ST. JOHNS, Fla. – It was like the past four weeks didn’t change a thing as far as St. Augustine and Bartram Trail were concerned.
Games at the beginning, middle and ends of weeks. Long stretches without time on the field. A lot of rain and postponements, cancellations and delays.
But when they did get on the field Friday night, the Yellow Jackets rolled and Bartram Trail still struggled to put together a complete game. The Jackets forced three first-half turnovers and turned around the game in the process with their quick-strike offense, downing the host Bears 48-21 in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week.
It was an impressive showing from a team with an irregular slate this season, thanks in large part to Hurricanes Helene and Milton upending the schedule. St. Augustine (6-1), ranked third in the Super 10, played Wednesday, Sept. 25, then didn’t play again until routing Clay this past Monday.
The Jackets followed that up four days later by beating Bartram Trail (3-4) in a big non-district matchup.
“I feel like we were built for it,” said receiver Carl Jenkins, who caught a short pass and turned it into an 89-yard scoring play to give the Jackets the lead for good at 13-7. “A lot of teams pushed back their games to the last week of the season. But I feel like we’re ready for it. Tuesday, Wednesday, we treat every day like a game day.”
It was a different story for the Bears, who had a 23-day layoff with no games. Unfortunately for Bartram Trail, it was the same story as when the Bears left off, being decisively beaten by Tocoi Creek. As a result, for the first time since losing the 2017 season-opener to Cartersville (Ga.), Bartram Trail has a losing record during the regular season.
“I think it had a little (impact), but at the end of the day, we still have to be who we say we are,” said running back Arthur Lewis, who led his team with 76 rushing yards and scored all three of his team’s touchdowns. “We had three weeks to prepare. I knew we were going to come out a little rusty, but that’s no excuse.”
The Bears actually looked good at the start, taking the opening drive and using 12 plays and 6 minutes, 38 seconds to grab an early lead on Lewis’ 4-yard run. Big-play St. Augustine answered but Bartram Trail was on the move again to start the second quarter.
At the Jackets 4-yard line, Lewis took the ball, and Mason Beane, Bubba Gardner and Matteo Bernardi all converged on him in the pile and forced the ball free. Darrell Jenkins recovered at the 1.
“One mistake. I fumbled, they scored off it,” said Lewis, who has close to 1,200 rushing yards this season. “For me, being the player I want to be in the future, I can’t do that.”
Two plays later, Carl Jenkins caught the short pass in the right flat, picked up a block on the edge and raced down the sideline, accelerating past a closing safety for the 89-yard score.
“That was just a short little route,” Jenkins said. “When the quarterback gives me the chance, I want to make the most of the opportunity. I feel like when I hit that second gear, it’s over.”
Opportunities are plentiful in the offense but divided up among a fleet of talented skill players. Quarterback Lachlan Hewlett threw for 271 yards, but only 23 in the second half. But running back Trendell Anderson picked up 122 of his 196 rushing yards in the final 24 minutes, along with his second touchdown.
Jenkins had 104 receiving yards, but teammates Trenton Jones and Somourian Wingo had 80 and 77 respectively, with Wingo picking up a touchdown.
In other words, there are a lot of players who can do something with the ball when they get their hands on it.
“We’re just blessed with some players, and our offensive coaches do such a great job of being hard on them and demanding excellence from them,” St. Augustine coach Brian Braddock said. “It’s never a surprise when they do something like that, to be honest.
“We’re spoiled.”
The defense played big in spots and steadied in the second half. On the very next series, Bears quarterback Coleson Baum, who typically gets one or two series a half, was running on a keeper when linebacker K’yon Wilcox came flying in from behind and forced out the ball. Markeal Logan recovered for the Jackets.
“We’ve got a head coach who pushes us every single day,” said Wilcox, who also had two tackles for loss and one of his team’s four sacks. “It’s chemistry. We’ve been playing together, most of us, since 6 (and under) and 7U. We came into the game wanting to dominate, and we do that every week.”
Two plays later, Anderson was in the end zone.
As St. Augustine had quick-strike drives lasting 3:16, 38 seconds, 18 seconds and 1:33 in the first half, the Jackets ground down Bartram Trail in the second half, rotating Anderson with Durell Preston and Jayquan Lee, who combined for 73 rushing yards, three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion run. That resulted in six-, 10- and eight-play scoring drives to start the second half.
The defense made it difficult on the Bears as well in the final 24 minutes. Quarterback Jaden Weatherly rushed for 61 yards in the first half and was a definite X-factor to complement Lewis. But in the second half, he was held to minus-10 on the ground.
Lewis picked up 36 yards in the final half on only four carries. But because Bartram Trail fell behind, he lined up mostly at wideout in the final quarter.
In all, it was just like things picked right back up from the third week of September.
“It’s just a team effort,” Jenkins said. “We just all made plays. I just feel like we’re always prepared. The word of the week was ‘preparation’, so …”
St. Augustine 48, Bartram Trail 21
St. Augustine, 7, 20, 14, 7 — 48
Bartram Trail, 7, 7, 7, 0 — 21
BT – Arthur Lewis 4 run (Lucas Floyd kick)
SA – Jayquan Lee 1 run (Skyler Kokoszka kick)
SA – Carl Jenkins 89 pass from Locklan Hewlett (kick blocked)
SA – Trendell Anderson 1 run (Lee run)
BT – Lewis 6 run (Floyd kick)
SA – Somourian Wingo 23 pass from Hewlett (kick blocked)
SA – Durell Preston 26 run (Kokoszka kick)
SA – Preston 1 run (Kokoszka kick)
BT – Lewis 1 run (Floyd kick)
SA – Anderson 19 run (Kokoszka kick)
Category: SA — BT
First downs: 23 — 17
Rushes-yards: 36-261 — 45-153
Passing: 271 — 106
Comp-Att-Int: 14-20-0 — 9-15-1
Fumbles-lost: 0-0 — 3-2
Penalties-Yards: 11-106 — 2-6
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — SA: Anderson 19-196, Preston 9-43, Lee 7-30, Team 1-(-8). BT: Lewis 16-76, Jaden Weatherly 19-56, Neko Dawkins 7-14, Colby Dean 1-6, Coleson Baum 1-4, Team 1-(-3).
PASSING — SA: Hewlett 14-20-0-271. BT: Weatherly 9-15-1-106.
RECEIVING — SA: Jenkins 4-104, Trenton Jones 5-80, Somourian Wingo 4-77, Anderson 1-10. BT: DeAndre Caldwell 4-71, Lewis 3-27, Dean 2-8.