St. Augustine Florida- When St. Augustine won it’s FHSAA State Semifinal over Dunbar Friday night, it was more than just another playoff win for the historic program. It was more than just a first trip to the state championship for the players on the team. It was a full circle moment for it’s head coach Brian Braddock who for the first time in eight years, is taking his team to the state championship game.
Braddock is an alum of St. Augustine, playing linebacker, and offensive line for the Jackets from 1996-98. He also was a defensive coordinator at the school from 2010 until being hired at Mandarin in 2013. At Mandarin, Braddock was 23-10 in three seasons including a 12-1 season which is still the best in Mustang history. He would leave Mandarin in 2016, shocking the entire high school football community in Northeast Florida, to replace his former head coach, Joey Wiles.
Wiles led St. Augustine to it’s only state championship in 2005. Yet for Braddock, he missed that championship both as a player, and as a coordinator. In fact, after rebuilding Mandarin into an area powerhouse, the Mustangs would go on to win it’s first championship in 2018. Braddock missed that opportunity as well. Now coach Braddock finally has the opportunity to do what’s never been done. Not just win his first title as a player or head coach, but he has a chance to bring a second championship to a football team in St. John’s County. No team from the area has done that.
Braddock’s got a great opportunity with the 2023 version of the Jackets, who have several playmakers like the 2005 championship team did with Jacques Rickerson, Nathaniel Wuellner, Brandon James, and Quinterrance Cooper. Brandon James happens to be an offensive coordinator for the current Jackets.
Quarterback Locklan Hewlett has passed for 2,293 yards and 21 touchdowns this year. Against Dunbar in the FHSAA state semifinals Friday, he passed for 281 yards and 2 touchdowns. His first was to Myles Simmons who went for 27-yards on the score. Simmons finished with 42-yards and a touchdown in the game, and for the year he’s second on the team with 12 touchdowns amassing 792 yards receiving.
Hewlett has connected with several receivers all year, including Trenton Jones who led St. Augustine in receiving yards against Dunbar with 94 yards. 75 of those yards came on a third quarter pass from Hewlett that set up a touchdown run by Devonte Lyons. Jones is second on the team in receiving yards with 884 yards and 6 TDs on the year.
Hewlett would connect with another dynamic weapon for Braddock in Carl Jenkins Jr. Jenkins would haul in a 66-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to put St. Augustine up 28-6 on Dunbar. Jenkins has led the receiving core with 1,015 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season.
St. Augustine’s most consistent scorer all year has been running back Devonte Lyons. Against Dunbar he added to his extraordinary touchdown total by three scores giving him a whopping 25 touchdowns on the season. Lyons rushed for 151 yards against Dunbar, continuing to power a run game that coach Braddock has leaded on in the red-zone. Lyons has 1,343 yards on the season.
Coach Braddock’s background is defense, and a major reason that St. Augustine is undefeated at 13-0 is because of their stinging stingy defense. They held Dunbar to a season low six points on Friday. Junior Braylon James led the team in tackles with 9, he has 79 on the season. Jacques Johnson leads the team with 6 sacks.
Ja’ki Singleton has been their most consistent playmaker on defense, averaging 9.0 tackles a game with 90 tackles on the season in 10 games. Julian Quintero leads the team with 91 tackles in 12 games, while linebacker Drake Lusk has tallied 88 tackles and 3 interceptions on the season. Lusk registered a sack and an interception against Dunbar, his second pick of the playoffs.
Braddock’s stellar group will have to go up against a stellar team in Daytona Beach Mainland (13-1). The Buccaneers defeated Ocala Vanguard 34-12 Friday to advance to the Class 3S state championship. It will be a battle of A1A, as the coastal neighbors face off in Tallahassee, Florida at Bragg Memorial Stadium (home of Florida A&M University). The game will be played Thursday December 7th at 3pm.
The journey for St. Augustine and head coach Brian Braddock has been one of unexpected ends. After state semifinal losses in 2017 against Armwood, and 2020 against Lake Minneola, he’s finally made it over the hump to the title game as a head coach. The next stop on the journey is to keep it rolling, to win it all.
