High school football Week 4 roundup: Ponte Vedra, White, Paxon, Baker County among winners

The 2023 high school football season continued Friday with Week 4 across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. Key games on the schedule included Fleming Island's trip to Oakleaf, a District 3-4S battle of unbeaten teams for the top spot in Clay County; Nease's game against Fletcher, a traditional matchup of schools from the Duval and St. Johns sides of the Beaches; the Brain Bowl between academic magnet school rivals Paxon and Stanton; and Middleburg's trip to Ponte Vedra, a game between two teams that have played especially difficult schedules in the opening month.

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PONTE VEDRA 35, MIDDLEBURG 0

Ben Burk passed for five touchdowns and 186 yards to lead the Sharks in a rout of Middleburg (0-3). … Ryan Smith, Cole Madson, Griffin Owen and Landon Okla caught scoring plays as Ponte Vedra (2-1) won its second consecutive game. ... Brian Case also rushed for 107 yards, and Joe Mahoney recovered a Bronco fumble.

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OAKLEAF 24, FLEMING ISLAND 14

Brandon Wallace ran for a touchdown and threw a scoring pass to freshman receiver Mike Conner. ... Christopher Foy II rushed for a score as his father picked up his first district win as coach of Oakleaf (2-0, 1-0) in the Clay County clash with Fleming Island (2-1, 0-1). … The Knights join Buchholz atop District 3-4S.

DAYTONA BEACH MAINLAND 26, RAINES 0

Class 3S No. 1 Mainland's defense reigned all night, and after a scoreless first quarter, its offense provided some support to down the Vikings (2-1). … The Bucs (4-0) pitched their second shutout of the season, forcing seven punts, three turnovers on downs, picked off a pass and kept Raines QB Ty'ren Randolph under near-constant pressure. … Bucs QB D.J. Murray reversed field all the way to the other boundary and outraced everyone for a 22-yard, something-out-of-nothing score, and Rodney Hill ran for two scores.

BRADFORD 34, GAINESVILLE EASTSIDE 7

Torin Brazell's pair of pick-sixes highlighted another banner night for the Bradford defense, beating visiting Gainesville Eastside (2-2). … Chalil Cummings also caught a TD pass from Dae'Jon Shanks. ... Bradford (4-0) has allowed only two offensive touchdowns all season.

GAINESVILLE BUCHHOLZ 49, CREEKSIDE 20

Buchholz's Myles Graham showed that when a five-star roams the Buchholz backfield, field position doesn’t matter, taking a handoff and pounding it 97 yards to the end zone to open District 3-4S against the Knights (1-3, 0-1). … Trace Johnson finished with over 200 yards passing, Graham topped 200 rushing and receiver Justin Williams went over 170 receiving as the Bobcats (4-0, 1-0) scored seven touchdowns of 25 yards or longer. … Special teams brought Creekside back to within a score, including back-to-back punt blocks.

BISHOP MOORE 31, BISHOP KENNY 21

Bishop Kenny (2-1) saw its winning start end at Bishop Moore (1-3). ... Bjorn Jurgensen's late TD run put the game away for the Hornets, who also eliminated BK from last year's Class 2M playoffs.

WHITE 30, PARKER 16

Tony Williams intercepted two passes and also scored on offense as the Commanders earned their latest Gateway Conference win against visiting Parker (0-4). … Darien Hookfin rushed for two scores and Nick Roberson added another for White (3-1).

RIVERSIDE 34, FIRST COAST 28

Shermon Davis rushed for a 60-yard touchdown and Kennvontae Sharrow ran for 122 yards and two scores to help Riverside (3-1) past First Coast (0-3) … Adron Walker, Michael Thomas and Thomas Jackson found the end zone for the host Bucs. ... The Generals' pass rush recorded six sacks, two for Chavez Williams.

FLETCHER 27, NEASE 21

Fletcher pulled away after halftime and held on late to defeat traditional Beaches foe Nease (2-2) at Jack Taylor Stadium. … The Senators (2-2) won their second consecutive game.

BAKER COUNTY 12, BALDWIN 7

Benny Lewis rushed for the go-ahead touchdown from 12 yards inside the final minute, giving the visiting Wildcats (1-2, 1-0) their first win of the year in District 5-2S action. … Conner Bearden also caught a TD in the fourth quarter for Baker County. ... Baldwin drops to 2-2 and 1-1 in the district.

PAXON 32, STANTON 8

Touchdown rushes by Kenyon Gardner and EJ Lundy combined with four takeaways helped the host Golden Eagles retain bragging rights in the Brain Bowl at Stanton (0-3). … Paxon (2-2) also scored on an Isaiah Watts fumble return before the break. ... Mike Underwood threw TD passes to A.J. Davis and Jomei Richard, while Treyvon Bell and Keyshawn Pickney-Rogers added picks.

SPRUCE CREEK 21, JACKSON 6

Spruce Creek's defense again led the way to the finish line against visiting Jackson (1-3). … Spruce Creek (4-0) got a pair of touchdown catches from do-it-all receiver Tony Kinsler in the second half, giving it plenty of breathing room to survive the late 55-yard strike from the Tigers’ King Johnson to Sylvester Miller. … Back-to-back Deondre Hill sacks followed by a Rajee McKinney pass breakup denied Jackson at the 1 in the third quarter.

CLAY 35, GAINESVILLE 14

Merrick Rapoza rushed for two scores as Clay (3-1, 1-0 District 4-3S) won comfortably against struggling Gainesville (0-4, 0-1). ... Gino Addison and Iyen Addison each added rushing touchdowns for the Blue Devils, while Iyen Addison also scored as a receiver.

EPISCOPAL 26, WEST NASSAU 6

Nate Blair rushed for two scores to lead Episcopal over the host Warriors (1-3). … Carson Magyar also found the end zone from 2 yards for the Eagles (2-1), and Alexander Hillyard booted his sixth and seventh field goals of the season.

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS 49, BELL 0

Cartez Daniels ran wild for two early touchdowns to overpower Bell (0-3). … Baylor Ford scored one touchdown rushing and one passing to Andru Siemer. ... Jackson Parmeter also scored a kickoff return and Jackson Herman took a pick back to the end zone for Keystone (1-2).

BEACHSIDE 45, SEBASTIAN RIVER 14

Beachside (3-1) turned up the offense late with 28 unanswered second-half points to overcome visiting Sebastian River (2-2). ... Quarterback Edward Jordan completed 23 of 33 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for a Barracuda score.

TOCOI CREEK 21, EUSTIS 7

Ball-hawking corner Micah Ragin intercepted two more passes, giving him five in four games, helping the Toros take down Eustis (2-2). … Hudson Brewer added a touchdown reception for Tocoi Creek (2-2). … Carson Collins made a strip-sack on defense.

MADISON COUNTY 22, COLUMBIA 8

Jason McDaniel returned an interception for a touchdown to lead the host Cowboys (2-0) to victory on Boot Hill. … Zamarion Jones scored the first-half touchdown for Columbia (0-3).

FERNANDINA BEACH 42, INTERLACHEN 0

D'Ante Simms' first-quarter touchdown started the Pirates on the road to a rout of Interlachen (0-4). … Camden Boyd took an interception back for a score for Fernandina Beach (2-2).

ORANGE PARK 28, MELBOURNE 13

Quinton Moore scored two touchdowns and made two key fourth-down conversions as the Raiders won in Melbourne (0-4). ... Tyler Jackson made a crucial fourth-quarter pick. ... Orange Park (2-2) sealed the win on Josh Johnson's touchdown rush.

CHRIST'S CHURCH 22, BISHOP SNYDER 20

Three Jackson Hadden touchdowns, including passes to Grant Tedder and Camren Russell, led the Eagles (3-0) to the come-from-behind win. … Joseph Morales rushed for all three touchdowns for the Cardinals (2-2). … Patrick Setzer carried 24 times for 115 yards for CCA.

PROVIDENCE 32, NFEI 8

Jett Hood rushed for two touchdowns as the fast-starting Stallions (3-1) rolled past North Florida Educational (1-3). … Mason Williams rushed for a TD and threw another scoring pass to Cameron Ross. … Sam Hayward made a sack and two tackles for loss.

Around the area

Ribault (3-1) locked down the end zone for a 36-0 shutout of visiting Westside (0-4). ... Tommy Offord rushed for two scores and threw TD passes to Trenton Williams and Keymari Hall as Palatka (4-0) powered 35-8 past visiting Belleview (0-3). … Suwannee (3-0) stayed perfect, winning 40-6 over Quincy Munroe (0-3). … Union County (2-1) rolled to a 49-12 win over visiting P.K. Yonge (2-1), with three rushing touchdowns by Toren Tyson and two by Drew Simmons. … Fort White (4-0) stayed perfect in a 49-0 shutout of visiting Hamilton County (1-2). … Hilliard (1-2) lost 21-18 at Branford (2-0). … St. Joseph (1-3) sealed its first victory under Cash Forbrich, a 20-14 win over visiting Eagle's View (2-2) in overtime. … Duval Charter (0-2) lost 37-6 at Mount Dora Christian (2-2). … Young Kids in Motion (0-2) lost 32-0 at West Oaks (1-2).

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school football, Week 4: Jacksonville & Northeast Florida scores