Creekside holds off Ponte Vedra in football season finale: Will it be enough for playoffs?

ST. JOHNS — Led by a late-game resurgent defense and speedy wide receiver Kaleb Taylor-Burch’s long grab and sprint touchdown, Creekside took the first step to a possible postseason berth on the field Friday night with a 26-21 victory over Ponte Vedra. The win was Creekside’s fifth consecutive over Ponte Vedra, including playoff-defying losses for the Sharks each of the previous two seasons.

Now comes the hard part, as both teams tune into Sunday morning’s Florida High School Athletic Association YouTube playoff bracket release show with little control over their fate. It’s akin to a college basketball team on Selection Sunday watching its Big Dance yea or nay as at-large hopefuls.

“I’m gonna have my computer sitting right there — and I will have been at church,” Creekside coach Sean McIntyre said. “And that’s all I can do.’’

Ponte Vedra (7-3) had won seven in a row before falling at Nease last week and Creekside this week. Creekside (6-4) captured its third straight game to complete the regular season.

The final eight minutes of the game made the difference. Down 21-20 from its 42-yard line and bottled up by Ponte Vedra’s defense, quarterback Sean Ashenfelder called a pass play with Taylor-Burch, a 5-foot-9 junior, split right. Taylor-Burch hauled in the slant pass just inside Sharks territory, broke past the safety and sprinted to the go-ahead 58-yard TD and final score of the night.

But things were far from over. Ponte Vedra moved inside the Creekside 30 before quarterback Ben Burk was sacked twice, turning the ball over with four minutes to play. Ponte Vedra forced a punt and took over at its own 44 with 2:50 left. The Sharks moved to the Creekside 14 with just over a minute left. Three Burk passes fell incomplete and then a short pass to Ryan Smith in the left flat failed to reach the first down when the wide receiver was leveled by Creekside senior linebacker and captain Brody McGough.

“We’ve earned a spot in the playoffs,” McGough said. “We have one of the hardest schedules in Northeast Florida and we got it tonight. Hard-fought win and our defense has really stepped up.”

Playoff picture for Creekside, Ponte Vedra

Ponte Vedra probably won’t be sweating as profusely come Sunday at 10 a.m., since the Sharks were ranked second in Region 1 of Class 4S this week. With Nease’s victory over Tocoi Creek on Friday, the Panthers won the District 3-4S title, settling Ponte Vedra into an at-large position. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

Creekside has a lot more calculating and finger-crossing to do for the final verdict. Ranked seventh, the Knights must leapfrog No. 6-ranked Pensacola Pace in the final FHSAA Region 1-4S Power Rankings to make the postseason since No. 8-ranked Nease won District 4 and No. 9 ranked Mosley won District 2 to secure automatic berths.

Pace pulled a scheduling coup last week when it replaced one-win independent Hollis Christian Academy from Jacksonville with six-win, Class 1R Lafayette for its regular-season finale. Pace beat Lafayette 35-7 in hopes of gaining Strength of Schedule points at the last minute in the FHSAA’s complicated ranking system. Creekside narrowed the gap behind Pace in the overall Rating from a 8.23-7.018 deficit last week to 8.897-8.551 this week.

Creekside’s four losses have come to playoff teams with a combined 29-11 record after Friday’s games (10-0 Buchholz, 8-2 Palm Beach Central, 5-5 Richmond Hill, Ga., and 6-4 Bartram Trail). The Knights have the fourth-most difficult schedule in 4S and hold a large Strength of Schedule ranking advantage over Pace (Creekside 7.83 to Pace’s 1.55).

Ponte Vedra is likely in with its previous ranking but looking to land in the top four for a home game. Higher seeds host first-round games unless an at-large team is playing a lower-seeded district champion in the first round. Ponte Vedra’s losses have come to St. Johns County foes Bartram Trail in the season opener and the last two weeks against Nease and Creekside.

McIntyre said he will watch with his staff and then alert the rest of his team about the result when pairings are announced.

The Region 1-4S standings (as of Nov. 3)

(including Thursday, Friday results)

Rank, Team, Pts, Strength, Record

1, Buchholz, 18.136, 5.15, 10-0 (D3 champ), beat Trinity Catholic 42-20

2, Ponte Vedra, 12.476, 5.53, 7-3, lost 26-21 at Creekside

3, Niceville, 12.233, 5.26, 8-2, beat Navarre 63-34

4, Bartram, 11.596, 11.22, 6-4, won 24-14 at Mandarin

5, Navarre, 10.258, 3.06, 7-3 (D1 champ), lost 63-34 at Niceville

6, Pace, 8.897, 1.55, 8-2, beat Lafayette 35-7

7, Creekside, 8.551, 7.83, 6-4, beat Ponte Vedra 26-21

8, Nease, 7.485, 3.32, 7-3 (D4 champ), beat Tocoi Creek 47-27

9, Mosley, 7.151, 2.94, 6-4 (D2 champ), lost 35-0 to Choctawhatchee Thursday

10, Chiles, 6.563, 5.63, 6-4, won 44-15 at Sunlake

Note: Top 8, including district champions, qualify.

Bartram has the second-most difficult schedule in the state (first last week) and toughest in 4S. Creekside has the fourth-most difficult schedule in 4S.

Knights’ running back rotation

Creekside has been beset by running back injuries this season. Senior star Nicky Williams, who rushed for a school-record 1,416 yards last season, injured a knee the second week of the season and hasn’t played since.

In stepped junior transfer Harrison Garrido, who had totaled 1,106 rushing yards this season. However, Garrido suffered a concussion last week in a win at Atlantic Coast and was out Friday against Ponte Vedra (but could return for a playoff game).

In stepped junior Danny Approbato, normally a starting cornerback. Approbato rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown against the Sharks and spent some time at corner when needed.

Babin and sons

Former Jaguars defensive end and 13-year NFL veteran Jason Babin coaches defensive ends at Ponte Vedra. His two sons, senior outside linebacker Maddux and sophomore middle linebacker Talan, are among the Sharks’ top tacklers this season. Maddux recorded one of two interceptions against Creekside’s Sean Ashenfelder on Friday.

Babin played for nine teams in the NFL: (in order) Texans, Seahawks, Chiefs, Eagles, Titans, Jags, Jets, Ravens and Cardinals before retiring in 2016. He played for the Jaguars in 2012 and 2013.

The series since 2008

Ponte Vedra holds a 9-7 advantage over Creekside in the St. Johns County series that began when both schools opened in 2008. However, Creekside has won five consecutive games, the last three with playoff implications. Creekside knocked Ponte Vedra out of playoff consideration with a last-minute TD and a 23-19 victory in 2021 and won 47-22 at Ponte Vedra last season.

The most impactful game occurred in 2011 when the two schools faced off in the Class 5A regional playoff semifinals, with Ponte Vedra winning 21-7 the week after both teams won their programs’ first playoff games – Creekside at previously unbeaten Bishop Kenny and Ponte Vedra at Clay.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ponte Vedra Sharks-Creekside Knights: High school football takeaways