MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – It’s been an almost adversity-free season on the football field for Middleburg, unlike the past 20 years.
But to finish off a negative two-decade streak, the Broncos had to respond to a difficult situation Friday night.
Middleburg, trailing for the first time this season, rallied for two second-half touchdowns to overcome visiting rival Orange Park, 24-14, at Alan Powers Field in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week. The District 3-5A victory clinches the first winning season for the Broncos since 2003.
To put it in perspective: At least three Middleburg High School graduating classes likely had students who were born in Clay County, went to feeder schools and then Middleburg, and never saw a Broncos winning season the entire time.
“My freshmen year, when I came in, I remember Coach (Ryan) Wolfe telling us (we’re) going to be the class to do it,” said senior Jaden Boyd, whose 98-yard fumble return in the second quarter gave Middleburg a 10-0 lead. “We were going to be the class to take the next step in the program, and to be the class that actually does it means a lot. For the alumni from the past, it means a lot.”
In almost matching its best start since a 7-0 beginning to the 1989 season, the Broncos have exorcised the ghosts of disappointing seasons past.
Middleburg (6-0, 1-0) has posted a cumulative 54-148 mark since 2003, the year of its last playoff victory. Included in that timeframe are three winless seasons and three one-win seasons.
From the 2004 season through last year, the Broncos spent only 32 weeks, including bye weeks, holding a winning mark. That’s out of a possible 221 weeks that Middleburg was playing football in that span.
Wolfe’s arrival has coincided with the upswing. His first three teams went 5-5 during the regular season, with two of those teams falling in the first round of the playoffs.
“When we got here four years ago, Middleburg wasn’t really known as a winning program,” Wolfe said. “We knew it was an uphill battle. But with the admin we’ve got, great community, there was a great attraction to this job.
“When I got here, I saw the kids wanted to win, so I knew we were in the right place.”
It’s a rough situation for Orange Park (1-5, 0-2). After shutting out Ridgeview in the season-opener, the Raiders have lost five in a row and were outscored 190-21 over the next four games.
What makes it tougher was, following quarterback Quinton Moore’s 66-yard touchdown run on OP’s first possession of the second half, the Raiders held a 14-10 lead. But, as the Broncos reversed a first-half offensive drought, OP’s offense stopped moving the ball, getting only one first down after Moore’s run.
“I think we need to stop pointing fingers at one another,” said Raiders senior receiver Alex Fennell, whose 41-yard touchdown catch at the end of the first half snapped a run of 15 consecutive shutout quarters by Middleburg’s defense. “We have to come together as a team and show some unity. I wouldn’t call it frustrating, but I would say it’s disappointing.”
Both sides faced some difficult situations. OP controlled the ball for more than 19 minutes of the 24-minute first half but came up empty on drives of 12 and 9 plays, taking 9 minutes, 37 seconds and 6:59 off the clock respectively.
The Broncos, on the other hand, had two first downs in the first half but led 10-7 behind their tough defense, which had allowed only six points entering Friday’s contest.
Carson Stewart’s quick kick pinned the Raiders at their own 1 at the start of the second quarter. On the next play, Moore dropped a snap from center that was a bit low and to his left, recovered it, but was run down immediately by Peyton Mooningham for a safety and a 2-0 Middleburg lead.
OP responded well, getting a first down on the Broncos 4 on the next drive. But Iowa State commit BJ Carter punched the ball out of Dylon Ruiz’s hands right after he took the handoff from Moore on the next play. Boyd scooped up the ball and raced away, giving his team a 10-0 lead.
“As soon as the quarterback handed the ball off, I saw (Carter) punch the ball out,” Boyd said. “I saw the ball on the ground, so, I picked it up. I kept running and I didn’t hear a whistle, so I said I’m taking it to the crib.”
Still, the Raiders rallied, and the adversity was right there against Middleburg.
The Broncos had only 41 total yards in the first half and went three-and-out on the first possession of the second half. But after that, Stewart, the quarterback, began to find a rhythm. He connected on 11 of his final 12 passes for 90 yards. Middleburg answered Moore’s run by doing what OP did in the first half — controlling the ball.
A 13-play drive, taking 8:31 off the clock, was capped when Stewart ran a keeper in from the 1 to retake the lead.
After the Raiders suffered their first three-and-out, the Broncos used 7:17 on its next drive, sealing the game when Stewart hit Mason Zwilling for a 12-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-7 with little more than three minutes left in the contest.
“We knew we had to come out and be fast,” said Stewart, who also ran for a two-point conversion. “We started slow. We rarely got the ball in the first half. The defense was on for so long but they held up.”
Now, it’s a matter of expanding upon this breakthrough season. But it’s a difficult road for Middleburg. After a bye week, its next three games are district contests against Ponte Vedra, Beachside and Fleming Island. Those three teams are a combined 7-3 in non-district games. Fleming Island, though saddled with two of those non-district losses, has beaten two district foes already.
“We’re starting to stack some accomplishments these last few years,” Wolfe said. “But we do have a big schedule coming up.”
Middleburg 24, Orange Park 14
Orange Park, 0, 7, 7, 0 —14
Middleburg, 0, 10, 7, 7 — 24
M – Safety, Quinton Moore tackled by Peyton Mooningham in end zone
M – Jaden Boyd 98 fumble return (Carson Stewart run)
OP — Alex Fennell 41 pass from Moore (Brock Aflleje kick)
OP – Moore 66 run (Aflleje kick)
M – Stewart 1 run (Brock Araujo kick)
M – Mason Zwilling 12 pass from Stewart (Araujo kick)
Category: OP — M
First downs: 12 — 13
Rushes-yards: 29-173 — 24-59
Passing: 77 — 139
Comp-Att-Int: 4-11-1 — 14-21-0
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 — 0-0
Penalties-Yards: 7-36 — 12-104
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — OP: Moore 16-123, Dylon Ruiz 11-38, Damar Jackson 2-12. M: Jordyn Grace 9-52, Stewart 8-27, Travis Pinkard 2-2, Jordan Williams 1-(-2), Team 4-(-22).
PASSING — OP: Moore 4-11-1-77. M: Stewart 14-20-0-139, Team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — OP: Fennell 2-54, Aflleje 2-23. M: Williams 5-58, Deshun Green 4-39, Joel Lowe 2-22, Zwilling 2-11 Grace 1-9.