Last night, the Buchholz football team took a huge step towards a potential unbeaten regular season.
The Bobcats improved to 8-0 with a convincing 44-7 win against Bartram Trail (St. Johns) at Citizens Field on Senior Night to win the Class 4S-District 3 title.
They’re moving on to the next obstacle, their first unbeaten regular season since 2001.
“Last night’s win was the result of a lot of hard work and preparation by our players and coaching staff,” said Buchholz football coach Chuck Bell. “We challenged our players to embrace the physicality required to win against a team like Bartram, and the men in our locker room rose to the occasion.”
Buchholz’s final two games are on the road next Friday at Fleming Island (Orange Park) and Nov. 3 at Trinity Catholic (Ocala).
“We’ve been able to remain unbeaten thus far thanks to a quality effort and focus on the practice field, and our team’s strong desire to prove they are the best team in the state,” Bell said.
It’s hard to go undefeated.
Last year, Bradford (Starke) won its first nine games of the year and only allowed 21 points as part of a 9-0 start. In fact, they set a school record with nine shutouts.
However, the Tornadoes lost at Suwannee (Live Oak), 10-7, in the final game of the regular season to ruin a perfect season. They did bounce back and make a run to the 2S state semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Cocoa, 31-21.
This year, Bradford is one of five area football teams who are undefeated with three weeks left in the regular season.
The Tornadoes (7-0) host 3S Lecanto (4-3) tonight as part of a three-game home stand to close out the regular season.
They host 6-1 Palatka next week, followed by a rematch against Suwannee on Friday, Nov. 3. The Bulldogs (6-1) just lost their first game of the season last Friday at Class 1R Madison County, 38-13.
There were only three area football teams that went undefeated during the 2022 regular season — Class 1R schools Hawthorne and Williston, and Oak Hall School of the Sunshine State Athletic Association.
In fact, the Hornets went wire-to-wire and finished 12-0 with a 13-2 win against Northview (Bratt) in the Class 1R state title game to win their first FHSAA Football championship in program history.
An undefeated season doesn’t guarantee postseason success.
Williston went unbeaten during the regular season but lost in the first round of the Class 1R state playoffs.
Their schedule this year has been tougher, but they’ve still found a way to win them all, including a touchdown on the road in the final minute to beat Newberry.
The Red Devils have wins against bigger schools. They defeated 3M First Coast (Jacksonville) on the road by 17, won at 2S Dunnellon by 30, and cruised past 4S Land O’ Lakes by 36 points.
They are averaging 43.4 points and 288.6 yards rushing per game.
Tonight, Williston (7-0) gets another test at Class 2S Hudson, which is also 7-0.
If they can get past the Cobras, they have winnable home games next week against 2S North Marion (Citra) and 3S Citrus (Inverness) in the regular season finale on Friday, Nov. 3. Those two teams are a combined 2-12.
The longest winning streak in the area belongs to head coach Cornelius Ingram and the Hawthorne Hornets.
They have won 19 games in a row heading into tonight’s game at North Marion.
“Traditionally, they’ve always been one of the top football programs, I know they’re down this year, but you have to respect those guys to have athletes out on the field,” Ingram said. “This will be our first time in school history ever playing a football game over there. Last year was our first time playing them period, when we played them here, so it’s going to be a big game.”
Hawthorne won last year’s game 13-0 thanks to a pick-6 by current Vanderbilt freshman Jailen Ruth.
The Hornets (7-0) have just one regular season game remaining after tonight. They will host 1-4 Akelynn’s Angels Christian Academy (Winter Haven) next Friday night to conclude their regular season.
Three more wins for Williston and two more wins for Hawthorne and it will be back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons for the Red Devils and the Hornets, who are currently ranked first and second in Class 1R, respectively, in the most recent FHSAA football rankings.
Meanwhile, the Oak Hall football team, although not a member of the FHSAA, will have the first opportunity to finish unbeaten this year.
They conclude their regular season tonight.
The Eagles, who have been a model of consistency with eight straight postseason appearances, are seeking their second straight unbeaten regular season.
Head coach R.J. Fuhr and the Eagles were guests on this week’s podcast. They talked about the unbeaten regular season so far, the win against P.K. Yonge, and the tough matchup tonight in Oviedo against Master’s Academy.
Master’s Academy (5-2) is currently the No. 1 seed in the north division of the SSAA, while Oak Hall is seeded fourth.
It’s not only a chance to finish undefeated, with a shortened regular season due to the SSAA playoffs beginning next Friday, but a chance to improve their seeding and potentially host a first-round game on Oct. 27.
The top four teams will advance in the north division, with the winner advancing to face the winner of the south division.
The Eagles, in a rare meeting, defeated P.K. Yonge last Friday night after trailing for the first time all season. They scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to rally for a 20-8 win and improve to 7-0.
One team has kept their unblemished record intact for at least one more week. Four more teams get that opportunity on Friday night.