JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Everyone loves a fairy tale ending to events, and that’s exactly what the home fans got at the 6A District 3 title game between the Ponte Vedra Sharks (6-1, 2-0) and the St. Augustine Yellow Jackets (5-3, 2-0).
It was Ponte Vedra’s Senior Night. and over 30 Sharks were honored before the game, including starting Quarterback RJ Glod. Glod came into the game leading with 250.6 Total Yards and 246.1 Passing Yards. What better way for the seniors to go out, than to get a win over a rival for the district title.
The Sharks, coached by Jeff DiSandro, received the ball from the kickoff. They wasted no time and quickly struck early to find themselves up 7-0. But St. Augustine, coached by Brian Braddock, retaliated with 2:30 to go in the first quarter found themselves down 7-6.
However, there was a stoppage of play due to Ponte Vedra’s Tommy Zitiello (#17) being attended to for an injury. He did not return to the game but was later cleared of any injuries. Play resumed and the Yellow Jackets kicked for an extra point leading the first quarter to end all tied up at seven.
Quarter two saw the Yellow Jackets come out on fire and go up 14-7 with 10:45 left in the 2nd. The Sharks then turned around and found themselves with a first down with 8:09 to play in the half. Then Mickey Stevens (#43), the 5-5 sophomore Running Back, completed a run from the 1 yard line to score a touchdown for the Sharks. After the kick, we were all tied up at 14 with 6:35 to play in the half.
To continue the back and forth scoring pattern of the game, St. Augustine’s Justus Johnson (#8) gave his team a first down which led to a touchdown to put the Jackets up 21-14 with 4:30 remaining in the half. But the Sharks fought back to eventually score twice before the half ended.
Keaton Thomas (#14), Sophomore Wide Receiver for Ponte Vedra, completed a catch with 16 seconds to go in the half to help the Sharks take a lead of 28-21 into the locker room.
The beginning of quarter three was not friendly for the Jackets. After multiple attempts to advance the ball, they came up with a first down but no score with 5:30 remaining in the 3rd. Ponte Vedra would have the ball. Glod completed a 12-yard pass to give the Sharks a first down. This quickly turned into a touchdown by senior Noah Washington (#8) with 2:38 to go in the quarter. The Sharks were up 35-21.
Yet the Sharks could not celebrate for long because 34 seconds later, junior Dequan Stanley (#5) and the Yellow Jackets came rumbling in for a touchdown to make the score 35-28 with 2:04 remaining in the quarter.
The final quarter was underway with 7:30 remaining in the fourth, the Sharks got a field Goal from the 2-yard line off to put them up 38-28. St. Augustine had one more push in them and senior Jaden Mcdowell (#1) caught the pass for a touchdown to put the Jackets within 3, with six minutes to go in the game.
But after many St. Augustine timeouts and attempts to make one more push, a fumble was recovered by Ponte Vedra with under a minute to play and the Sharks ran the clock out.
Final score: Ponte Vedra 38 St. Augustine 35.
The Sharks were deemed the 6A District 3 champions with a record of (7-1). They end their regular season against Creekside (4-5) this week. St. Augustine (5-4) will host Palatka, hoping to gain enough points to advance to the playoffs by the FHSAA rankings system.
Featured Photo Courtesy of Ponte Vedra Football Twitter
