BARTRAM TRAIL – It felt like it mattered, it had the happenings of an atmosphere of two teams who have met many times before including two epic showdowns the last two years. Yet it felt like this moment should have been bigger than what it actually was.
That was the feeling in the stadium as the Bartram Trail Bears took on the Oakleaf Knights. The Bears took control of the game in the second quarter to pull away with a decisive victory 48-14 over the Knights.
As soon as you saw the field, you knew this was going to be a very sloppy and nasty game, due to the wet and muddy field conditions; but ultimately it didn’t matter. The Bears loaded with elite talent, started firing on all cylinders about one quarter into the game and the Knights just didn’t have enough to respond to keep the game close.
The first quarter was a sloppy one for both teams. Oakleaf was looking to come right in punching people in the mouth as they had a runner than ran for a touchdown over 50 yards, but had it called back.
Both teams had their share of fumbles early on due to the field conditions, but they adjusted and gripped the ball more. Those slick conditions happen to have a very profound effect on the Knights offense as several of the passes slipped out of the receivers hands.
However, one person for the Knights that comes to mind was receiver Jakari Williams. You could definitely tell he was the favorite target as he made several amazing catches that you really didn’t expect him to catch. For most of the night, the Knights offense was mainly big plays or short lived offensive drives.
After the first fumble by the Bears in the first quarter, we started to see the elite team we all have come to know. Joey Gatewood and Riley Smith ran the offense with efficiency and rarely turned it over from that point.
The star of the night happened to be Devin Ellison. In the first half, once Ellison got the ball in his hands, it was fireworks in the distance across the field. The field conditions made no difference at all as Ellison flew up the field slipping tacklers and heading straight into the end zone which was quite impressive. He used the conditions of the field to his own advantage and took care of the ball without sacrificing speed and vision.
The Bears had their own Jakari Williams in the fold on their sideline as well in Xavier Hutchinson. He played extremely well for the Bears, as he always made himself available when the Bears need a play.
The defense did well as they pressured the Knights quarterback Walter Tre Simmons into a lot of situations in which he simply didn’t have the time to complete the pass to his receivers. Bartram Trail was winning in the trenches and it was evident as Simmons was on the run a lot.
The Knights defense struggled to wrap up, as many of the skill position players where getting away either by slipping off the defenders or just speeding by.
Despite several scoring drives by the Bears, the defense wanted to give the offense the chance to still be in the game as they fought in the third and fourth quarters. The Knights defense wanted to be off the field and the ball into the Knight’s offense hands.
For the last two years, the winner of this game clinched a spot in the playoffs, while the loser (Oakleaf) was eliminated from the playoffs. With Oakleaf struggling this year, this one was a little different though, but still ended up being a critical District 3-7A game for the Bears.
And as Bartram Trail coach Darrell Sutherland often says the next game is the most important one every week. Which in this case couldn’t be any more true, as the Bears (4-2, 2-0) travel to Fleming Island (6-0, 2-0) next Friday for another critical District 3-7A game with first place on the line.
While Oakleaf (1-5, 0-2) host Raines (5-1) in the Dungeon next week in a non-district game.
Thanks to Eagle’s Eye photographer Aaron Jones Sr. for the main pic.
