Which Gainesville area teams are going to states? Here are predictions for each regional final

Across the country, the NFL and college football always associate with Thanksgiving week.

But, in the Gainesville area, fans know the real drama occurs on Friday night.

From Williston to Bradford and everywhere in between, five local high school football teams will play for a trip to the state semifinals.

Given the Thanksgiving break, gone were the usual distractions of school and other activities. All that transpired on campuses this week was prepping for this.

Here are predictions each of the four games:

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Class 1R-Region 4: No. 2 Hawthorne (10-0) at No. 1 Williston (11-0)

Matchups like this, in this round, are pretty rare.

On paper, this game is befitting of what we’ll see two weeks from now at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee for the state final.

Instead, due to FHSAA playoff setup, we receive it in the regional final.

Not that we are complaining, since a showdown like this is a treat and blessing for high school football fans everywhere.

The defending 1R state champion Hornets have, for my money, looked like the best team in Florida this season. Cornelius Ingram’s bunch ransacked foes all season.

Its smallest margin of victory in 2023? 20 points.

The Red Devils are 1B to Hornets’ 1A. Robby Pruitt’s unit has tallied back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, but this season attained it with a much tougher schedule.

That schedule allowed WHS to finish ahead of Hawthorne in the final FHSAA rankings and get the game at home.

In many ways, Williston is a one-trick pony. It likes to run the ball. Problem for Hawthorne is the Red Devils do it dang well.

They average 316 rush yards per game without a dominant back. Four Williston players ran for at least 550 yards this season. Even in tougher battles, like a two-point win over Newberry, the Red Devils still ran it down the Panthers' throat.

The Hornets, though, are the team most likely to at least contain Williston. They witnessed Wing-T offenses earlier this season in South Sumter and Union County.

“We got to be disciplined, of course,” Ingram said. “Coach Pruitt runs that offense better than a lot of people.”

The difference to me is simply the talent level. Pruitt’s offensive scheme is top-notch. He’s befuddled defenses for 40 seasons now.

However, no team in 1R matches Hawthorne’s talent on both sides, from USF commit and WR Alvon Isaac, to Navy commit and LB Andrew Zock.

“When you talk about statement wins in your program, this will be one of them,” Ingram said. “This is what high school football is all about.”

Let’s just hope this game lives up to the billing. I think it will.

Prediction: Hawthorne 28, Williston 24

Class 4S-Region 1: No. 3 Bartram Trail (8-4) at No. 1 Buchholz (12-0)

For the fourth time in 13 months, the Bears and Bobcats will tussle, and for the second time this season, under the lights of Citizens Field.

When these two met five weeks ago in Gainesville, the game could best be described as chippy. These two have become each other’s biggest rival.

The key for the Buchholz will be to start fast once again. In BHS’ 44-7 demolition earlier this season, the ‘Cats scored on their first play of the game, when QB Trace Johnson found wide-open RB Quinton Cutler for an 85-yard score.

From there, the rout commenced as Buchholz put a running clock on, the only time that happened to BT this season.

However, coach Chuck Bell knows Buchholz got lucky in one aspect. BT tailback and Navy commit, Laython Biddle, whose 2,073 yards rank second in Florida, was held to a season-low 22 yards.

Now, the Bobcats deserve a ton of credit for taking the early lead – which forced BT to throw more – but Bell said he’s certain that if Biddle got near his average of 24 carries per game, he would have broken one.

The Bears hope to accomplish did against them last season, avenge a regular season defeat in the regional final.

But as we’d discussed ad nauseum, this Buchholz team has state championship on its mind, and it’s built for it.

Prediction: Buchholz 37, Bartram Trail 27

Class 2S-Region 2: No. 3 Baker County (8-3) at No. 1 Bradford (12-0)

For the second straight year, the Wildcats will attempt to stop the Tornadoes from spinning into the state semifinals.

Like with Buchholz-Bartram Trail, this is a regular season rematch. Back in Week 1, Bradford won 12-0.

Credit to BC for reaching this point after a 1-3 start. Its best wins were two over Yulee, including last week. But the Tornadoes are in a different league than Yulee. Bradford’s offense, with the emergence of Dae’Jon Shanks and Chalil Cummings, improved throughout the season.

And its acclaimed defense? Still as dominant as ever, as it’s allowed just one TD since Oct. 13.

Sounds to me like a winning formula for the playoffs.

Prediction: Bradford 21, Baker County 7

Class 1R-Region 3: No. 3 Union County (8-3) at No. 1 Madison County (8-1)

Another playoff rematch on the docket? Yessir.

The Fightin’ Tigers earned their first-ever win over the six-time state champion Cowboys in the regional semifinals last season.

This year’s Madco squad has rolled through an arduous schedule with one loss to fellow regional finalist Florida High.

The step up in competition won’t be tough for UCH, whose three losses came to squads with a combined two losses. Coach Andrew Thomas said that, especially, an October visit to Hawthorne prepared Union County well.

Unfortunately for the Fightin’ Tigers, Madison County operates at another level, like their brethren in Region 4.

The Cowboys want to challenge Williston or Hawthorne in Tallahassee, and I don’t think UCH can slow that offensive freight train which averages 29 points per game.

Prediction: Madison County 35, Union County 20

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville area FHSAA high school football playoffs reaches regional finals