By Mike Ridaught
Twitter & Facebook – @ThePrepZone
Saturday, Oct. 8
There’s been something extraordinary taking place at Citizen’s Field in Gainesville this fall. That magic continued this past Thursday night.
Since arriving in Gainesville in 1999, never before can I remember so many high school football games, in the same season, being decided so late in the fourth quarter than what we’ve seen in 2016.
A total of six games have been won with two minutes or less, including four games that were decided in either the final 30 seconds or overtime.
Prior to the season, the Gainesville Sun’s Larry Savage compiled a list of the top 10 football games that had been played at Citizen’s Field since 1948. Topping that list was Buchholz’s 33-32 win against Vanguard (Ocala) last year in which the ‘Cats rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the Knights. Fifth on that list was Buchholz’s 32-28 win against rival Gainesville in 2015 in which the ‘Cats scored 21 unanswered points.
It will be interesting to see if any of this year’s close games will make a top 1o list in the future. All six of these exciting finishes were broadcast ‘live’ on local radio and ThePrepZone.com.
Oct. 6 – Gainesville 31, Buchholz 30 (2 OT)
In the 45th meeting between the city rivals, a blocked extra point in double overtime, was the difference. Buchholz, which entered with a 2-game winning streak against GHS, scored first in the second overtime, on a Cam Orth 4-yard TD pass to Luke Whittemore on 3rd down. However, the ‘Canes blocked the extra point. Then, on 4th-and-goal at the one, senior Dustin Johnson snuck it in to tie the game. Senior Tyler Winkel, who was perfect on the night with four XPs and a field goal, drilled the extra point for the Purple Hurricanes, who had tied the game 17-17 with 5:44 to play on a 2-yard scoring run by Ty Boyd and Winkel’s extra point.
Sept. 30 – Forest (Ocala) 38, Gainesville 35
This one was close throughout as the game was never separated by more than seven points the entire game. The Hurricanes’ Luke Matthews completed a 10-yard TD pass to Tyrik Baker with 9:33 to play for a 35-31 lead. However, the Wildcats rallied as junior quarterback Grant Grodi connected with JD Boatwright on a 12-yard score for a 38-35 lead with 2:00 to play. Bright actually took the ball away from Gainesville defender Kaijon Scott in the left corner of the end zone on the play. GHS drove to the Wildcats’ 36 with just over a minute to play, but Forest cornerback Michael Calloway intercepted Matthews’ pass inside the Wildcats’ 5-yard line to end it. It was Forest’s first win over Gainesville in 23 years.
Sept. 23 – Gainesville 22, North Marion 21
This was a low-scoring game early, as GHS trailed at the half, 7-3. But there were 33 points scored from the 5:03 mark of the third quarter on. After the visiting Colts, who were ranked 9th in the state in 5A at the time, scored on a 19-yard TD pass by former Eastside Ram KJ Minter, the ‘Canes answered. Back-up QB Dustin Johnson completed a 54-yard pass to Isaiah Wilson with 1:18 to play to take the lead. But give the Colts credit, after Gainesville’s late TD, they did march down the field and had a chance to win the game but pushed a FG attempt off to the left from 30 yards out with 18 seconds to play.
Sept. 16 – Buchholz 10, Oakleaf 7
In this match-up between defending 7A-District 3 champion Buchholz & this year’s favorite Oakleaf, the defenses set the tone early. The game was scoreless at the half, but the visiting Knights broke the tie with a 28-yard TD pass from Jordan Johnson to Rontrez Morgan with 3:10 to play in the third quarter. However, the Cardiac Cats would find a way to win. Coby Weis drilled a 36-yard field goal with 11:55 to play to put Buchholz on the board. Then, with two minutes to play in the game, Cam Orth connected with Torrey Richardson on a 6-yard TD pass for the victory.
Sept. 9 – Santa Fe 24, Eastside 20
The Rams’ Carlteon Brooks returned the opening kick 83 yards for a score and it looked early as if Eastside might get its first win of the season. But the Raiders finished with 18 unanswered points in the opening half, scoring a TD on a 30-yard pick-6 by Marquez Carter with nine seconds to play for an 18-7 lead at the break. Eastside got back-to-back scores from Anthony Richardson, including a 2-yard run on the final play of the third quarter for a 20-18 lead. But Santa Fe’s Julian Cromwell scored from 12 yards out with 17 seconds to play as the Raiders won their first game of the season.
Sept. 8 – Buchholz 27, Columbia (Lake City) 23
Match-up of Class 7A state-ranked teams which was dominated early by Columbia. The visiting Tigers built a 23-0 lead. However, the Bobcats scored 27 unanswered points with the game-winner coming on a 10-yard pass from sophomore QB Camden Orth to senior Jared Graddy with 18.7 seconds to play. The Bobcats snapped a seven game losing streak in the series. It was the Bobcats first win against the Tigers since 2007.
District races heating up
There are some big district games coming on Friday, Oct. 14, as we head into the final three weeks of district play. Here are the top three involving Alachua County schools:
- Trenton at Newberry – This could be for the district title in 1A-District 7. Both teams are ranked top five in the state in the Class 1A rankings. The No. 4 Panthers (6-0, 3-0) have been one of the surprises in the area. Newberry, which is one of just two unbeaten teams in the county (Oak Hall School 5-0), has posted back-to-back district shutouts and have also beaten 4A Santa Fe on the road & 5A Eastside at home. But the visiting Tigers (4-1, 2-0), currently ranked third in the state rankings, are the defending 1A state champions and have not lost a road game since 2013 (Dixie County – which is also still alive in the district and will host Newberry on Oct. 21).
- Buchholz at Bartram Trail (St. Johns) – The visiting Bobcats are coming off a heart-breaking 31-30 home loss in double overtime to rival Gainesville. Yet, a win on the road in their next game could determine if they will get a playoff game at home. The defending 7A-District 3 champions are 1-0 in league play with three district games left (at BT, vs. 0-2 Fleming Island the following week, and at 0-1 Creekside, 10/28). They’ve already beaten district favorite Oakleaf (Orange Park), 10-7, so a win over the Bears (4-2, 2-0) could put the district on ice. Buchholz won a close one at home last year, 35-28, as then quarterback Jackson White (Marshall) connected with Luke Whittemore on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 24.2 seconds to play.
- Gainesville at Vanguard (Ocala) – The visiting Hurricanes will be riding the momentum of a double-overtime win against rival Buchholz but they will also face their greatest opponent of the season in the Knights, who are currently ranked second in the state in Class 6A. Last year, Vanguard won at Gainesville to win the District 5 title, but GHS won at Vanguard in the second round of the state playoffs. Vanguard is loaded with a high-powered offense and stacked defense. Miami commit N’Kosi Perry set a school record for touchdown passes in September, moving ahead of former NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper; FSU commit Justin Watkins is a playmaker; and, on defense, the Knights are led by Adrian Hope, who recorded five sacks in a game against Buchholz, and is the all-time sacks leader in Marion County history.
Gainesville volleyball trying to get back to the postseason
The GHS volleyball team were guests of “The Prep Zone” this past Wednesday night at Sonic. The ‘Canes are coached by former Hurricane Marshay Greenlee, who is in her second season. Last year, the ‘Canes were able to advance to the second round of the state playoffs but were eliminated by Forest (Ocala), which is currently on top of the 7A-District 4 standings. GHS volleyball was also affected by Hurricane Mathew as their district match against Vanguard (Ocala) was postponed. They were also supposed to play five games in a tournament at Bolles (Jacksonville). While there is uncertainty regarding the rescheduling of the tournament in Jacksonville, the ‘Canes game against the Knights has been rescheduled for Monday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. inside the Purple Palace. Both teams are 5-2 in the district so the winner will get the No. 2 seed heading into the district tournament at Forest in two weeks. Gainesville handed Forest its only district loss on Sept. 29 with a sweep of the Wildcats at home. Only the top two teams in the district tournament will advance to the postseason so it appears it’s a three-horse race between the Knights, Wildcats & the ‘Canes.
Catch my high school sports updates, “ThePrepZone.com Sports Report Presented by SunState Federal Credit Union,” every Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 7:30 a.m. on 100.9 WOW FM in Gainesville. Join myself or Marty Pallman for our weekly football reports every Wednesday between 4-6 p.m. on WRUF-AM 850 & FM-95.3 (ESPN Gainesville) on The Tailgate with hosts Jeff Cardozo and Zach Abolverdi, as well as every Friday at 7:45 a.m. on “The Big Boy Radio Show” with Adam Reardon and at 4:20 p.m. on Sports Time! with Steve Woodard, Scot Brantley and Mark McLeod on Florida Sports Talk (FM-92.1 Gainesville, AM-1230 Gainesville, AM-900 Ocala & FM-100.1 Ocala).
