PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Oakleaf coach Christopher Foy wanted his team to match the way Nease played: For one another, for their coaches, a team game.
The Knights didn’t match Nease on Friday night, they exceeded the Panthers. It was that approach that paved the way for the No. 1 team in the state to get knocked out of the postseason in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week.
The tandem of Fareed Coleman and Malachi Warthen more than subbed in for injured star back Christopher Foy II, with each running for more than 100 yards. At the same time, the Oakleaf defense throttled one of the area’s most potent offenses, with Nease unable to score until trailing by 21 in the fourth quarter.
That led to a stunning 31-14 victory for the visiting fifth-seeded Knights (9-3) in the Region 1-6A semifinal. It wasn’t just toppling the Panthers (10-1), the top seed in the region and state, but also slowing down an offense that averaged more than 357 yards a game and nearly 40 points a game.
All that was on the heels of a tough opening-round victory over Mandarin, a preseason title hopeful.
“We could have easily hung our hats on last week and had a big Mandarin hangover,” Coach Foy said. “I’ll be honest, we really wanted to match the love that Nease has for one another. That’s how they ended up No. 1 in the state.
“They love each other. They love their coaches. They love their school. They play for each other. That’s a great team, so we wanted to match that.”
They did so, earning a region final date at Gainesville Buchholz (9-3), which earned a 34-24 victory over Pace. A victory there, and Oakleaf will be playing December football for the first time.
The Knights made it even without the younger Foy, who has rushed for more than 1,200 yards this season but missed seven consecutive quarters with a separated shoulder.
Up stepped Coleman, who had 151 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Warthen, who went for 118 and a score.
“We wanted to have a ground-and-pound offense,” said Warthen, whose 65-yard run in the fourth quarter was a back-breaker after Nease pulled to within 21-7. “We always believe in next man up. But with the ability of (Coleman), I and others, we put a beating on the defense. Give credit to the coaches who believe in us, and the offensive line.”
Nease coach Collin Drafts gave plenty of credit to the offensive line, as well as the Oakleaf defensive line. The Panthers, who averaged 46.5 points in the past five games, were checked to their lowest point total this season.
That seems to be the magic formula for the Knights, who have only surrendered more than 14 points three times this season — all ended in defeats for Oakleaf.
“We’ve been running the ball so well the second half of the season, but we couldn’t open up the holes,” Drafts said. “You look at how big their defensive front is. They controlled the line of scrimmage when they had the ball. They controlled the line of scrimmage when we had the ball. I think that was the biggest difference in the game.”
Drafts credited the Knights but also said his team did not play well. After converting its first third-down attempt of the game, Nease failed to convert on all but one of its next nine third downs.
The Panthers constantly were in 3rd-and-long, frequently looking at 9, 11, 13, 17, 18 and 19 yards for a first down.
“We played them in the kickoff classic, so we knew where their strengths and weaknesses are,” said defensive lineman Amare’ Thomas, who had a sack and was a thorn for the Nease ground game. “Great pass coverage. We knew our assignments. We just forced them to do things they were uncomfortable with.
“We knew we had to play as a team. They had a lot of great wins, but we had to show we’re the better team.”
The Panthers were able to make two first-half red zone trips despite the third-down struggles. But they missed a 28-yard field goal attempt on their opening drive after penalties set them back and then failed with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-5 from the Oakleaf 14 right before halftime.
Mistakes also cost Nease on the scoreboard after the Knights scored on their opening drive. The Panthers had three turnovers and failed three times on fourth down.
The first miscue was costly. After Trevan Davis stripped Maddox Spencer on a punt return midway through the second quarter, Oakleaf took over on the Panthers 32. Four plays later — three of them Coleman runs — it was 14-0.
In the third quarter, Drafts tried a fake punt despite saying he believed Knights coaches were looking for it. It fell two yards short on a 3rd-and-11.
Coleman broke through for a 56-yard run on the next play for a 21-0 lead.
“Maybe I should have run it earlier,” Drafts said. “They were expecting it. Why wouldn’t they? There were so many points in the game where we couldn’t get that conversion. We could never stack up enough good plays together to gain traction.”
When Nease finally got on the board to start the fourth quarter, Warthen delivered the dagger with his 65-yard scoring run on the way to his first 100-yard game of the season.
“Those two were incredible to step up,” Coach Foy said. “We knew they could get us to the perimeter, but they ran it between the tackles, too, and that was huge for us.”
Oakleaf 31, Nease 14
Oakleaf, 7, 7, 7, 10 — 31
Nease, 0, 0, 0, 14 — 14
O – Carlos Witherup 12 pass from Jack McKissock (Andrew McDaid kick)
O – Fareed Coleman 15 run (McDaid kick)
O – Coleman 56 run (McDaid kick)
N – KJ Perry 2 run (Tyler Ghazanfari kick)
O – Malachi Warthen 65 run (McDaid kick)
N – Ghazanfari 6 pass from Mason Bacus (Ghazanfari kick)
O – McDaid 20 FG
Category: O — N
First downs: 19 — 15
Rushes-yards: 35-259 — 31-110
Passing: 104 — 206
Comp-Att-Int: 9-17-0 — 16-33-2
Fumbles-lost: 1-0 — 1-1
Penalties-Yards: 13-121 — 11-97
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — O: Coleman 13-151, Warthen 15-118, C.J. Moses 3-6, Team 1-(-1). McKissock 4-(-15). N: Perry 17-64, Nate Harry 11-23, Bacus 2-14, Brayden Felder 1-9.
PASSING — O: McKissock 9-17-0-104. N: Harry 11-23-1-144, Bacus 5-10-1-62.
RECEIVING — O: Michael Conner 5-54, Witherup 3-30, Coleman 1-20. N: Maddox Spencer 8-145, Felder 6-39, Perry 1-16, Ghazanfari 1-6.