Mike Ridaught
Thursday’s Levy County spring games at Bronson marked the debut of new coaches Robby Pruitt (Williston) and James Corbin (Chiefland).
Both schools won their opening 16-minute quarters against host Bronson.
However, the two teams didn’t get a chance to face each other in the final quarter of the night.
Due to a brawl following a postgame handshake between Bronson and Chiefland, the Williston-Chiefland game was canceled.
The Red Devils opened the night by pitching a shutout in a 16-0 win against the Eagles.
“It’s a new system and we’ve got a long, long way to go, but I was proud of their effort,” Pruitt said. “I felt like we got a little bit better every day and I thought this game was indicative of our spring. We got a little better as the game went on too.”
Offensively, fullback Carlos Guzman set up the first touchdown with two runs totaling 51 yards. Jaharez Williams scored on an 18-yard run and then scored the 2-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead with 10:29 to play in the quarter.
“Offensively we had a few mishaps, but I was pretty pleased for the most part,” Pruitt said.
Bronson did have some success on offense.
Donteau Jenkins, who will be a senior in the fall, had a 14-yard run and a 19-yard run on the Eagles’ first drive, ending in Williston territory. Later in the quarter, rising senior quarterback Riley Bray completed a 35-yard pass to upcoming junior Isaiah Jenkins.
“I thought we played pretty well offensively against Williston,” said Bronson coach Russell Holley. “We ran a bunch of formations. We drove the ball three times in their territory.”
Chiefland made a statement on its opening drive against Bronson in the next quarter.
Dakota Fisher, who ran for 1,197 yards this past fall as a sophomore, scored on a 70-yard run down the left sideline on the game’s first play.
He only carried the ball twice for 107 yards. The second touch went 37 yards to the house for a 24-0 lead a little over five minutes later.
“I asked him if 100 yards was enough for him and he said that was good, so I told him he was done for this game at that point,” Corbin said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to play Williston, we were really looking forward to that. But overall, I thought it was a good game and good experience for us to be able to come out here and get better and hit somebody besides ourselves at practice.”
Chiefland, which advanced to the state semifinals this past December, capped the scoring on a 70-yard keeper by senior quarterback Clint Thomas, who also threw a 40-yard scoring pass to senior Donovan Minichello.
“Our first 11 is pretty decent on both sides of the ball,” said Holley, who noted that he had five starters out on offense and defense. “We just don’t have any depth.”
Chiefland’s defense also pitched a shutout.
They were led by rising freshman Jonathan Adams, who had 24 tackles for a loss this past fall for the state semifinalists.
Early in the quarter, Adams made back-to-back plays in the backfield.
“Jon is a player that any coach in the state of Florida would kill to have, it doesn’t matter your classification,” Corbin said. “The fact that he’s in eighth grade going into ninth grade is absolutely absurd. When I send off his information to coaches and then they ask what grade he is in, their jaw hits the floor.”