ORANGE PARK- Starting as many as six freshman on defense, Orange Park coach Tom MacPherson had to be extremely pleased with what he saw Friday night in the spring football jamboree.
In two halves (four quarters total) the young Raiders defense allowed only 13 points total, including six in the closing seconds.
Facing two of the top rising junior quarterbacks in the area in Cameron Sapp from Parker and Gavin Screws from Baldwin, the young Raider defense rose to the challenge.
Third Half: Orange Park 7, Baldwin 7
Screws gave the Indians an early 7-0 lead with a 25-yard toss to Kenneth Bacon II with 7:34 left in the first quarter.
That lead wouldn’t last long though as rising senior Marquise Brown received the ensuing kickoff at the 25 cut left and broke several tackles along the way before racing 75 yards down the sideline tying the game at 7-7 just seconds later.
Coach Mac kidded with Brown that while yes he had made a great play, that he had also broke “72 tackles” along the way.
Both teams settled down and the defenses took over and shut out the other in the final half as both teams settled for 7-7 tie after the Raiders drove inside the 20 and missed a short field goal.
Brown is one of only three seniors on the team this season as MacPherson said this years team is very underclassmen heavy.
Second Half: Orange Park 35, Parker 6
Orange Park opened their first half of the jamboree with a bang scoring 35 points in two quarters.
After both teams went three and out on their opening possessions, the Raiders came out on fire.
Behind new quarterback rising junior AJ Meater, the Raiders drove 70 yards in 10 plays.
Meater scrambled 30 yards down to the 28 and Brown followed two plays later with a 10 yard run to the 17. Robbie Reynolds III drove the Raiders inside the 5 with runs of 8 and 5 yards.
Deonte Domineck followed with a 4 yard touchdown run behind the big gravediggers offensive line to give the Raiders an early 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Sapp tried to answer the Raiders score with completions to Donovan Randall for 21 yards and Joshua Livingston for 8 yards but the Raiders defense held them on fourth and 5 at the 35-yard line.
Meater followed with a 14 yard pass to Brown down to the 45 and Zykeim Sermons carried the Raiders down to the 20 with runs of 14 and 11.
Two plays later, Brown went down the right side line untouched for a 14-0 lead with 2:13 left in the first quarter.
Both teams went three and out on several drives before anyone struck again.
Two possessions later, Sermons broke off runs of 6, 7 and 4 bringing the Raiders inside the 30 yard line.
Meater finished the drive connecting with Brown who broke 1 tackle and raced 30 yards for another score and 21-0 lead with 8:31 left in the half.
Sapp again tried to lead his team to an answer connecting with Randall for a 23 yard completion. A roughing the passer call moved the ball to midfield.
However, four straight incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs again.
One of the six starting freshman on defense, Kendy Charles sacked Sapp on the ensuing possession to force another punt.
Charles has the potential to be another good one for the Raiders down the road.
Abraham Sunwabeth raced 64 yards up the middle and dow the sideline untouched to give the Raiders a 28-0 lead with 1:04 left in the half.
Sapp hit Matthew Rivera for a 73 yard touchdown pass left to cut the lead to 28-6 with 30.9 seconds left.
However, Sermons took the ensuing kickoff back 80 yards untouched to give the Raiders a 35-6 lead with 16.3 seconds left.
First Half: Parker 21, Baldwin 14
Rising junior quarterbacks Cameron Sapp and Gavin Screws both showed why their one of the best up and coming quarterbacks in 2019 to watch out for.
In the opening half of the jamboree, Sapp connected with Matthew Rivera on a 30-yard touchdown pass on the Braves opening possession to give the Braves an early 7-0 lead.
Garrett Mitchell picked off Sapp near midfield on the Braves ensuing possession to give the Indians great field position.
Screws scrambled 18 yards down to the 5-yard line and then followed with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kolby Burns tying the game at 7-7 just three minutes in.
Joseph Burton picked off Sapp at the 19 on the next drive to kill another potential scoring drive.
After Mitchell broke one for 15 yards, Screws went back to work finding Xavier McGriff for 16 to move the Indians near midfield.
Following back-to-back penalties on the Braves, the Indians were inside the 40. Screws connected with McGriff, who was left wide open, on a 38-yard touchdown pass giving the Indians a 14-7 lead with 5:23 still left in the first quarter.
A possession later, a Screws pass deflected off the receiver and into the hands of Ahmad Moody near midfield.
Behind the running of Perry Ward, the Braves pounded the ball on the drive as Ward had runs of 21, 6, 6 and 2 to move the Braves inside the 2-yard line. Sapp followed with a 2 yard sneak tying the game at 14-14 with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
A few minutes into the second quarter, the Indians coughed up the ball and the Braves recovered at the 14-yard line.
Three plays later, Sapp found Donovan Randall on a 12-yard touchdown pass giving the Braves the lead again at 21-14 with 7:16 left in the first half.
Baldwin wouldn’t quit though as Mitchell broke one for 28 bringing the Indians down to the 38. Screws scrambled for 7, 3 and 13 to move them inside the 10.
On fourth and five from the 10, Chaz Bryant dropped a sure touchdown in the end zone, giving the ball back to the Braves at the 10 with under three minutes to play.
Baldwin was able to stop the Braves three consecutive plays and forced a fourth and one play from the Braves own 19-yard line.
After back-to-back Braves timeouts, the coaches decided to forgo the punt and go for it and the coaches called the best play available catching the Indians defense completely off guard.
Playing the run and clogging up the middle of the line, the Indians blitzed up the middle leaving the lone receiver wide open and Sapp laid a ball easily into the hands of Isaac Byrd who raced down the sideline picking up the first down before being caught by Christian Sanderson at the 16-yard line.
Sapp took three knees and the Braves escaped with a 21-14 win in the opening half of play of the jamboree.
What’s next ?
Baldwin travels to neighboring rival Baker County Aug 17 in its Kickoff Classic, Orange Park will host Bishop Kenny Aug 17 and Parker travels to West Nassau Aug 17 in its Kickoff Classic.
