St. Augustine plays Dunbar in Friday's state football semifinal: Here's what to watch
CLASS 3S STATE SEMIFINAL
Fort Myers Dunbar (11-2) at St. Augustine (12-0), 7:30 p.m.
Winner gets: Ocala Vanguard (11-2) or Daytona Beach Mainland (12-1) in Tallahassee on Dec. 7.
Road here: Dunbar d. Fort Myers 21-17, d. Golden Gate 12-7, d. Naples 12-10; St. Augustine d. Middleburg 52-14, d. Escambia 31-14, d. Choctawhatchee 35-26.
Past championship game appearances: Dunbar, none; St. Augustine, 2001, 2005, 2007.
The skinny: Can the Jackets reach their fourth FHSAA final? Their offense is red-hot, particularly senior running back Devonte Lyons and a collection of receivers — senior Myles Simmons, juniors Carl Jenkins Jr. and Trenton Jones, sophomore Somourian Wingo — that ranks among the best in Florida. Junior quarterback Locklan Hewlett (2,293 yards) fought through a few miscues last week against Choctawhatchee but still has only four picks all year. On defense, Drake Lusk, Ja'ki Singleton and Julian Quintero led the Jackets on a night of sure tackling. Dunbar's Cardiac Cats have reached the semifinal the tough way with three nail-biters, none more dramatic than Kelby Tyre's 96-yard kickoff return touchdown as time expired to beat Naples 12-10 last week. Defense stands out for the Tigers. Kyeran Garcia and Jaylon Christmas combine for 15 sacks, Mint Edwards has 22 tackles for loss and Tyre (4 INT) leads a unit that's grabbed 19 takeaways. Receivers Tawaski Abrams (41 catches, 599 yards) and Eric Fletcher (38 catches, 661 yards), headed to Florida and East Carolina respectively, are reliable targets for junior QB Austin Price (127 of 223, 1,932 yards, 22 TD), and St. Augustine must watch the quickness of junior running back Chris Singleton (1,017 yards).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Augustine vs. Dunbar: High school football state semifinal preview
