The bar is high every year for the Hawthorne football program.

With five straight state championship game appearances, I’d say they’re hitting their mark.

They were flying under the radar last year, heading into the state playoffs with a 7-1 record, and made it to the FHSAA Rural state championship game, where they lost to Madison County.

Coming into the 2025 season, the state runner-up Hornets were going to be young. However, that didn’t mean that the two-time state champion (2022 & 2023) couldn’t gear up for another state title run.

“These kids all spend a lot of time with each other and all like each other, and that’s where it starts,” Hawthorne football coach Cornelius Ingram said at this year’s high school football media day. “I’m excited because these guys have played a lot of football for us, despite being young.”

They’re off to a 3-0 start this year. The Hornets are one of six unbeaten area teams remaining, along with Oak Hall (3-0), Santa Fe (Alachua) (2-0), Trenton (3-0), Bradford (Starke) (3-0) and Columbia (Lake City) (3-0).

The Hornets get their toughest test of the season tonight at 7 p.m. when they travel to Class 6A No. 5 Oakleaf (Orange Park).

The game will be broadcast on 106.9 FM “I am Country” beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tonight’s game is one of two high school football broadcasts on Friday night.

Hawthorne has wins against Discovery (Lake Alfred), 42-0, at Newberry, 32-7, and at home against Florida High (Tallahassee), 33-27.

Quarterback Adrian Curtis graduated, but Richard Roundtree Jr. has stepped up in a big way.

The sophomore, who was 20-of-31 for 250 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions last week against the Seminoles, has completed 73.3% of his passes this season for 733 yards with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions.

“Roundtree has been nothing short of impressive to start the season,” said Hawthorne offensive coordinator Greg Bowie. “He’s a true field general — calm, composed, and fully in control of the offense. His ability to navigate the pocket stands out. He reads defenses well, steps up under pressure, and delivers accurate throws to all levels of the field. His leadership and decision-making has been huge for us, and he’s already shown he can make the tough throws in big moments.”

Roundtree’s “Hail Mary” on the final play gave Hawthorne a stunning 27-21 win at home against the Knights last September.

The Hornets got a big game on the ground from senior running back Keenon Johnson (22 carries, 209 yards, 2 TDs) in last year’s win against Oakleaf. Johnson has graduated, but Derryek Gillins has gotten off to a great start in his absence.

The sophomore has 34 carries for 210 yards (6.2 ypc) with a pair of touchdowns.

“Derryek is a physical back who brings toughness and grit to our ground game,” Bowie said. “He consistently gets the tough yards between the tackles and isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder to finish runs. But he’s more than just a bruiser. He’s also shown the burst to break off 20- to 30-yard gains when he finds a crease. That combination of power and explosiveness has made him a key part of the offense early on, and he’s quickly establishing himself as a reliable workhorse in the backfield.”

Roundtree has a lot of weapons at wide receiver, led by senior Darian Bowie, who has 19 catches for 390 yards. He had 10 receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns last week.

“We’ve got a deep and talented receiving corps this year, with a lot of weapons who can stretch the field and make plays,” Bowie said. “Darian, our lone senior in the group, is setting the tone. His leadership and experience are huge for us. He does the little things — blocks on the perimeter, goes across the middle, and makes tough catches in traffic. Darian brings grit, consistency, and a veteran presence we can count on. He’s aggressive in the slot, dependable in big moments, and always willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. With the way he’s started the season, he’s on pace to be one of the top receivers in the area.”

Oakleaf, which won at Riverside (Jacksonville), 23-14, vs. Orange Park, 56-7, and vs. Fleming Island (Orange Park), 31-0, has its own arsenal on offense.

Senior quarterback Jack McKissock was a 2,942-yard passer in 2024. Oakleaf is also averaging over 200 yards rushing per game.

Oak Hall, which is expecting success after a rare losing season, is undefeated under head coach R.J. Fuhr, who is back for his second stint.

“I think the key to our good start is the players buying into our systems on both sides of the ball and being very coachable,” Fuhr said. “Our O-line has gelled very well and our leadership by our captains has been great. Our quarterback and senior captain, Aaron Akins, is like a coach on the field, both on offense and defense. The kids have also worked hard in the weight room in the off-season, so that has definitely helped as well.”

The Eagles are averaging 331 yards per game on the ground, led by junior Tyler Peera (32 carries, 285 yards, 4 TDs) and junior Darius Medley (10 carries, 284 yards, 3 TDs).

“Our running game has been huge for us,” Fuhr said. “We had Tyler rush for 198 yards vs. Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville) and then last week vs. Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto), we had Darius rush for 192 and (freshman) Jermiah Taylor ran for 126, so we are able to spread the carries around. All three can run between the tackles and also get out on the edge.”

The Eagles will host Brandford (2-1) at 7 p.m.

“We are very young and have already had some guys out with injury,” Fuhr said. “We will be facing our toughest test of the season so far in Branford. They are a much-improved team from last year, with some new guys that are very athletic. Tim Clark always does a great job coaching their kids up, so they are a very well-coached team. We will have to stop their run game, but also avoid giving up the big play to numbers 0 (Maurice Vought), 7 (Arkayvion Jones) and 2 (Ollie James). Those guys are very good athletes, and their QB (Trent Land) is also a very good player. Offensively, we need to establish the run first, as we always try to do.”

Santa Fe is at home against Palatka (1-2) for a key Class 2A-District 5 game.

The Raiders have opened the season with a 55-14 win at home against Zarephath Academy (Jacksonville) and last week’s 50-0 win at home against Harvest Community (Jacksonville).

New coach Earnest Graham has given Santa Fe hope. Their 2-0 start is their first since opening the season 3-0 in 2014, when they finished 8-2.

Trenton, which is led by first-year coach Bryant Frye, will travel to Jefferson County (Monticello) (1-2). The Tigers improved to 3-0 last week with a 21-20 win at home against Aucilla Christian (Monticello).

“A 3-0 season is all about the boys, they work hard,” Frye told correspondent Matthew Kilgore after the game. “Those young men have been putting in a lot of work and a lot of time, and it’s paying off for them. I’m proud of them…we had to make some adjustments at halftime. We came back out and ran the ball a little bit more, and the results spoke for themselves. We drove the ball down the field both times and put it in there.”

Bradford heads to Jacksonville to face Mandarin (3-0) in a battle of unbeaten teams. The Tornadoes won last year’s meeting 18-13.

Columbia is 3-0 for the first time since 2019, when the Tigers won their first six games of the season.

The Tigers will travel to defending FHSAA Rural state champion Madison County. The host Cowboys (1-2) won last year’s meeting, 18-13, and have won four of the last five in the series.