JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Donovan Masline’s first season in charge of his alma mater was tough.
He was promoted from defensive coordinator to take over for the most successful coach in Raines history, Deran Wiley. Then Covid 19 swept across the country and shook everything up. Instead of enjoying the ride, Masline hung on and slogged through the best he could. The Vikings finished 4-7, their first sub-.500 season since 2008.
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Unprompted, Masline quickly brought that tough year up when the clock zeroed out last Friday night following a 28-23 win over Sarasota Booker that sent Raines (13-0) on to the Class 3A state championship game against Miami Northwestern (11-2) Saturday at FIU’s Pitbull Stadium.
To fully appreciate the peaks, Masline knew he had to make it through the valley first. And 2020, for Raines, the most NFL-rich pipeline in the News4JAX coverage region, was a valley.
“We’ve been working to get to this point since I took over in 2020, and now that we’re here, we’re humble, excited, we’re hungry, and then determined to come home with the state championship,” Masline said.
Masline is a Vikings product himself and knows the standard at 3663 Raines Avenue. That’s why 2020 was so challenging for him and why 2024 has been so rewarding. He’s tried to appreciate the journey, much like his predecessor and former colleague Wiley did. The goal is a championship but neither Wiley nor Masline walked into a situation ready-made for a title.
During Wiley’s time, the strains of coaching his alma mater was massive. The Vikings beat rival Bolles to end its state record 91-game district winning streak in 2011 only to lose to the Bulldogs in the state playoffs. When Raines finally beat Bolles in the postseason to reach its first state title game since 1997, it played about as bad of a fourth quarter as possible to lose to Miami Booker T. Washington 43-23 in the 2015 championship game.
By the time Raines got back to the title game in 2017, a staff Masline was part of, it felt like the circle was complete. The Vikings had paid their dues and beat Cocoa 13-10 for the second championship in school history. They doubled up in 2018 for a 27-13 win over Cocoa, the only back-to-back titles by a public school team in Duval County history, and the area’s first public school repeat champs since Union County won three straight (1994-96).
The title was rewarding but the journey there is what made it so sweet. Masline has gone through his own cycle since 2020, taking the Vikings from 4-7, then enduring playoff losses to Wakulla and back-to-back postseason defeats to Bolles.
This year has felt a bit like pushing some of its old issues to the side. Raines beat Bolles in Week 1 and crushed Wakulla (63-7) in the second round of the playoffs. Those had been two thorns in Masline’s side during his tenure. Maybe, just maybe, that’s a good sign for Saturday night. He’ll walk out onto the field with a championship on the line, just like Raines coaches before him did.
Jimmie Johnson made that walk in 1973 and came up short. Welton Coffey made that walk in 1997, winning a title in his first year. Wiley made it three times and won two of them. Masline knows that he’ll appreciate every step on Saturday night.
“I was thinking about that last night. I was washing the uniforms. I take that time when I go wash the uniforms, that time is to reflect, a time to meditate, just to see the things that we have done and what we need to do to get better,” he said.
“A lot of coaches, they coach 20 plus years for the opportunity to play or coach in the state title game. I’m very, very humbled for the opportunity to be in this position. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be the program’s head coach. And you know, a lot of coaches don’t get this opportunity. They work years and years and years to get to this point. AI don’t take it lightly. I don’t take it for granted.”