Each week we’ll go around the coverage area and give you a football player and/or coach quotes following the games. Here are newspaper quotes from the first round of the state playoffs.
Cedar Creek Christian (Jacksonville) coach Jamie Gamel on the Saints’ 42-12 loss at North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) in the Class 2A Regional Semifinals
“One or two paper cuts aren’t going to hurt you, but [three or four] hundred paper cuts and you’re going to bleed to death. Tonight we made so many mistakes, we bled to death on the field, and we just couldn’t recover from it.” – Florida Times-Union
Ribault (Jacksonville) coach Anthony Flynn after the Trojans ended a 21-year playoff drought with a 24-14 upset at 5A No. 10 Ponte Vedra
“That’s a long time. We’ve had four or five shots since then, and we couldn’t get it done. I told the kids, do your coach a favor and get me to the second round and let me see how it feels. We’re taking it one at a time, but wouldn’t it be something if we could be the second [public] school from Duval to win a state championship? That would be something.” – Florida Times-Union
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) coach Verlon Dorminey following the ejections of quarterback Billy Cobb, running back Jalin Buie & lineman Jack Lane for coming on the field when a scuffle broke out. It carries a one-game suspension for the Conquerors, who defeated Pensacola Catholic, 49-3, in Class 3A
“They picked those three. That’s the rule. You hate it for the kids because the official, he just turned and started writing down numbers. They obviously didn’t make it across the field. Hopefully, they don’t write it up and suspend them for more than a week.” — Florida Times-Union
University Christian (Jacksonville) coach David Penland after the Fightin’ Christians jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead and cruised to a 59-6 win over Maclay (Tallahassee) in 2A
“The guys came out and took care of business, and the faster we can get them out in situations like that, the better it is. These guys know what it’s going to take to go get that eighth championship. A lot of seniors were on the team in ’12, and they’re ready to play. But NFC first, one game at a time.” — Florida Times-Union
Trenton coach Andrew Thomas following the Tigers’ 51-20 rout of No. 2 Fort Meade in the Class 1A Regional Semifinals
“There was some talk that we hadn’t played anybody. I think there is some pretty good football here. We played the defending state champs and took it to them. We played Dixie, who has been in the state semifinals the past two years. We have played good football. It kind of rubbed the kids a little bit and they played with a little chip on their shoulders.” – The Gainesville Sun
Trenton’s Hamp Cheevers on his 200 yards rushing and four TDs in the win against the Miners
“We definitely wanted to make a statement. Let them know that Trenton hasn’t been in 1A dominating for no reason. No matter who we play, we are going to play Tiger football and come out with a win. I wanted to separate myself from everyone else on the field. I had a point to prove, to be the best on the field.” – The Gainesville Sun
Buchholz coach Mark Whittemore after the Bobcats rallied from two TD deficit in the first half to defeat Edgewater (Orlando), 36-27, and advance in 7A
“We caught up to their speed. We hadn’t seen that speed since probably Gainesville High. Once we caught up and got in the swing of things we were able to get our sea legs.” – The Gainesville Sun
Santa Fe (Alachua) coach Bill Wiles after the Raiders shut out South Sumter (Bushnell), 26-0, in the 5A playoffs
“I always feel good about our defense. A lot of credit goes to them. We beat a good football team, one of the premier programs in the state of Florida. I’m just very proud of our kids and I’m happy for our school. Our defense was lights out. They just played super. This is a team game. Offensively we started out pretty good, but the defense played well from start to finish. It was outstanding.” – The Gainesville Sun
Gainesville coach Mark Latsko after the ‘Canes eliminated Mitchell (New Port Richey), 42-21, in 6A
“I thought we gave up too many big plays in the first half, turned ball over twice that didn’t help. We made some adjustments for the second half and shut down their offense. Defensively, all the guys in the secondary stepped up. Offensively, we threw and caught the ball well and Jordan (Giberti) had some key big plays, breaking some tackles. Our receivers did a lot after the catch.” – The Gainesville Sun
Lakeland Christian head coach Wayne Peace, former Gator QB, following the Vikings’ 38-24 loss at Trinity Catholic (Ocala)
“They wore us down, no doubt about it. They’re big and physical and we knew coming in we’d have to stop the running game and we just didn’t do that. They’re a physical team and they controlled the line of scrimmage. You’ve got to take your hats off to them — the better team won tonight.”– Lakeland Ledger
First-year Trinity Catholic (Ocala) coach Joe Sturdivant following the Celtics’ upset win in Class 3A over No. 4 Lakeland Christian
“This is a great win, as a first-year coach, with the negativity we had during the year. This puts our program back on track.” – Ocala Star-Banner
Dunnellon running back Rudy Sinflorant, who rushed for 176 yards and two scores in the top-ranked Tigers’ 35-6 win over Bradford (Starke) in 4A, which gave Dunnellon its first postseason win since 2003
“Bottom line, the team that tackles the best and blocks the best wins the game, and we did that tonight. At first I had to understand what was going on, what cuts I needed to make. We were getting three-and-outs, they were getting-three-and-outs, and that gave us more chances to see the field, and then finally we started picking apart the defense. Me and the linemen started connecting, Javonte Johnson, Baby J, and Jacob Smith, our guards, they are always there to fill in that cutback. And my center Clayton (Owens), my cut is based off of his guy so we all keep talking back and forth as the game goes and try to find it, find the groove.” – Ocala Star-Banner
North Marion (Citra) coach Stephen Field following the Colts’ 42-7 rout of Menendez (St. Augustine) in Class 5A
“I wasn’t real pleased with our performance. We came out flat, and that’s my fault. If we want to get where we expect to be, we can’t do that the rest of the way.” – Ocala Star-Banner
