Ponte Vedra- Bartram Trail traveled to Ponte Vedra for the battle of two of Northeast Florida’s unbeaten teams. Coach Sutherland’s team works everyday at practice on two-minute drills, so they were ready when the time came for the Bears to drive down the filed with only a little over a minute left on the clock. AJ Jones III was able to score the game winning touchdown to give the Bears the win over the Sharks 29-27.
The first half started off one sided in favor of the home team Sharks. They were able to get on the scoreboard first after a senior running back Colin Magill rushing touchdown. Bartram Trail marched right down the field and hit senior wide receiver for a 40-yard score, the extra point was missed so the Sharks still held the lead by one.
After back to back drives with a score, Bartram was able to stop Ponte Vedra from scoring on the goal line stopping them on a fourth and six. Bartram got the ball back, but fumbled the ball quickly giving short field to the Bears. The Sharks were unable to score a touchdown, but were able to score a field goal.
Bartram Trail senior quarterback Chad Dodson threw an interception on the next play to senior linebacker Shane Bloss. Bartram held strong on the goal line again, forcing kicker Davis Ashcroft to nail a 41-yard field goal, putting the Sharks up 13-6. Later in the second half, Bartram senior Trevez Johnson was able to intercept senior quarterback RJ Gold which set up Jones for his first touchdown of the night. Bartram tied up the score at 13 to end the first half.
The second half started off with a huge kickoff return by Bartram by Jones. Three back to back run plays put Bartram in scoring position but a fumble in the endzone was recovered by senior Zakk Morse. The third quarter was a quiet one with no score being added to the scoreboard until the one-minute mark when Bartram Trail senior kicker Will Greig hit the upright and went through on his field goal attempt. The Bears had taken the lead for the first time in the entire game 16-13.
In the third quarter, senior wide receiver Brandon Chim would score at the five-minute mark for Bartram, putting them up 23-13 and all but nailing the coffin shut on the Sharks.
The Sharks would muster up a great drive down the field scoring on a run by senior Finn Larkin now making it a three point game with two minutes on the clock. Ponte Vedra succeeded on their on-sides kick and would have a short field to work with to either tie or go ahead in the game.
A long throw to senior wide receiver Aiden Lingenfelser, who somehow held on to the ball between his legs, put Ponte Vedra up 27-23.
Another impressive return by Jones put the Bears in terrific field position. He’d close it out with a catch and run down the home team sidelines to score the huge touchdown for the Bears with 25 seconds remaining.
Bartram Trail (6-0) will take on Nease (1-5) next Friday night in a rivalry game. Ponte Vedra (5-1) will look to add another win to the column after their home game against Englewood (1-5).
