also included local Olympians Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Murphy and Santo Condorelli, with Clay graduate Dressel winning a major event, the 100 fly, for the first time since his return to competitive swimming.
Multiple local swimmers travel this week to the Winter Junior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.
Some notable U.S. Open performances from swimmers with Jacksonville ties:
Sara Stotler (Clay) took a fifth-place finish in the B final in the women's 200 fly (2:14.48).
Carter Lancaster (Bolles) placed second (2:02.04) in the C final of the men's 200 individual medley.
Macguire McDuff (Bartram Trail) placed fourth in the C final in the men's 50 freestyle (22.51) and second in the C final in the 100 free
Andres Dupont Cabrera (Bolles) placed third in the C final of the men's 100 free (49.03).
Jacob Pishko (Bolles) placed fourth in the C final of the men's 200 fly (2:00.93).
Raymond Prosinski (Bartram Trail) finished sixth in the C final (4:25.97) in the men's 400 IM.
Summer Stanfield (Bartram Trail) finished seventh in the C final (5:02.65) in the women's 400 IM.
Paxon stays perfect at Sun Bash
Paxon basketball. Points for opponents. They don't mix.
The Golden Eagles showed off their defensive tenacity once more during the inaugural Sun Bash Jacksonville tournament for boys basketball, a 10-game showcase inside Jacksonville University's Swisher Gym.
Paxon tipped off Saturday's action by winning a defensive struggle against University Christian, 35-29, highlighted by the lock-down defense, patient ball-handling and ankle-breaking quickness of senior guard Dameon Jones.
At 5-0, the Golden Eagles have limited opponents to 188 total points, an average of 37.6 per game, even while playing the Sun Bash without sidelined senior forward Brysan Yearby.
More standout performances from Sun Bash:
Paxon wasn't Jacksonville's only 5-0 team at Sun Bash. Episcopal leaned on its senior combination of forward Grady Schwartz (20 points) and future JU guard Kent Jackson (16 points) to hold off the Atomsmashers of Savannah Johnson, 52-46.
North Florida Educational Institute bounced back from a one-point loss to Wilson by defeating Bell Creek Academy 50-45. Junior guard Maxi Antunez led with 12 points.
Caleb McAbee scored 18 points to lead Providence to a fourth-quarter comeback victory against Mater Lakes Academy, 56-45.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Devonte Lyons, Tiant Wyche: High school football 25-touchdown rushers
