PONTE VEDRA – The playoffs may officially start November 9-10 according to the Florida High School Athletic Association calendar; but for both Ponte Vedra and Bishop Kenny last night’s game at the Shark Tank sure felt like one.
With both teams still having to play both Bolles and Trinity Christian, the loser of the District 4-5A game likely saw its playoff hopes fade away.
Ponte Vedra left any doubt on the field with a commanding 38-21 over visiting Bishop Kenny and sent a clear message to the rest of District 4-5A don’t forget about us in the process.
No Nick Tronti, no problem for Ponte Vedra. Rebuilding a defense, no problem for Ponte Vedra.
Behind the emergence of junior quarterback Jack Murrah and a suffocating defense led by one of the few returning starters back senior linebacker Duncan VanKouteran, the Sharks have reloaded since the state runner-up finish last season.
Murrah carved up the Crusaders defense tossing two second quarter touchdowns to turn a close game into a rout quickly.
VanKouteran did the rest single handly disrupting plays in the backfield all night long and in the process causing all kinds of problems for the Crusaders offense.
Bishop Kenny, which entered the game with only three turnovers, left with three costly turnovers, a blocked punt and a badly shanked punt, which led to 21 points for the Sharks.
Early on thought it was the Crusaders taking advantage of a rare Sharks mistake as punter Riley Robbins fielded a low punt and seemed to panic a bit before trying to take off with the ball before being tackled at the 3-yard line.
One play was all it took for the Crusaders to take an early lead a 3 yard run by Kane Temple, which gave Kenny a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game.
That would be the only lead Kenny would get as the Sharks went on a 31-0 run to take a 31-7 halftime lead.
Murrah quickly guided the Sharks down the field tying the game at 7-7 on a Mark Calvin 1 yard run with 8 minutes left in the quarter.
Phillip Chappano jumped the route and in front of the Sharks receiver and picked off a Murrah telegraphed pass returning it back to the 26-yard line. However, two plays later the Sharks Cole McCormick recovered a Kenny fumble to deny a possible scoring threat.
After forcing another three and out on defense, Murrah regrouped and connected with junior receiver Kyle Barker for a 49 yard completion down to the 15-yard line. Four plays later, Murrah found Jarrett Stepp alone for a 12 yard touchdown pass giving the Sharks a 14-7 lead seconds into the second quarter.
Kenny receiver Aaron Fudge fumbled the ensuing kickoff before falling to the ground and Zach Summers was there to recover it for the Sharks.
Murrah found Barker alone on the ensuing play for a 25 yard touchdown toss increasing the lead to 21-7 just seconds later.
Robbins added a 33 yard field goal to increase the lead to 24-7 midway through the second quarter.
After another three and out forced by the Sharks defense, VanKouteran broke through the wall of blockers and got a hand on Matthew Brust punt, which sailed backwards and into the hands of Reed Popp at the 4-yard line.
Calvin found the end zone again on a 1 yard run two plays later and just like that the rout was on leading 31-7 with three minutes left in the half.
VanKouteran and the defense held Kenny to just two first downs in the first half and both of those came on the final drive of the first half, the first coming with just 37 seconds left till the half.
Stepp, who plays both ways at receiver and safety, made a diving interception on the Crusaders opening possession of the third quarter to give the Sharks the ball at midfield.
Kenny put together their best drive of the game at that point on its third possession of the half as Tucker Talbott found tight end Zach Costner wide open across the middle for a 61 yard gain down to the 8-yard line. However, a fourth and goal pass intended for Jimmy Citrano was dropped in the end zone to kill the drive.
Talbott took advantage of a Sharks shanked punt on the ensuing possession driving the Crusaders back in the red zone, before capping the drive with a Kenyon White 1 yard touchdown run cutting the lead to 31-15 with 9 minutes left in the third.
Murrah’s night was done and he was replaced by backup freshman Jacobi Myers on the next Sharks drive all 23 seconds of it. Myers faked a hand off and kept the ball and raced up the middle untouched 69 yards for another Sharks score to seize back the momentum with a 38-15 lead seconds later.
Talbott added a 25 yard touchdown toss to Costner with two minutes left in the game to cut the lead to 38-22 and close out the scoring.
Ponte Vedra (4-1, 2-0), winners of 16 of their last 18 games, host St. Augustine (4-0) next Friday in a makeup game from Sept. 8 thanks to Hurricane Irma; while Bishop Kenny (4-1, 1-1) host Yulee (1-3).
