First Coast Varsity Weekly: St. Augustine football makes statement in kickoff classic

Three long touchdowns, all in barely enough time for a water break.

The stinging frenzy is on for St. Augustine's Yellow Jackets.

No, last Friday's football kickoff classics didn't count. But St. Augustine's feats, along with several other performances in the preseason exhibitions across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida grabbed early attention and just might be a sign of things to come when the regular season kicks off Friday.

Within the opening 3:59 of the 47-0 preseason victory over Spruce Creek, Jackets quarterback Locklan Hewlett had connected on three long-distance scores: an 80-yarder to Trenton Jones on the opening snap, a 55-yard touchdown to Carl Jenkins and another strike to Jones for 72 yards.

Under the lights: In-depth guide to Northeast Florida high school football for 2023 season

That's an early warning to St. Augustine's Class 3S foes this year. A few more of the Week Zero standouts:

• Trinity Christian's Super 11 quarterback Colin Hurley came out super-sharp in the Conquerors' 48-6 win over Parker, connecting on 10 of 12 passes for 199 yards and throwing touchdown passes to Kyle Boylston, Miles Burris and London Smith.

• White's Joshua Patterson is already ranked among the area's most explosive juniors, and he starred in the Commanders' 33-15 win over Jackson with long punt and fumble returns.

• Fleming Island safety Sebastian Cruz halted a drive with an interception in the end zone and returned a punt more than 60 yards in the Golden Eagles' 35-6 win over Westside.

• Also dangerous in the secondary: Raines. An athletic pick from Jayden Taylor was among several highlights for the Vikings, who stifled Tallahassee Godby in a 13-6 win.

Champions' clash leads off volleyball season

The first week of volleyball means a smooth and relaxed tune-up for the coming season, right? Not this year.

High-profile matchups highlight the opening days across Northeast Florida, including a Wednesday night meeting of the area's two most successful programs of the past decade.

Ponte Vedra, winner of Florida High School Athletic Association championships in 2017, 2019 and 2020, travels at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to Bishop Kenny, which lifted state trophies in 1999, 2014 and 2020. College-bound seniors Chelsea Sutton of Ponte Vedra and Claudia Stockard of Bishop Kenny, headed for Tennessee and UAB respectively, are among the attackers facing off.

For Ponte Vedra, it's the first of two major matches in back-to-back nights, with regional finalist Trinity Christian next up on Thursday. Other noted matches on Thursday include Bartram Trail at Fletcher, Bolles at Creekside and Episcopal at Beachside.

Many schools already got a taste of competition with Saturday's preseason tournament, also held at Bishop Kenny.

Harris, Myers earn national call

Two of the area's baseball stars are getting a chance to represent the United States on the diamond.

Trinity Christian's rising sophomore outfielder Brady Harris earned a spot on USA Baseball's 15U national team roster, following the team's camp at the start of the month in Cary, N.C. Harris, who batted .337 with five homers and a 1.037 OPS this spring at Trinity, is among three Floridians on the 20-player roster.

The 15U team will travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for competition against the host country and Puerto Rico from Sept. 13-18.

Senior infielder Kolt Myers, who played at Bartram Trail last year, is scheduled to compete through Friday at USA Baseball's 18U national team camp in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. The organization plans to name its final 20-player roster on Friday ahead of the World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan from Sept. 1-10.

Cecil Field meet opens cross country

For Jacksonville's cross country stars, the finish line is the state championship course in Tallahassee in November. For most of them, the season's start line begins at Cecil Field on Friday night.

In addition to high school football season, Friday night also marks the start of major meets on the cross country calendar with the Cecil Field Summer Classic at New World Disc Golf.

Around 70 schools, some from outside the state, are expected to race in an event that has rapidly grown in the past five years from a preseason tune-up into a season-opening highlight on the 5K course.

"This thing has just grown exponentially, and it's turned into a huge deal," race director Richard Fannin said.

Among the schools scheduled to race are Bishop Kenny, Bolles, Creekside, Episcopal, Fleming Island and Mandarin. Patrick Koon of Tallahassee Leon (15:22) and Elli Black of Cambridge Christian (17:46) topped the standings last season.

Fall hoops tournaments line up field

Northeast Florida's high school basketball tournament schedule is taking shape.

Teams from nine states and two Canadian provinces are scheduled to compete at the Insider Exposure Thanksgiving Classic for girls basketball on Nov. 20-22 across multiple gym locations.

The list includes 19 Jacksonville-area teams: Bartram Trail, Beachside, Bishop Kenny, Bishop Snyder, Bolles, Camden County, Columbia, Glynn Academy, Jackson, Mandarin, Menendez, Nease, North Florida Educational, Oakleaf, Paxon, Ponte Vedra, Ribault, San Jose Prep and Sandalwood.

Nine Northeast Florida teams are scheduled to compete in the inaugural Sun Bash Jax boys basketball tournament, scheduled for Dec. 1-2 at Jacksonville University's Swisher Gym. Bishop Snyder, Episcopal, Impact Christian, North Florida Educational, Paxon, Ponte Vedra, Potter's House, Providence and University Christian are all set for the 14-team field. Also in action are Mater Lakes Academy, Weston Sagemont and the Georgia trio of Savannah Johnson, Thomas County and Wilson Academy.

Later in December, Fleming Island has scheduled its traditional Battle on the Island for boys and girls from Dec. 21-23. Boys teams scheduled include Bolles, Columbia, Creekside, Jackson, Mandarin, Orange Park, Ribault and Wolfson, in addition to schools from as far as Louisiana and Tennessee.

FHSAA swim finals head for Ocala

The Florida High School Athletic Association swimming championships are moving to the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training Center in Ocala from 2023 to 2025, after 10 consecutive years at the Sailfish Splash Waterpark in Stuart.

This year's meet will take place over four days: Nov. 3-4 (Classes 1A and 2A) and Nov. 10-11 (Classes 3A and 4A).

The new 82,000-square-foot venue, completed in 2022, includes an indoor pool that will hold all FHSAA championship races, a pool deck for up to 800 people and seating for up to 2,000 spectators.

Football is now the only remaining fall sport for which the FHSAA has yet to announce a 2023 host. Other fall sport finals are scheduled for Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando (bowling), Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee (cross country), Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills (golf) and Polk State College in Winter Haven (volleyball).

Around the area

Creekside pitcher Kaylee Martineau committed to Daytona State College softball. … Former Creekside infielder Kendall Catherwood, now at St. Johns River State College, committed to Florida International softball. … Beachside senior pitcher/outfielder Ryan Whitaker announced his commitment to St. Johns River State College baseball. … Bolles outside hitter Bella Bergeron committed to Denison volleyball. … Middleburg senior outside hitter Connor Rahn is now committed to Tampa volleyball, after de-commitment from San Francisco. ... Trinity Christian libero Taylor Teaman committed to West Florida volleyball. … Orange Park senior Eris Lester, ranked in the ESPNW 100 for women's basketball recruits, announced her transfer to Montverde Academy. … Creekside sprinter Christian Miller selected six finalist colleges: Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee. Miller, who won the 100 and 200 at July's USA Track and Field U20 championships, is the nation's top-ranked rising senior track recruit … 247Sports named South Carolina linebacker and Jackson graduate Grayson Howard to its preseason true freshman All-American football team. … South Alabama's Carter Bradley (Providence), Western Kentucky's Austin Reed (St. Augustine) and Nebraska's Jeff Sims (Sandalwood) were named to the watch list for the Davey O'Brien Award. … Middleburg hired Joy Rosano, formerly at Fleming Island, as head girls soccer coach. … Camden County head football coach Jeff Herron earned his 300th win in Georgia High School Association play and his 325th overall in Friday's 23-12 win over Decatur Columbia. … St. Johns Country Day announced Hunter Hill as head coach for its new high school wrestling program. … University Christian named Calvin Orth head baseball coach and Aaron Mason head cross country coach. … Issam Asinga, named the Gatorade boys track and field athlete of the year last season at Montverde Academy after running a record 19.87 in the 200-meter dash, was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for "presence or use" of the prohibited substance GW1516. The United States Anti-Doping Agency classifies GW1516 as a substance that alters the body's metabolism of fats. … The independent Sunshine State Athletic Conference is changing its name this year to the Sunshine State Athletic Association. ... Trinity Christian plans to dedicate its weight room in honor of longtime assistant coach Willie Green during halftime of its Sept. 8 football game against North Florida Educational Institute.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Augustine, Trinity Christian lead preseason football classics