Friday, 6:30 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7 (KICKOFF)
Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play), Sam Petosa (Color), & Cam Parker (Stats/Halftime/Postgame) for all the action. This is the first meeting between the two teams in 10 years.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Friday, 9:45 a.m. (PREGAME) – High School Swimming, 10 a.m. (Swim Finals)
Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) & Davis Johnson (Color) for Rams’ football. Class 2A-District 2 swim meet at the Northeast Pool in Gainesville (Eastside hosts)
‘Live’ & ‘Archived’ video via the Eastside Athletics Facebook page
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) continues unanimous hold on top ranking in regional all-classification poll after comeback win over then-#5 Oakleaf (Orange Park)
GAINESVILLE — As the 2020 high school football season continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and wind towards the postseason, many of the teams in The Prep Zone Power Poll have played each other at times.
And none have faced tougher tests to this point than the team once again the top of the poll this week, the Bartram Trail (St. Johns) Bears.
Bartram Trail (6-1) rallied in the fourth quarter past then-#5 Oakleaf (Orange Park), 30-27, at home. That allowed the Bears to once again receive all nine first-place votes to remain the unanimous #1 team again in the regional all-classification rankings.
It was the fourth win for Bartram Trail over a team that was ranked at the time, following victories earlier this year over Creekside (St. Johns), St. Augustine, and Ponte Vedra.
The Bears’ only loss so far in 2020 was to American Heritage (Plantation), which was ranked #20 nationally by Max Preps at the time they played them.
Bartram Trail had to work hard against Oakleaf, trailing most of the game before rallying in the fourth quarter to beat the Knights by a late score for the second year in a row.
With the loss, Oakleaf (4-3) dropped into a tie for 8th this week with Baker Count (Glen St. Mary).
Bolles (Jacksonville) remains 2nd as the Bulldogs (6-1) struggled for the first half before pulling away for a 33-19 win at University Christian (Jacksonville).
The ‘Dogs take the week off before closing their regular season next Thursday at #12 Mainland (Daytona Beach).
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) remained red-hot as they followed up their upset of nationally-ranked American Heritage the week before in South Florida by getting another big road win last week closer to home.
The Conquerors (5-1), who won 3-0 at American Heritage, won another defensive slugfest 14-6 at #10 Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville), handing the Generals (4-1) their first loss of the season.
Trinity Christian stays put at #3 while Lee drops two spots from the previous poll after the setback.
Madison County moves up two spots to 4th as they put together one of their best efforts of this season with a 42-7 thumping on the road of Taylor County (Perry).
The Cowboys (7-1) travel to 8A Flagler Palm Coast this week in a game scheduled as a late addition earlier this week.
Rounding out the top five is Dunnellon.
The Tigers (4-0) move up five slots after knocking off then-#4 Vanguard (Ocala), 30-28, on a field goal on the final play of the game. This is the second year in a row Dunnellon has beaten their Marion County rival.
With the loss Vanguard (3-1) falls five spots to 9th.
Clay (Green Cove Springs) starts off the second five.
The Blue Devils (6-0) also are up five spaces as they rolled past Clay County foe Middleburg 56-28 and travel to another county rival in 6-1 Ridgeview (Orange Park) this Friday.
Baker County, which hosts 1-5 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) this week, is up into a tie for 7th with Oakleaf as the Wildcats (6-1) bounced back from a loss to Bolles the previous week by taking care of West Nassau (Callahan), 28-12, on the road.
Two teams make their debuts in the rankings this week.
Buchholz (Gainesville) (4-1), which was receiving votes a week ago, moves to #15 after upsetting then-#7 Fleming Island (Orange Park), 24-21, at Citizens Field. With the loss, Fleming Island (5-2) drops to 14th.
Suwannee (Live Oak) is also new to the poll at No. 17 as the Bulldogs (6-2) blanked then-#15 Ponte Vedra 14-0 last week.
With the loss Ponte Vedra (5-2) drops out as did Sandalwood (Jacksonville). The Saints (5-1), who were 12th previously, drop out after suffering their first loss of the season, 29-14, at Mandarin (Jacksonville).
Also falling out was Newberry, which was in a tie for 20th but they dropped out after their game at Santa Fe (Alachua) was postponed due to COVID-19.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball & softball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2020 FOOTBALL POLL #8
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (8A) (9) (6-1) – 180
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (6-1) – 168
3. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (5-1) – 161
4. Madison County (1A) (7-1) – 143
5. Dunnellon (5A) (4-0) – 139
6. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (6-0) – 138
7T. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (6-1) – 122
7T. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (4-3) – 122
9. Vanguard (Ocala) (5A) (3-1) – 105
10. Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) (6A) (4-1) – 94
11. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (4-2) – 66
12. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A) (4-1) – 63
13. The Villages (4A) (4-0) – 61
14. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (5-2) – 59
15. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (4-1) – 56
16. Baldwin (3A) (6-0) – 33
17. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (6-2) – 27
18. Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (5-0) – 26
19. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (7A) (4-1) – 23
20. DeLand (8A) (2-1) – 19
Also receiving votes: Lake Minneola (6A) (4-1) – 18; Newberry (1A) (6-1) – 17; Wildwood (1A) (7-0) – 13; Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (5-1) – 12; Hilliard (1A) (6-0) – 7; St. Augustine (6A) (4-2) – 7; Hawthorne (1A) (5-1) – 4; Keystone Heights (4A) (5-1) – 3; Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (3-3) – 2; West Port (Ocala) (8A) (4-1) – 2.
Here are the current standings, followed by this week’s games and last week’s results:
Joshua Wilson (FloridaHSFootball.com): 70-15 (.824)
Mike Ridaught (The Prep Zone): 64-21 (.753)
Corey Davis (Gainesville Sun): 63-22 (.741)
John Patton (Ocala Star-Banner): 62-23 (.729)
Marty Pallman (The Prep Zone): 61-24 (.718)
Tyler TenBieg (The Prep Zone): 56-29 (.659)
Friday, Oct. 30
Buchholz (Gainesville) (4-1) at Creekside (St. Johns) (4-2)
Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (5-1) at Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6-1)
Dixie County (Cross City) (4-2) at P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) (3-5)
Orange Park (3-4) at Menendez (St. Augustine) (2-4)
Madison County (6-1) at Flagler Palm Coast (2-3)
Calvary Christian (Clearwater) (6-0) at Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3-3)
Ponte Vedra (5-2) at St. Augustine (4-2)
The Villages (4-0) at Wildwood (7-0)
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) (1-1) at DeLand (2-1)
Hawthorne (5-1) at Zephyrhills (4-2)
Mike Ridaught (8-2)
Buchholz
Trinity Christian
Bartram Trail
Vanguard – X
Forest – X
Suwannee
Ridgeview
Trinity Catholic
Hawthorne
John Patton (6-4)
Fleming Island – X
Trinity Christian
Oakleaf – X
Dunnellon
Forest – X
Ponte Vedra – X
Ridgeview
Trinity Catholic
Hawthorne
Marty Pallman (5-5)
Fleming Island – X
Trinity Christian
Oakleaf – X
Vanguard – X
Forest – X
Ponte Vedra – X
Ridgeview
Trinity Catholic
Hawthorne
Corey Davis (5-5)
Fleming Island – X
Trinity Christian
Bartram Trail
Vanguard – X
Forest – X
Suwannee
Menendez – X
Victory Christian – X
Hawthorne
Joshua Wilson (6-4)
Buchholz
Robert E. Lee – X
Bartram Trail
Vanguard – X
Forest – X
Suwannee
Ridgeview
Victory Christian – X
Hawthorne
Tyler TenBieg (4-6)
Fleming Island – X
Robert E. Lee – X
Bartram Trail
Vanguard – X
Forest – X
Ponte Vedra – X
Ridgeview
Victory Christian – X
Hawthorne
On Tuesday night, the area went 4-for-4 in the FHSAA Class 1A volleyball state playoffs, and 1-for-1 in Class 4A.
Newberry swept visiting Fort Meade 25-12, 25-8, 25-4 in the 1A Regional Semifinals to advance.
Senior Paige Dinges led the Panthers (21-3) with eight kills, followed by junior Mykenzie Tiller with seven kills. Sophomore Paige Bankston added 14 assists, 10 service points, and three aces.
“Our seniors came out fast and set the tone for the night,” said Newberry coach Hank Rone. “Fort Meade gave us an open net and Paige, Nicole (Everson) and Grace (Oelrich) took advantage of this. We knew going in that we wanted to get our role players some good time on the court.
“Our number two setter Paige Bankston had some great minutes for us. Hannah Rone and Kirsten Thomas did some great things with their opportunity.”
The Panthers, who lost to Sneads in the 1A state championship last year, will host Trenton in the region final this Saturday with a spot in the state semifinals on the line.
The Tigers swept Crescent City to advance.
Sophomore Chloe Wilkerson and senior Samarie McHenry led the Tigers (15-5) with 12 kills apiece. Junior Bri Becker added 32 assists, while senior Mikaya Smith contributed 10 digs.
“Trenton has gotten better each time we played them,” Rone said. “We will not look past them. They are well-coached and move defensively very fast. We need to block, be big at the net, and try to get them out of system as much as we can. They are very good in system as a volleyball team. We are looking forward to playing them Saturday.”
The other Tigers, from Union County, defeated Lafayette in Mayo in four sets to advance. They will travel to Bell on Saturday.
“We knew that Mayo would put up a tough fight after coming off of a big district championship win against Hilliard,” said Union County coach Jordan Windham. “The girls came in aggressive and playing like a team. We struggled in the third set and early in the 4th, but they worked hard to get out of an 8-point deficit to come back and win.
Sophomore Jaycee Davis led the way for Union County (12-10) with 23 kills, six aces and 20 digs in the 25-19, 25-12, 24-26, 25-16 win. Junior Maegan Beatty dished out 44 assists and added 18 digs.
“The realization that their season could be over was a big motivation to win.” Windham said. “I’m very proud of how they played against a tenacious Mayo team.”
Bell, which played in the 2018 state championship game, swept visiting Hilliard to advance. The Lady Bulldogs defeated the visiting Flashes 25-22, 25-11, 25-11 to move on to Saturday’s Region Final.
Senior Taria Liles and senior Maddy Sapp led the way with 18 kills apiece. Junior Michelle Heilig added seven.
Senior Melonie Piechocki had 18 digs, junior Emma Hutto finished with 25 assists & sophomore Sydney Waddle added 13 assists for Bell, which improved to 19-5.
“We started the first set extremely slow and lacked some focus on our part and fell behind I believe 15-3,” said Bell coach Drue Barry. “Hilliard came out very fired up and ready to play. We settled down and came back to win the first set 25-22.
“I was proud of their fight and determination to finish the set strong and not give up. The 2nd and 3rd set we played to our standard and rolled 25-11 in both of those sets. Hilliard did a very good job of digging and returned some hard hit balls. I believe our constant hitting pressure wore then down at the end.”
The Lady Bulldogs will host Union County this Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Region Final, with a spot in the state semifinals on the line. This will be the fifth meeting of the season between the Tigers and the Bulldogs, with Bell winning the previous four meetings by a combined 11 games to two.
“Even though we have beaten them all four times we are definitely not looking past them,” Barry said. “We learned last season during the playoffs to take it one game at a time.
“Jordan has done a great job at Union County and they always come to play. She has a sophomore, Jacee Davis, that is very good. We play our best when we play up tempo and continue to hit.”
One of those match-ups was in the district championship game on October 15. The Bulldogs won a tough one in four sets.
“We hit the ball extremely hard,” Barry said. “Maddy Sapp had 24 kills, Taria Liles 17 and Michelle Heilig had nine. It should be a good competitive game on both sides.”
The Santa Fe volleyball team advanced in Class 4A with a 3-1 win against visiting South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach).
Junior Rylie Tam led the way with 22 kills, followed by sophomore Jalyn Stout with 17 kills. Sophomore Miya Thomas finished with 20 digs and 10 aces.
Stout also added 25 assists, 18 digs and three aces for the Raiders, who have advanced to the state semifinals the past two years (4A – 2019 & 6A – 2018).
Santa Fe (21-8) will travel to Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) on Saturday for the Region Final with a chance to advance to its third straight state semifinal.
Wednesday, 7-8 p.m. – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Join Mike Ridaught & Marty Pallman as they talk high school sports. Their guests for this week include P.K. Yonge football coach Marcus McDonald and members of the Blue Wave football team.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
We’re excited to announce that for the first time ever we will be broadcasting swimming.
Eastside is hosting the Class 2A-District 2 swim meet at the Northeast Pool in Gainesville and we will have ‘live’ video coverage thanks to our partnership with Eastside High School, which is streaming the event on their Athletics Facebook page.
It will be a busy Friday with the swim meet, plus two football games. We’ll also have the weekly high school show at Sonic Drive-In with the P.K. Yonge football team on Wednesday night.
Here is our broadcast schedule for the week of Oct. 26:
Wednesday, 7-8 p.m. – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Join Mike Ridaught & Marty Pallman as they talk high school sports. Their guests for this week include P.K. Yonge football coach Marcus McDonald and members of the Blue Wave football team.
Friday, 9:45 a.m. (PREGAME) – High School Swimming, 10 a.m. (Swim Finals)
Class 2A-District 2 swim meet at the Northeast Pool in Gainesville (Eastside hosts)
‘Live’ & ‘Archived’ video via the Eastside Athletics Facebook page
Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) & Davis Johnson (Color) for Rams’ football.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7 (KICKOFF)
Dixie County (Cross City) at P.K. Yonge (Gainesville)
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play), Kevin Gatti (Color), & Sam Petosa (Stats/Halftime/Postgame) for all the action. This is the first meeting between the two teams in 10 years.
Friday, 6:45 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7 p.m. (KICKOFF)
Santa Fe (Alachua) at Eastside (Gainesville)
‘Live’ & ‘Archived’ video via the Eastside Athletics Facebook page
Join Travis Coleman (Play-by-play) & Davis Johnson (Color) for this Alachua County showdown. This series is even up at 7-7 since 2004.
XX
THE PREP ZONE’S WEEKDAY COVERAGE:
**For our Gainesville audience, tune in to ThePrepZone.com Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union every weekday morning between 7:50-7:55 a.m. on 106.9 FM in Gainesville. These are a little over 60 seconds in length and air Monday-Friday.
**For those in the Tri-County area, tune in to ThePrepZone.com Nature Coast Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:28 a.m. and repeating at 5:28 p.m. They are two minutes in length and air on 93.1 FM & 940 AM in Chiefland/Trenton and 96.3 FM & 1240 AM in Cross City. Listen LIVE here**
**Tune in to our weekly radio interviews talking high school sports on ThePrepZone.com Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union on WRUF-98.1 FM & 850 AM in Gainesville every Thursday at 4 p.m. (excluding remotes) on “The Tailgate” with Jeff Cardozo & Pat Dooley**
We broadcast a high school football Game of the Week, plus our weekly high school show from Sonic Drive-In on 106.9 FM “I am Country.” They are archived here.
Ponte Vedra still a unanimous No. 1 in the all-classification regional rankings
GAINESVILLE – Defending 5A state champion Ponte Vedra is just four wins away from a second straight state title.
The Sharks (23-0) remained the No. 1 team in the all-classification regional rankings for the eighth straight week after sweeping Orange Park in the first round of the 5A state playoffs last week.
They received all eight first-place votes.
Creekside (St. Johns) took out Tallahassee Chiles, 3-1, in the first round of 6A playoffs to remain second. The Knights (17-2) host state-ranked and defending state champion Leon (Tallahassee) on Wednesday.
Forest (Ocala) stayed unbeaten with a sweep of South Lake (Groveland) in first round of the 6A playoffs. The Wildcats (15-0) also advanced to the region final after Gainesville was forced to forfeit its match on Wednesday due to Covid-19.
Santa Fe (Alachua) swept Bay in first of the 4A playoffs and is still No. 4. The Raiders (20-8) host South Walton on Tuesday.
Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) round out the top five.
The Celtics (13-6) swept Orangewood Christian in the first round of the 3A playoffs. They travel to Trinity Prep (Winter Park) on Tuesday.
Class 5A Vanguard (Ocala) is ranked sixth, followed by 1A Newberry at No. 7, and Class 4A Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), 4A Weeki Wachee, and 1A Bell in the top 10.
This is the last poll until after the state finals in November.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union and Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
The Prep Zone Power Poll – 2020 Volleyball Poll #8
(School, city, classification, first-place votes, overall record, and total voting points)
1. Ponte Vedra (5A) (8) (23-0) – 160
2. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (17-2) – 150
3. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (15-0) – 143
4. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (20-8) – 137
5. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (13-6) – 128
6. Vanguard (Ocala) (5A) (13-2) – 118
7. Newberry (1A) (20-3) – 112
8. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (17-8) – 106
9. Weeki Wachee (4A) (16-0) – 93
10. Bell (1A) (18-5) – 88
11. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (12-8) – 78
12. Deland (7A) (16-6) – 63
13. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (14-8) – 56
14. St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (16-1) – 48
15. East Ridge (Clermont) (7A) (9-5) – 45
16. Yulee (4A) (16-5) – 39
17. Christ’s Church (Jacksonville) (2A) (12-6) – 19
18T. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (14-4) – 14
18T. Ridgeview (Orange Park) (5A) (14-9) – 14
18T. Trenton (1A) (13-5) – 14
Receiving votes: Lecanto (5A) (12-4) – 13; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (6A) (17-3) – 12; Harvest Community (Jacksonville) (2A) (8-3) – 8; Gainesville (6A) (12-8) – 7; Crescent City (1A) (13-9) – 4; Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (15-2) – 4; Hilliard (1A) (11-6) – 3; Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (12-9) – 2; New Smyrna Beach (6A) (15-8) – 2.
By Cam Parker
Twitter – @camparker25
On Friday night, the Hawthorne Hornets defeated the Union County Tigers by a score of 30-20.
The Hawthorne running game stole the show as the Hornet offense accounted for three rushing touchdowns, two of which were by Dre Lawrence.
From their first drive, Hawthorne’s run-game took off.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Hornet offense went on an 11-play, 64-yard drive ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Lawrence to make the score 6-0.
After forcing their second three-and-out of the night, quarterback Chaz’ Mackey threw a screen pass to Anthony Morgan, who then ran 56-yards to put the Hornets in scoring position.
Three plays later, Lawrence would run it in for his second score of the night. Hawthorne would convert the two-point try with another Mackey pass to Morgan, which made the score 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the middle of the second quarter, Union County cut the lead to seven with a Rayvon Durant two-yard touchdown run.
However, this score would not last long as Hornet running back Johnquavis Jones ran for a 41-yard touchdown on the next drive.
Hawthorne converted another two-point conversion, this time on a pass from Mackey to Camren Cohens, who made a spectacular diving reception. This put the Hornets up 22-7 with 3:34 left in the half.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys up front,” said Hornets’ coach Cornelius Ingram, who praised his offensive line for their performance. “We had two of the starters have bad ankle injuries in the last two games, and they didn’t even practice this week. They gutted it out, played every snap, and didn’t complain. So that tells you what kind of team we have.”
Both defenses made big plays to end the half. Union County’s Cortez Slocum and Hawthorne’s Anthony Morgan had back-to-back interceptions.
The second half was a completely different story.
On the first drive, Union County was set to punt, but the ball was snapped through the back of the end zone for a safety for the Hornets.
The next four drives were controlled by both defenses, as they traded fumble recoveries on back-to-back drives, followed by back-to-back turnover on downs.
The next Hawthorne drive would be controlled by Mackey and Jones, who connected on a 22-yard pass to make it first and goal, and then an eight-yard touchdown pass to make it 30-7 early in the fourth quarter.
“I just know my quarterback has the arm to get the ball there, and I just make the play,” Jones said of his quarterback.
From there, Union County’s offense would finally gain some momentum with two straight touchdowns.
Quarterback Aj Cortese scored on a 67-yard run and also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Slocum. However, it was too late for the Tigers as Hawthorne would recover the onside attempt and kneel down, preserving the win.
Next Friday, Hawthorne (5-1) travels to Zephyrhills while Union County (4-3) travels to Chiefland.
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Friday, October 23, was senior DJ Curtis of the Buchholz (Gainesville) football team.
Curtis had two big plays in each half to help lead the Bobcats to a 24-21 win against visiting Fleming Island (Orange Park) on homecoming.
With Buchholz leading 7-0 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Creed Whittemore to junior Adrian Sermons, the Wofford commit blocked a 29-yard field goal with 5:05 to play in the first quarter.
That helped the defense pitch a shutout in the opening half as the Bobcats built a 21-0 lead at the break.
Senior Quan Smith had a 10-yard scoring run for Buchholz (4-1) with 8:25 to play in the second quarter, and sophomore Jacarree Kelly scored from nine yards out with only 1:26 left in the half.
Following a 55-yard touchdown run by the Golden Eagles’ Sam Singleton to make it 21-7 in the third quarter, Fleming Island (5-2) got the ball back with a chance to make it a one-score game.
However, after tight end Timothy Lawrence picked up a first down on a pass play to midfield, Lawrence fumbled and Curtis recovered at the Fleming Island 48-yard line with 2:21 to play in the third.
Navy commit TK Kocak threw an 89-yard touchdown pass to Air Force commit Timothy Thomas with 1:42 to play in the third quarter, and Kocak ran it in from 5-yards out to tie the game at 21-21 with 9:24 to play in the game.
However, senior Hunter Smith drilled a 24-yard field goal with 3:18 to play, and sophomore Donny Hiebert helped seal the victory with an interception with 2:26 to play.
Buchholz, which won its fourth straight game, will travel to Creekside (St. Johns) next Friday, Oct. 30.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.