This is the final 4! The four best teams in High School Football history from our area. 1995 Sandalwood, 1996 Union County, 1993 Bolles, and 1997 Raines. Some good football was played in the 90’s, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that all four teams come from that decade. It’s been a wild ride with upsets and heart breaks, but only one team can be crowned! Check out the Duval Sports Show Tuesday Night from 8pm-9pm for the revealing of the championship participants and the crowning of the champion! But as for right now, lets get it on with the final 4!
1995 Sandalwood vs 1993 Bolles
1995 Sandalwood
The Saints were looking for that 1995 Bolles team to make the Best of the Best bracket, or that 1996 Bolles team to advance further in the tournament. The game we never saw but what the entire city wanted to see was the 1995 Bolles Championship team versus the 1995 Sandalwood Runner Up team. Both teams and coaches were legendary in their own right and of course the two teams wanted to prove who was truly the best. Unfortunately Sandalwood was class 6A and Bolles was Class 4A and we were never afforded that treat.
What we are allowed to see in this final four matchup is two of the teams that mad Jacksonville extremely competitive in the mid 90’s.
Coach Bob Withrow’s Saints became only the second public team in Duval County history to appear in a State Championship game. (14-1) led by Mr. Football tailback Frankie Franklin (Indiana), the Saints finished as state runnerups after rolling off 14 consecutive wins to start the season. They would stumble 12-7 to Miami Northwestern in the state finals with a hobbled Franklin who missed two and a half playoff games with a knee injury. But don’t be fooled, this team was stacked. Players like Raheem Pontiflet and Turk Williams are known by football players are around the city. While Franklin got all the coverage as he broke rushing records galore, the offensive line and defense is what carried the team. The defense under Coach Dave McConnell recorded three shutouts and dominated powerhouses like Raines, Columbia, and Orlando Evans on their way to a #4 ranking in the 1995 USA Today poll.
This team’s dominance of the city, in which no team came within 10 points of challenging them is truly impressive. A 28-0 shutout of Raines at the Graveyard just doesn’t happen often. They outscored their Gateway Conference opponents 174-9!!
1993 Bolles
Maybe Corky Roger’s most talented Bolles team, the 15-0 Bulldogs were led by Robert Pollard and Charon Dorsey. The Bulldogs were unstoppable and virtually unchallenged the whole season. Their closest’s games were to Santa Fe, whom they defeated once 28-22 in the regular season, and 21-17 in the state semifinals. With a defense that held opponents under 7 points six times, and an offense that scored 30 points a game the Bulldogs were to much for everyone.
Try to stop them on offense and you literally have to pick your poison they say. It started at center with All-American Jon Spicklemier (Notre Dame), quarterback Kendal Francis (Tulane), fullback William McCray (FSU), tailback Matt Deorio (Duke), tailback Michael Grant (UCF), wingback Robert Pollard (Nebraska) and wide out Dez White (Georgia Tech). The offense scored 515 points in 15 games (34.3 ppg), scoring 30 or more 10 of the 15 games, including the state championship game. The defense was stingy giving up 11.9 ppg while giving up 7 points or less in 6 of the 15 games. They dared you to kick or punt the ball to the most dangerous kick returner in the state freshman Robert Pollard and if a team did they were usually punished with a return for a touchdown. The road to the perfect season and another state title in the postseason went through Bolles with wins over Lee (42-6), Suwannee (35-7), South Sumter (34-19), at defending state champion Santa Fe (21-19) and Lake Wales (42-21) in the championship game.
1996 Union County vs 1997 Raines
1997 Raines
The 1997 Raines Vikings finished 15-0 on its way to becoming the first and only to date public school state champion in Duval County. First year coach Welton Coffey guided the Vikings to a perfect regular season with wins over Mandarin 40-7, Englewood 55-0, Wolfson 55-6, Jackson 60-0, Fernandina Beach 36-0, Sandalwood 20-14, Lee 47-6, First Coast 27-11, Ribault 38-0 and Ed White 51-21. The Vikings continued their path with playoff wins over Englewood 47-8, Pace 21-0, Eastside 20-17, Madison County 34-12 and Glades Central 32-27 in the Class 4A state championship game at the University of Florida. Lito Sheppard and Derrick Jabar Gaffney who both starred at Florida and went on to the NFL were among the many players who went on to star in college.
1996 Union County
The case for Union County: From 1994-1996, the Tigers won 52 games in a row including 3 state titles. On those teams were defensive lineman Gerard Money Warren third pick in the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns (who also played 12 years in the NFL and also starred at Florida); as well as quarterback Andrew Zow (Alabama), defensive back Wayne Moore (Clemson), cornerback Bennie Alexander (Florida), safety JR Jenkins (Georgia), outside linebacker Phillip Weeks (Alabama), outside linebacker Adrian Weeks (Auburn), fullback Issac Booker (Wisconsin) and defensive end Charles Howard (FSU). Not to mention several others who went to star at Division I-AA, II and smaller schools. Opponents had a hard time game planning to stop the Tigers with so many weapons on both sides of the ball. The defensive line with Warren and Howard might have been too much for Clay to handle just alone, not to mention a secondary with three D-I starters.
Coached by the youngest coach ever to reach 100 wins and be inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2000), Robby Pruitt. Pruitt won seven state championships in just 16 years, three straight at Union County ( 1994, 1995 and 1996). He amassed a record of 167-30, and a 31-6 playoff record. Pruitt won more state football championships than any other coach in Florida high school history. The way he prepares his team is the key to his success.
”We approach every game the same way: We don’t really talk about how good they are when they are real good; we don’t talk about how bad they are if they are bad.We just concentrate on what we’re doing and us getting better. We do the same format, the same routine every week.”
His routine guided Union County to a 52 game winning streak, but just winning was not Pruitt’s ultimate goal, championships were. “What will mean the most is if we win state”, said Pruitt after winning the coach of the year award in 1994.
Tune in to the Duval Sports Show as we reveal the finalist and the winner. Share your comments in the live chat on YouTube and facebook and we’ll discuss them.
