PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – After Bryce Frick transferred to Nease, all the quarterback wanted was an opportunity. With his team trailing late in the game Friday night, he just wanted one more.
It was granted with the help of a tough Panthers defense, a bad snap from Ponte Vedra and a shanked punt. It took only four plays and slightly more than a minute of game time before Frick raced into the end zone with little more than a minute left for a 24-23 edge in the News4JAX Game of the Week.
After Evan Redmond’s 37-yard field goal attempt on a rain-coated field knuckle-balled to the left, Nease players and students in the stands poured out onto the field in celebration, repaying the festivities by the Sharks’ fans at Nease’s field in last season’s Battle of the Bridge.
It was an emotional evening for Frick, who was choked up a bit after the game. His team now controls its fate in regard to the District 4-4S title and a playoff spot, something that would have been doubtful had the Panthers (6-3, 2-0) lost. Beat Tocoi Creek next week, and it’s the title and postseason.
Oh, and the school Frick transferred from — Ponte Vedra.
“I got an opportunity at the end,” said Frick, who passed for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for 82 more yards. “All you can ask for is an opportunity. That’s been my motto all year. We got the opportunity.”
Frick’s first opportunity came as he worked his way up the depth chart from fourth string. He had his first serious action in the second half of a loss to Fletcher in the fourth game of the season. He started next week against Orange Park, and Nease has gone 4-1 since, with the only loss coming to powerhouse St. Augustine.
As there were bumps in the road to the top of the depth chart, there were some against the Sharks (7-2, 1-1), which entered the game ranked third in the News4JAX Super 10. Frick was picked off twice, including one by Ridge Richardson that ended a drive 10 yards away from a score and would have resulted in a back-breaking 95-yard pick-six had there not been a needless block in the back.
Then, with 9 minutes, 35 seconds left in the game, Frick drove his team 38 yards to the Ponte Vedra 19 but misfired into the ground for an incompletion.
“We had the comeback call to Maddox (Spencer),” Panthers coach Collin Drafts said. “That kid was playing tight coverage, but he was open. And Bryce just threw a dirt ball. I was thinking, ‘I hope it doesn’t end like that.’ He’s made that throw a thousand times.
“But then to get a stop, get the ball and have him drive us down the field — it’s like a freakin’ movie, man.”
It was the perfect script for Frick. His full range of talents were on display against his old school. A four-play scoring drive started the game, capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass to Spencer. A fourth-and-5 scoring pass early in the second quarter to Brayden Felder — who caught it despite pass interference — turned into a 30-yard scoring pass and helped Nease regain the lead at 14-10.
Frick used his legs to pick up key first downs from long distance to extend drives and, of course, engineered the game-winning drive. That all came against a defense that had been allowing 10 points a game, had three shutouts on its résumé and had not surrendered more than 22 points in a game this season.
Not bad, considering Drafts had no clue about Frick when he first transferred.
“Nothing that Bryce does now surprises me,” Drafts said. “When he came in the summertime, I didn’t know him from anybody. I just knew he transferred from Ponte Vedra. We had four or five quarterbacks on the roster. I told him it would be really tough to see the field. He started off at fourth string and kept battling, kept on working.
“We put him in the second half in the Fletcher game, and he’s been lights out ever since, in my opinion. He has complete command of the offense. He makes all the throws we need him to and runs when he needs to. It makes it really difficult to defend him with the playmakers around him and the way the O-line plays.”
Still, it took a strong effort from the Panthers defense, led by a pair of sacks from sophomore linebacker Noah Hodge. Nease had been allowing close to 30 points a game and the Sharks scoring more than 33 points an outing.
But the Panthers held Ponte Vedra to 84 yards in the first half and the Sharks had a short field on all but one of their scoring possessions — starting touchdown drives from the Nease 21 and 49 and a field goal on a possession that started at the Panthers 42.
“Defense gets the game ball,” Drafts said. “I mean, just the way they were able to stymie their offense. They’ve been blowing people out. The front seven held down their run. They just kept battling.”
It was a quick-strike long-field drive that almost turned the game, however. Nease pulled into a 17-all tie with four minutes left in the third quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Daniel Jones. But on the second play of the next possession, which started on the Sharks 25, Cole Madison hauled in a Ben Burk pass, shook past a defender and raced into the end zone for an 81-yard catch-and-run score.
But there was a bad snap and hold combination on the point-after and the Ponte Vedra lead stayed at 23-17.
The bad snaps came back to haunt the Sharks, who had three misfires in all, losing 33 yards in field position on those plays. After Frick’s fourth-down incompletion, the Sharks took over with 6:10 left. They grinded out a first down and seemed in good position until a snap went flying way over Burk’s head, resulting in an 18-yard loss. The Panthers held and it was time to punt.
It was shanked, giving Nease the ball 42 yards from the end zone.
“It tough’s, but that’s the way it is,” Ponte Vedra coach Steve Price said. “When you play close games, one or two plays make the difference.
“I’m very proud of our kids. They’re great young men and fought their hearts out.”
After a run, Frick scrambled for a first down and then hit Felder, who grabbed seven passes for 92 yards, on a 23-yard pass play. The following play, Frick raced left and into the end zone.
Frick said he was confident that the defense would have his back. But with 1:19 left and starting at the 40, Burk, who was exceptional in the second half with 188 passing yards, led his team down the field. Spencer and Felder came in to play man to man defense. It was all hands, as a short pass and a pair of incompletions set up the final field goal attempt with seconds left.
“The defensive staff, the defensive calls, we couldn’t sit back and play prevent or they would have knifed through us,” Drafts said. “Perfectly called, perfectly executed.”
It all set up for Redmond, who had nailed a 33-yarder earlier. Drafts said he felt positive given the Sharks’ issue, and the snap was a bit high, as Redmond’s kick spiraled to the left.
The celebration ensured. First, Nease had been playing second fiddle in this rivalry for so many years, winning only three times in 15 games after Friday’s victory. But the Panthers have won two of the past three and four of the past five meetings have been decided by one score.
Next, Nease finds itself one game away from the postseason.
“We’re going to celebrate this win,” Drafts said. “This is monumental for Nease to beat Ponte Vedra. So, it’s not a fluke that we’re doing it. I’ll stand by that.
“We’re going to come back Monday with tunnel vision. Play a faceless opponent. Just go 1-0.”
Nease 24, (3) Ponte Vedra 23
Nease, 7, 7, 3, 7 — 24
Ponte Vedra, 7, 3, 13, 0 — 23
N – Maddox Spencer 25 pass from Bryce Frick (Daniel Jones kick)
PV – Brian Case 1 run (Evan Redmond kick)
PV – Redmond 33 FG
N – Brayden Felder 30 pass from Frick (Jones kick)
PV – Case 1 run (Redmond kick)
N – Jones 44 FG
PV – Cole Madison 81 pass from Ben Burk (kick failed)
N – Frick 3 run (Jones kick)
Category: N — PV
First downs: 20 — 15
Rushes-yards: 33-152 — 32-61
Passing: 244 — 214
Comp-Att-Int: 16-30-2 — 12-20-0
Fumbles-lost: 2-0 — 3-1
Penalties-Yards: 11-101 — 4-29
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — N: Frick 13-82, Camryn Smith 9-33, Felder 2-19, KJ Perry 9-18. PV: Case 19-79, Ben Burk 10-16, Team 3-(-34).
PASSING — N: Frick 16-30-2-244. PV: Burk 12-20-0-214.
RECEIVING — N: Spencer 4-93, Felder 7-92, Emmanuel Williams 1-17, Fletcher Reston 1-15, Carlos Millian 1-13, Perry 1-7, Smith 1-7. PV: Madison 3-96, Ryan Smith 2-44, Case 3-32, Griffin Owen 3-38, Landon Okla 1-4.