Bradford’s quest to reach the Class 2S FHSAA state championship fell just short at home with a 31-21 loss to Cocoa in 2022. Last year, the Tornadoes took a giant step forward when they erased a 14 to 0 Pensacola Catholic Crusader lead in the fourth quarter, to defeat the team in overtime 22-21. However, the Tornadoes would fall in the championship game to Cocoa 20-6, as state runners-up.
In 2024, Bradford looks to take another step forward toward a championship as they look to complete the quest of brining a title back to Starke. The team hasn’t won a championship since the 1965-1966 seasons, when Bradford won back to back state titles. If the Tornadoes are going to do it, they have some glaring gaps to fill on both sides of the ball.
Several key components to the state runners-up last year are now in college. Linebacker Devon McBride, safety/ wide receiver Chalil Cummings (Memphis), linebacker/tight end Chason Clark( Marshall), defensive end Torin Brazell ( East Carolina), running back “Fast” Willie Pollard (St. Thomas University), and quarterback Dae’jon “Six” Shanks (Hutchinson College), are major pieces that some might consider to be irreplaceable.
Every now and then, a team comes together to forge something special and the 2023 Bradford Tornadoes were that special team with special players. They played with one another since their youth football days, and the entire team stayed together till their last game in high school. That’s incredibly impressive, and incredibly hard to replace.
Yet the show must go on in football, and the 2024 Tornadoes have some show stoppers coming back that have the potential to pick up where they left off. Linebacker Jeremiah McKenzie (Central Michigan commit) is a four year starter who has proven he can play any position called upon. Trente` Jenkins will hold down the interiors of the lines. He had 64 tackles and 4 sacks last year. Head Coach Jamie Rodgers likes 2-way players, and always gets the most out of them.
Also returning for coach Rodger’s squad is Edge/ Tight End Duke Lewis who had 104 tackles,12 sacks, and 1 int. Offensive linemen Jacob Ferguson ( Old Dominion commit) is a major returning piece to the unit.
Jy’Quez Cason is an extremely versatile athlete who played running back, wide receiver, defensive back, and kick return. Branden Williams (defensive back), offensive lineman,running back Brian Cliffin III, and senior linebacker Reese Wainwright all look to fill the giant shoes left by the five D-1 seniors by making big plays on the best defense in Northeast Florida.
Can they do it? Well in order to do so you need key returners which is what they have. But in todays climate you also need transfers. and Bradford got a key transfer from Columbia high school in quarterback Zach Paulkis, a position that had big question marks.
Another question mark is at wide receiver, a position that two-way player Chalil Cummings provided big plays for Bradford last year. The Tornadoes without question will run the ball, but they’ll need to find a weapon to take the top off of defenses. My guess is that 2027 athlete Jordan Cason will fill that role. He already has offers from Central Michigan and Western Michigan.
Head Coach Jaime Rodgers knows that he has lost a lot of key starters, but feels like his returning players will step up and help the team take the step forward. Rodgers told Jake Rongholt at Gainesville media day, “We are bringing back a lot of experience, we lost a ton of really good players, I think people are expecting the falloff to be dramatic but the spring showed us it should not be much of a falloff.”
