Another year, another city title for Buchholz.
The Bobcats defeated Gainesville, 44-0, on Friday, marking their seventh-straight win over the Hurricanes and another city title under coach Mark Whittemore.
“We have to enjoy these times while we can,” Whittemore said. “Over the 50-something-year history, we’ve been in these times with shifts. We got to just continue to play hard and enjoy these wins.”
Buchholz scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions, taking advantage of strong field position.
The Bobcats opened the game with a nine-play, 65-yard drive capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Whittemore to Justin Williams before adding a four-yard rushing touchdown from Josh Menefee two drives later.
Whittemore hit Williams for a 28-yard score with 8:07 left in the second quarter to put Buchholz up 21-0.
Gainesville, meanwhile, had struggled in the punt game with multiple short kicks to give the Bobcats good field position. The struggles got worse after Williams’ second touchdown with freshman Virgil Lee III blocking and recovering the ensuing punt on Gainesville’s 4-yard line.
Lee III blocked two punts in the game.
“I feel like as long as I’m on the field, I should ball up for these guys every time and take every time I’m on the field seriously,” Lee III said. “Just give them my all every time for these guys.”
Chris Johnson took advantage of the blocked punt with a touchdown run on the next play to give Buchholz a 28-0 lead.
While the points piled up, Buchholz’s first half was far from perfect.
Whittemore threw two interceptions in the half, one of which was a jump ball to Williams in the end zone, and Williams fumbled inside the 5-yard line on the game’s second drive.
The Bobcats also gave up multiple long passing plays, including a 65-yarder from Gainesville’s Jaishawn Sanford to Aric Welch, but kept the Hurricanes out of the end zone by forcing a missed field goal and a sack on fourth down in the second quarter.
“You can look at final scores, they say one story. When you look at the film, it says something else,” Gainesville coach Ian Scott said. “Trying to build consistency, we got a lot of young players… We’re continuing to work with them and trying the best that we can do in practice to build that.”
Buchholz sealed a running clock in the third quarter after a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Whittemore, his third rushing touchdown in the last two games. A safety by Lee III and a rushing touchdown by Ashton Norris in the fourth quarter capped off the scoring.
Buchholz (6-1) hits the road next week to face district rival Tocoi Creek, while Gainesville (2-4) looks to snap a three-game losing streak at home next Thursday against district foe Leesburg.
Football scores
Friday, Oct. 3
Bell 47, Duval Charter (Jacksonville) 27
Bradford (Starke) 36, Palatka 0
Branford 56, Interlachen 20
Buchholz 44, GHS 0
Chiefland 63, Dixie County (Cross City) 8
Columbia (Lake City) 35, Manatee (Bradenton) 0
Foundation Academy (Winter Garden) 42, Bronson 0
Foundation Christian Academy (Valrico) 48, Countryside Christian 0
Hamilton County (Jasper) 58, P.K. Yonge 14
Hawthorne 41, Bayshore (Bradenton) 0
Hernando Christian Academy (Brooksville) 2, Gainesville Christian Community 0 (FF)
Lafayette (Mayo) 27, Fort White 20
Newberry 27, Santa Fe (Alachua) 7
Ocala Christian 38, Saint Francis Catholic Academy 20
Trenton 42, Oak Hall 26
West Nassau (Callahan) 52, Keystone Heights 0
Williston 42, Belleview 6
Zarephath Academy (Jacksonville) 28, Union County (Lake Butler) 23
OFF – Eastside, Suwannee (Live Oak)
