JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We’ve hit Week 3 of the high school football season. A glance at the top six games in the area this week. All games are Friday at 7 p.m. unless indicated.
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Bartram Trail (1-0) at Mandarin (1-0), 6 p.m.: The Bears slipped from the top spot to No. 2 in the News4Jax Super 10 poll this week but consider that more a reflection of Bolles looking razor-sharp than anything else. Bartram had some defensive struggles against Creekside, but will enter this one as the favorite. It beat the Mustangs 32-7 last season. Mandarin shut out rival Atlantic Coast last week (14-0), but the Stingrays don’t have a fraction of the weapons as the Bears. AJ Jones III had 264 all-purpose yards and three TDs and QB Santino Marucci passed for 116 yards and rushed for 76. QB Tre Lawrence was solid for Mandarin under center and had a 97-yard scoring pass to WR Jaylen Smith. The Bears haven’t lost a regular season game since a 37-34 defeat to Cocoa on Oct. 19, 2018, an area-best 14 consecutive wins.
Camden County (1-1) at Raines (0-1), 6 p.m.: A Georgia-Florida battle which should be a good one. The Wildcats make the trip across the state line after beating regional rival Glynn Academy (31-14) last week. The Vikings had a difficult opener on the road at a strong Venice squad and were routed 40-6 in coach Donovan Masline’s head coaching debut. Raines is the 13th different team from the area that Camden will have faced in its history, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. The Wildcats and Vikings have never met. Camden has played Fernandina Beach more than any other area program (14 times). Raines gave up 34 unanswered points at Venice last week. QB Carleton Butler rushed for 77 yards and a TD in that game for Raines. That game was arguably the most difficult opponent of the season for the Vikings and added to the schedule last-minute. QB Joshua Brown has a pair of passing TDs this season for Camden.
MORE FOOTBALL COVERAGE
Week-by-week schedule, results
Week 3 high school football predictions
Week 3 Game of the Week: Fleming Island-Fletcher is this week’s winner
Bolles (1-0) at St. Augustine (1-0): In the conversation as the headliner in Week 3. The Super 10 No. 1 Bulldogs walloped Trinity Christian 36-12 last week in a showdown right off the bat. QB Sammy Edwards and RB Ty Baxter moved the ball at ease last week for the Yellow Jackets in a 49-0 lashing of Middleburg and the defense showed improvement from a year ago. The challenge this week will be putting speed bumps down to slow what already looks like a dominant offense in Bolles. RB Kade Frew (138 rushing yards, 2 TDs) is a more physical runner than he was a year ago. QB Gunner Boree can move out of the pocket and he’s accurate (6 of 8, 188 yards, 2 TDs). WR Davis Ellis (109 yards receiving on 2 catches last week) has excellent hands and get by corners.
Fleming Island (1-0) at Fletcher (1-0), 6 p.m.: Both teams are coming off solid opening games. The Senators blanked a 2019 playoff team in Parker (23-0) and won in coach Bobby Raulerson’s debut at his alma mater. This two-week stretch could prove to be the most challenging of the season for Fletcher, which faces Flagler Palm Coast next week. The Senators got 175 rushing yards and a pair of TDs from reigning News4Jax player of the year Myles Montgomery and used a smothering defense to limit the Braves to less than 100 yards of offense. The Golden Eagles will be a different type of challenge, with two talented backs — Sam Singleton and Timothy Thomas — leading the way. Fleming Island hasn’t lost a regular season game since Oct. 12, 2018, a 51-42 defeat to Bartram Trail, a span of 13 games. That streak is currently the second longest in the area behind Bartram Trail (14 straight regular season wins).
Ribault (0-0) at Lee (0-0), 6 p.m.: The Trojans were wiped out last week by weather, so this is the opener for both teams. The Generals were scheduled off last week. If there’s one thing about this series that recent history has revealed, it’s that it’s wildly unpredictable. Last year, the Trojans won a back-and-forth, 34-30 affair. The Generals had a 34-12 romp in 2018 and Ribault edged Lee 7-6 the year before. It’s the debut for new head coach Marlon White of the Trojans and he’s got a sampling of playmakers coming back (QB Santana Jackson, WR Vincent Jackson) as well as former Ribault RB Martranius Mack, who spent last season at Mandarin. The Generals lost a good portion of players to graduation and transfer, but O.J. Small has kept this program humming along. QB Cale Zarah and RB Zaire Lee are the offensive players to watch, but this squad is defense-heavy, with players like DE DeDrick Smith and CB Jaheim Singletary as the headliners.
West Nassau (2-0) at Baldwin (1-0): An excellent matchup between a pair of thumping defenses. The Warriors have won six of the last seven in this series, including a 43-32 shootout last year. West Nassau has outscored its opponents a combined 50-7 this season. The Warriors have scored more points on defense (12) than they’ve allowed this year. RBs Conner Nobles (160 rushing yards, 2 TDs) and Jesse Rochay (147 rushing yards, TD) and ATH Chaz Davis (180 all-purpose yards, 2 TDs) are the big names for the Warriors. How will that offense fare trying to get past an Indians defense that was an absolute wrecking machine last week? DE Tyson McClendon may have turned in the effort of the season in Baldwin’s opener, leading the Indians with nine tackles and seven of the team’s 11 sacks in a 12-6 win over Westside in triple OT. LB/DE Carl Nesmith added seven tackles and three sacks in that game as the front seven swamped an experienced Westside line and kept QB D.J. Otis scrambling all game long. QB Bryce Tompkins passed for 200 yards and a TD against the Wolverines. The game was originally scheduled to be played at West Nassau, but field conditions moved the game to Baldwin.
WEEK 3
FLORIDA
Thursday, Sept. 17
Menendez (0-1) at Gainesville Eastside (0-1)
Friday, Sept. 18
Bartram Trail (1-0) at Mandarin (1-0), 6 p.m.
Bishop Kenny (0-1) at Parker (0-1), 6 p.m.
Bolles (1-0) at St. Augustine (1-0)
Bradford (1-1) at University Christian (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
Camden County (1-1) at Raines (0-1), 6 p.m.
Cedar Creek Christian (1-1) at Bishop Snyder (1-1)
Creekside (0-1) at First Coast (0-0), 6 p.m.
Crescent City (0-1) at Wildwood (1-0)
Deltona Trinity Christian (2-0) at Christ’s Church (2-0)
Episcopal (1-0) at Englewood (0-1), 6 p.m.
Fleming Island (1-0) at Fletcher (1-0), 6 p.m.
Fort White (0-0) at Alachua Santa Fe (0-2)
Ridgeview (1-0) at Middleburg (0-1), note, Hawthorne canceled so Ridgeview switches from an off week to face Middleburg
Jackson (1-0) at Westside (0-1), 6 p.m.
Joshua Christian (0-0) at Zarephath Academy (0-2), 6 p.m.
Keystone Heights (0-1) at Providence (1-0)
Legacy Charter (1-0) at Eagle’s View (1-1)
Madison County (1-0) at Suwannee (2-0), 7:30 p.m.
Matanzas (0-0) at Flagler Palm Coast (0-0)
Nease (0-1) at Sandalwood (0-0), 6 p.m.
NFEI (0-1) at American Collegiate (2-0)
Oakleaf (1-0) at Lowndes (2-0), 8 p.m.
Orange Park (0-1) at Clay (1-0)
Palatka (0-2) at Ponte Vedra (1-0)
Parrish Community (0-0) at Interlachen (1-1), 7:30 p.m.
Paxon (0-1) at Yulee (1-1)
Ribault (0-0) at Lee (0-0), 6 p.m.
St. Joseph (0-1) at Mayo Lafayette (0-1)
Stanton (0-1) at Hilliard (2-0)
Union County (1-0) at Newberry (1-1), 7:30 p.m.
West Nassau (2-0) at Baldwin (1-0)
White (1-0) at Baker County (2-0)
Wolfson (0-1) at Fernandina Beach (1-1)
Off: Atlantic Coast, Columbia, Trinity Christian.
GEORGIA
Friday, Sept. 18
Benedictine (2-0) at Brunswick (1-1), 7:30 p.m.
Camden County (1-1) at Raines (0-1), 6 p.m.
Charlton County (1-0) at Long County (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
Claxton (1-0) at Pierce County (2-0), 7:30 p.m.
Glynn Academy (1-1) at Winder (1-0), 7:30
Off: Ware County.