- The Santa Fe volleyball team (22-3) will host Newberry (22-3) for the 3A-District 4 title on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Alachua.
- The Santa Fe football team (6-1) will host Dunnellon (6-0) for the 3A-District 5 championship at 7:30 p.m., with audio coverage on Mainstreet Daily News.
- Gainesville High will play Mount Dora in a Homecoming football game on Friday at Citizens Field, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. and radio coverage on 106.9 FM.
Wednesday night, Mainstreet Sports Director Mike Ridaught took a break from his weekly high school sports program, “The Prep Zone Sports Show,” at locally owned Sonic Drive-In due to a busy week of volleyball district tournament games.
Ridaught instead covered the Saint Francis Catholic Academy volleyball team, which swept Peniel Baptist Academy (Palatka) in the FHSAA Class 1A-District 4 Semifinals.
On Thursday night, there are a pair of district championship games in Alachua. At 6 p.m., the Santa Fe volleyball team will host Newberry for the 3A-District 4 title.
The host Raiders (22-3), who swept Keystone Heights in Tuesday’s district semifinals, are on the bubble for a bid for the FHSAA’s new Open Division tournament, featuring the state’s top eight teams. Santa Fe is currently No. 9 in Florida overall in the MaxPreps rankings.
Newberry, which is also 22-3, defeated Palatka, 3-1, in the other district semifinal. This will be the first meeting this season between the visiting Panthers and the Raiders.
Then, at 7:30 p.m., the Santa Fe football team will host Dunnellon for the 3A-District 5 championship. Audio coverage of the game will be available on Mainstreet Daily News (MDN).
The visiting Tigers (6-0) haven’t played since a 23-21 win at Eastside on Sept. 25. The host Raiders (6-1) bounced back from a 35-10 loss at home to current unbeaten Buchholz on Oct. 1 in the “War on I-75” to defeat Eastside, 44-14, on the road last Thursday.
That sets up tonight’s district title game as both teams are 2-0 in league play. It’s the first meeting between the two teams since Dunnellon’s 26-7 win against Santa Fe in 2018.
Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) and former University of Wisconsin football player/coach Mac McCray (Color) for all the action beginning at 7:15 p.m. on MDN.
Mainstreet returns to Citizens Field on Friday for its radio broadcast (106.9 FM “I am Country”), which will feature a battle of the Hurricanes.
It’s Homecoming for Gainesville High, which lost at unbeaten Lake Weir (Ocala), 32-21, on Monday night. Visiting Mount Dora is 3-4 while GHS is 2-5.
This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Join Ridaught (Play-by-play) and former Gator football player Hank Rone (Color) beginning at 7 p.m. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
You can also listen to the game online at IamCountryGainesville.com.