Mike Ridaught
In a period of 24 hours, two area high school football teams had to cancel their game due to COVID-19 issues/protocols.
P.K. Yonge canceled its game at Newberry while Hawthorne rescheduled its game at Suwannee (Live Oak) for Friday, Oct. 1. Suwannee football coach Kyler Hall said the Bulldogs (2-0) will not schedule another opponent.
The Hawthorne at Suwannee game was scheduled as the 106.9 FM Game of the Week radio broadcast. Instead, the broadcast will feature Gainesville at Trinity Catholic (Ocala).
Gainesville (1-1) won its first game of the season last week, 14-6, over visiting Bishop Moore (Orlando).
Kickoff is 7 p.m. with the pregame beginning at 6:30 p.m. on 106.9 “I am Country” and online at IamCountryRadio.com.
Newberry was able to schedule Wakulla (Crawfordville). The game will be broadcast on MainStreetDailyNews.com at 7:15 p.m. with the kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
The Panthers are 2-0 following a 14-7 home win against Fort White last Friday.
“Honestly, we made one more play than they made and that was the difference on Friday night,” said Newberry football coach Ed Johnson. “We have a lot of things we need to clean up before our next game.”
Johnson said his team needs “to be more locked in on the defensive side of the ball, trust our keys and fly around.”
“On offense we need to take care of the ball, be solid up front blocking and hit some big plays down the field,” he said.
Last Friday, P.K. Yonge lost at home to Hawthorne, 24-0, in a match-up of previously undefeated teams.
“Unfortunately, we allowed a handful of distractions to take us away from just doing our job on the football field,” said P.K. Yonge coach Kevin Doelling. “I never expect my team to play perfectly. Mistakes are a part of the game but when you compile physical mistakes like drops and fumbles on top of mental miscues, it’s hard to compete like that.”
The Blue Wave, who dropped to 1-1, are scheduled to be back in action next Friday at Union County (Lake Butler).
Hawthorne, which improved to 2-0 with the win at P.K. Yonge, rescheduled its game with the Class 5A Bulldogs on Thursday. The Hornets will travel to Newberry next Friday night.
Earlier this week, Union County was scrambling to find an opponent after Harvest Community (Jacksonville) canceled, but the Tigers scheduled American Collegiate Academy (Clearwater).
In other action Friday, Bronson will look to bounce back from last Friday’s 64-8 loss at home to Class 6A Belleview.
“It was competitive early, but we had some key injuries in the first quarter when the game was 14-8 and we had the ball and were driving,” Bronson coach Russell Holley said. “We still have a number of key players out and, compounded with the in-game injuries, we just couldn’t keep up with their size and numbers.”
The Eagles (1-1) are on the road at Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville) at 7 p.m.
“We need to get healthier, and they have a large OL and DL,” Holley said. “I like our skill players. Last year we had a 12-0 lead in the fourth and lost 21-18 and they went on to win the state championship. If we can handle them up front, we should have some success.”
The Oak Hall Eagles are seeking a 3-0 start. Last week, the Eagles defeated Bishop Snyder, 28-14, on the road.
“I was extremely proud of our very young team with a huge conference road win,” said Eagles coach R.J. Fuhr. “We were dealing with a lot of adversity after finding out at Thursday’s practice about Coach (Eli) Walker passing away. We were also without two of our starting captains in Carter Coleman and James Parker who are both two-way starters. Abram Jerkins and Carter Dykes both stepped up big at running back as we rushed for 296 yards.”
Oak Hall’s opponent Friday is Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto).
“They are a very well coached team with a very talented QB,” Fuhr said. “We will have to be fundamentally sound on defense and play assignment football and then continue to do what we do on offense.”
High School Football Schedule – Friday, Sept. 10
Chiefland at West Oaks Academy (Orlando), 6 p.m.
Bronson at Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville), 7 p.m.
Columbia (Lake City) at Oakleaf (Orange Park), 7 p.m.
Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto) at Oak Hall School (Gainesville), 7 p.m.
Aucilla Christian (Monticello) at Saint Francis Catholic Academy (Gainesville), 7 p.m.
Gainesville at Trinity Catholic (Ocala), 7 p.m.
Middleburg at Santa Fe (Alachua), 7 p.m.
Eastside (Gainesville) at Buchholz (Gainesville) – (Citizen’s Field), 7:30 p.m.
Wakulla (Crawfordville) at Newberry, 7:30 p.m.
Dixie County (Cross City) at Williston, 7:30 p.m.
Hamilton County (Jasper) at Fort White, 7:30 p.m.
Clay (Green Cove Springs) at Bradford (Starke), 7:30 p.m.
Lafayette (Mayo) at Trenton, 7:30 p.m.
American Collegiate Academy (Clearwater) at Union County (Lake Butler), 7:30 p.m.
Bell at Branford, 7:30 p.m.
OFF- Keystone Heights