Jacksonville high school football roundup: Oakleaf, Riverside, Baldwin win
The 2023 high school football season kicked off across Northeast Florida with Friday's Week 1 games on Aug. 25. Key matchups across the area included Baker County at Bradford, a rivalry rematch of last year's regional championship game in Region 2-2S; Bartram Trail at Ponte Vedra, a battle of Class 4S schools in Northern St. Johns County; and Gainesville Buchholz at Columbia, a meeting of Florida High School Athletic Association semifinalists from 2022.
RAINES 27, UNIVERSITY CHRISTIAN 12
Mark Miller topped the 100-yard mark and ran for two touchdowns to help the Vikings pull away at the home of the Class 1S semifinalists. … Amir Green and Chris McCloud both picked off passes for Raines and Ziyon Butler caught a TD from Ty'ren Randolph. … Alan Woods gave UC an early lead with an 80-yard touchdown rush and added a second-half TD.
TRINITY CHRISTIAN 33, WHITE 8
Jayke Jones grabbed a pick-six and linebacker Cameron Anderson appeared on offense to score a touchdown rush as the Conquerors finally pulled away from stubborn visitor White. … Colin Hurley connected on a third-quarter TD to Miles Burris for Trinity, and two late ones to Kyle Boylston.
PALM BEACH CENTRAL 55, CREEKSIDE 48
Sophomore QB Caleb Butler passed for 361 yards and four touchdowns as the 2022 state semifinalists overcame a summer of distractions to top Creekside in a 103-point thriller. … Four-star prospects and transfers Kamare Williams (142 yards, two TD catches and a pick-six) and Waden Charles (59 yards and a TD) starred as receiving targets. ... Sean Ashenfelder nearly brought the Knights back with two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 28-second span, and also ran for three scores.
BARTRAM TRAIL 20, PONTE VEDRA 17
Michael Matos led the Bears' defense with three and a half sacks to hold off the Sharks. ... Riley Trujillo's 40-yard touchdown pass to Joey Davoli pushed the Bears in front early, the Super 11 QB added a 2-yard scoring run and Liam Padron booted two field goals. ... Brian Case scored for Ponte Vedra for the lead before halftime. ... Bartram Trail now leads the all-time series 12-2.
BRADFORD 12, BAKER COUNTY 0
Bradford picked up in 2023 where they left off in 2022, opening their new season with a shutout of the rival Wildcats. … Bradford recorded a school-record nine shutouts last year.
Buzzing from behind: Takeaways from St. Augustine-Bolles high school football thriller
BISHOP KENNY 38, FIRST COAST 20
James Resar passed for three first-half touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Crusaders' charge. … J.P. Donovan, Kaleb Lampkins (two TDs) and Patton Burnett all grabbed TD scores from the Iowa-committed quarterback. ... Rodney Tisdale Jr. passed for three Bucs touchdowns.
OAKLEAF 42, ORANGE PARK 0
Brandon Wallace threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another in the regular-season debut for Knights coach Christopher Foy. … Oakleaf extended its series winning streak to eight games.
RIVERSIDE 41, WESTSIDE 0
Glenn Foreman III threw for 129 yards and Riverside rolled past rival Westside in a rare opening-week District 3-2M game. … Tae'shaun Gelsey caught a touchdown pass, finishing with five catches for 51 yards … Shermon Davis tallied two sacks and two rushing touchdowns, and both Kaiden Morris and King Taylor picked off passes.
BALDWIN 40, WOLFSON 3
Octavius Barnes scored a pair of pick-sixes as Baldwin rolled past the Wolfpack. … Nesahawn Jacobs rushed for an 80-yard score. … Kelvin Brown also rushed for a touchdown, and Malik Morrison threw a TD pass to Leon Kirkland.
NEASE 10, JACKSON 7 (OT)
Panthers kicker Danny Jones booted the deciding 25-yard field goal in overtime to edge the visiting Tigers. … Elisha Luckett blocked an OT field goal that could have given Jackson the lead. … Nease's Cade Papineau and Careal Carter intercepted passes.
RIBAULT 14, SANDALWOOD 7
Quarterback T.J. Cole and running back Jayshun Wanton ran for scores and the Trojans came from behind to win 14-7 at the home of the Saints. … Brenard Brown and Jamel Baily also churned out yardage behind Jordan Matthews and the Ribault offensive front.
ATLANTIC COAST 14, PARKER 6
The Stingrays snapped a 14-game losing skid dating to 2021, as former Super 11 defensive back Step Durham won on his regular season debut.
ENGLEWOOD 16, PAXON 6
Tayshaun Solomon gained 100 yards and scored a touchdown, and the Rams' defense held firm as Kevin Johnson won his first game in charge of his alma mater. ... Anthony Brown Jr. and Jody Rojas picked off passes. ... Malik Neely added an Englewood score.
FLEMING ISLAND 40, CLAY 20
Cibastian Broughton threw four touchdown passes, two to Trace Burney and one each to Devaen Boykin and Demhir Jackson, to start the Golden Eagles on the road to victory against their county rivals. … Tyler Beverly also ran for a Fleming Island score.
TOCOI CREEK 37, BEACHSIDE 34
Ryan Killmer passed for four touchdowns and Turf topped Surf, as Tocoi Creek won the second edition of the Surf 'N' Turf Bowl for St. Johns County's newest schools. … Julio Santiago scored three receiving touchdowns for the Toros and Vinny Galella rushed for two scores, while Aidan Matos and Micah Ragin picked off passes. … Beachside struck first on a Marco Lanza reception.
MENENDEZ 34, RIDGEVIEW 8
Two first-half rushing scores from Marquis Sams helped Anthony Rivers to his first win as a head coach. … Mason Lynch also scored on the ground for the Falcons, and Jason Watson took a punt return to the end zone. … Aden Brubaker scored a late TD reception.
Around the area
Teonte Artis-Croxton scored three times as Yulee won 31-20 on a Georgia trip to Charlton County. … Bishop Snyder opened with a 16-7 win at Stanton. … Fernandina Beach squeezed past Providence, 13-12. … Hawthorne pulled away after halftime, 26-7 over Middleburg, despite Jarren Rosier's Bronco touchdown. … M.J. Rossin scored two touchdowns and Suwannee won 33-13 over Flagler Palm Coast in a weather-delayed game. …Palatka cruised 45-6 past visiting Umatilla. … Thomas Williams rushed for two first-half touchdowns to lead Union County past Interlachen 43-0. … North Florida Educational won 24-13 over West Nassau, giving head coach Jamaal Fudge his first win with the Eagles. … Alexander Hillyard booted the deciding field goal from 25 yards as Episcopal won 28-26 over Zarephath Academy. …Eagle's View won its opener 28-6 over visiting Bell Creek Academy. ... Gainesville Oak Hall shut out St. Joseph, 43-0. … El'Liyjah Caldwell scored four touchdowns (two rushing, two receiving) and Hans Price passed for three scores as Impact Christian won 36-0 against Harvest Community. … Christ's Church won 48-0 over Duval Charter. … Austin Malaguti scored three touchdowns and Branford rolled 53-0 against visiting Cedar Creek Christian. ... TDH Academy lost 32-0 on its trip to Chipley. ... Young Kids in Motion at Hilliard was postponed to 7:30 p.m. Monday due to thunderstorms. ... Fort White's game against Taylor County was halted by lightning in the second quarter, with plans to resume Saturday. ... Columbia's game against Buchholz was stopped due to lightning and the arrest of two armed fans at the stadium in Lake City, leading schools to halt play until Saturday.
--The Times-Union, Gainesville Sun and Palm Beach Post
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school football, Week 1: Jacksonville/Northeast Florida scores
