JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Talk about a wild finish to the high school football regular season.
Mandarin used a touchdown and a two-point run in overtime by Shaunqueze Foster to stun St. Augustine in a 32-31 thriller that ended with a deluge of controversy in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week.
The Mustangs (9-1) ended St. Augustine’s perfect season for the second consecutive year, although this one left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Yellow Jackets in one of the most wild finishes imaginable.
St. Augustine went ahead in the final seconds of regulation on a short field goal by Jake Fischer that put them in front 27-24 with less than 15 seconds to play.
Mandarin was flagged for offsides on the play which took the field goal off the board. St. Augustine instead, set up for a new set of downs and an attempt to run one play, drain the clock further, call a timeout and then attempt a game-winning field goal.
The confusion in the moment is that a line judge told St. Augustine that it had two timeouts when it began its final drive. The Yellow Jackets spent one and thought they had the additional one after its final carry. They called the timeout to set Fischer up for a walk-off kick, only to be flagged when the head official said they were out of timeouts.
The officials conferred with St. Augustine head coach Brian Braddock and Mandarin head coach Toby Bullock and then signaled the clock run off (due to no timeout) and that the game was headed into overtime.
Cash Downey threw a touchdown pass to Kaleb Stehr and Fisher booted the extra point. Mandarin countered with a touchdown run by Foster, and then the winning two-pointer on the following play.
Cue the chaos.
Elsewhere in the Super 10, Bolles finished 7-2 after ending Buchholz’s perfect season in a 31-28 thriller on Friday night.
No. 2 Columbia hammered Suwannee in the Battle for the Oaken Bucket in 48-0 romp, wrapping up a 10-0 regular season for the first time since 1997.
SSAA playoffs
West Nassau and Fernandina Beach set up another installment of their intense county rivalry.
The Warriors hammered Trenton 38-12 while the Pirates went on the road and upset Franklin County 17-16 in the opening round of the Sunshine State Athletic Association state playoffs. That means they’ll meet in the SSAA quarters for the third straight season.
Second-seeded Paxon erased a 21-3 deficit and stormed back to beat Lafayette 24-21 in the SSAA playoffs. The Golden Eagles (9-2) will host Union County (6-5) in the Atlantic League quarters next week.
In the SSAA 11-man playoff bracket, unbeaten Episcopal matched the best record in program history with a 37-8 win over Old Plank Christian. The Eagles moved to 11-0, matching the 2002 season for the best season in school history. Christ’s Church moved to 10-1 with a 50-8 win over St. Joseph behind five touchdowns from Jaylin Robinson.
That’s a wrap
With the regular season just one Northwest Classic and a couple rained out halves for makeup games away from being finished, here’s a look at a few superlatives from the year.
Winless teams: Atlantic Coast (0-10), Eagle’s View (0-11).
Unbeaten teams: Raines (9-0), Columbia (10-0), Episcopal (11-0), Hilliard (10-0).
Turnarounds of the year: Sandalwood (1-9 to 6-4); Ribault (1-9 to 5-4); Clay (2-8 to 7-2); Creekside (4-7 to 8-2); Hilliard (3-7 to 10-0).
Knights tie best mark: Creekside’s 8-2 finish tied for the best regular season mark in program history, matching records in 2021 and ’22. All three of those eight-win regular seasons have come under head coach Sean McIntyre.
Best teams by county
A look at the best teams in counties with multiple schools.
Clay: Clay would be 4-0 against county teams if it beats Fleming Island in the completion of a suspended game on Nov. 3.
Columbia: The Tigers finished 10-0 but didn’t face Fort White, the only other school in the county.
Duval: Raines will be 7-0 against Duval County teams with a win over Ribault.
Flagler: Flagler Palm Coast went 8-2 and beat county rival Matanzas.
Nassau: West Nassau went 2-0 against in-county teams.
Putnam: Interlachen and Palatka. The Rams beat the only county team they played. The Panthers didn’t face a county team, but won a district title for the first time since 2003.
St. Johns: St. Augustine went 2-0 against county teams and 9-1 on the season.
Open division likelihood?
Raines, Columbia and Bolles are the three teams that MaxPreps likes the best for the inaugural eight-team postseason bracket. It’s unlikely that any of those teams will make the field for that.
Do not be surprised to see the Bulldogs jump both 10-0 Raines and Columbia teams in the final rankings. Bolles’ win over previously unbeaten Buchholz will weigh far greater than Columbia’s romp over Suwannee and Raines’ expected win over Ribault.
Playoff situation
The MaxPreps rankings will no doubt cause plenty of headaches as we get closer to the bracket reveal on Nov. 6. Here are the teams who have locked up playoff spots as district champs, others who are virtual locks and others who need help.
One interesting region is 1-5A. Nease could take advantage of Buchholz’s loss to Bolles and move up as high as a No. 2 seed in the region. Ponte Vedra’s 3-7 record is going to test the limits of the MaxPreps rankings. The Sharks started the week as the eighth and final seed before getting walloped by Creekside in Week 11. Will Fletcher’s win over an 0-10 Atlantic Coast team be enough to move the Senators up above the Sharks?
Oakleaf polished off a 5-5 season with a 31-8 romp over a 1-9 First Coast team. The Knights are ranked higher than 8-2 Ocala Forest, a team that handled Oakleaf in the regular season.
Region 1-6A
1-6A champ: Creekside
Needs help: Flagler Palm Coast.
Too far back: Sandalwood, Tocoi Creek.
Region 1-5A
2-5A champ: Mandarin.
3-5A champ: Gainesville Buchholz.
Lock: Nease.
In good position: Bartram Trail, Oakleaf.
Needs help: Fletcher, Ponte Vedra.
Region 1-4A
3-4A champ: Columbia
4-4A champ: St. Augustine
Lock: Ed White.
In good shape: Clay.
Too far back: Fleming Island, Middleburg, Yulee.
Region 1-3A
2-3A champ: With Waku
3-3A champ: Raines
4-3A champ: Palatka
Locks: Baker County, Bishop Kenny.
Longshot: Suwannee.
Region 1-2A
3-2A champ: Bolles
4-2A champ: Bradford
In good shape: Jackson.
Region 1-1A
3-1A champ: Madison County
5-1A champ: Trinity Christian.
Locks: University Christian, Fort White.
How the Super 10 fared on Friday night
1. (1) Raines (9-0, Class 3A)
This week: vs. Ribault (5-4), Saturday, 2 p.m. Next: State playoffs.
2. Columbia (10-0, Class 4A)
This week: Beat Suwannee, 48-0. Next: State playoffs.
3. St. Augustine (9-1, Class 4A)
This week: Lost to (4) Mandarin, 32-31, OT. Next: State playoffs.
4. Mandarin (9-1, Class 5A)
This week: Beat St. Augustine, 32-31, OT. Next: State playoffs.
5. Ed White (8-2, Class 4A)
This week: Beat Baldwin, 41-0. Next: State playoffs.
6. Trinity Christian (6-4, Class 1A)
This week: Beat Riverside, 49-3. Next: State playoffs.
7. Bolles (7-2, Class 2A)
This week: Beat Gainesville Buchholz, 31-28. Next: State playoffs.
8. (5) Bradford (9-1, Class 2A)
This week: Off, regular season complete. Next: State playoffs.
9. (9) Nease (7-3, Class 5A)
This week: Beat Sandalwood, 39-0. Next: State playoffs.
10. University Christian (7-3, Class 1A)
This week: Beat Calvary Christian, 42-7. Next: State playoffs.
How the Super 6 fared on Friday night
1. Episcopal (11-0, SSAA)
This week: Beat (6) Old Plank Christian, 37-8first round SSAA 11-man championship state playoffs. Next: at (2) Seffner Christian (10-1) SSAA 11-man championship state quarterfinals.
2. West Nassau (8-2-1, SSAA)
This week: Beat (8) Trenton, 38-12first round of the SSAA Atlantic League state playoffs. Next: vs Fernandina Beach (4-7), SSAA Atlantic League state quarterfinals.
3. Paxon (9-2, SSAA)
This week: Beat (7) Lafayette, 24-21first round of the SSAA Atlantic League state playoffs. Next week: vs. Union County (6-5), SSAA Atlantic League state quarterfinals, 6:30 p.m.
4. Christ’s Church (10-1, SSAA)
This week: Beat (5) St. Joseph, 50-8first round SSAA 11-man championship state playoffs. Next: at (1) Maclay (10-0), SSAA 11-man championship state quarterfinals.
5. Hilliard (10-0, FHSAA)
This week: Off, game against Taylor Pierson win by forfeit. Next: FHSAA independent playoffs.
6. Interlachen (7-3, SSAA)
This week: Beat Bell, 40-23, first round SSAA Atlantic consolation bracket playoffs. Next: at Sneads (6-4), SSAA Atlantic consolation bracket quarterfinals.
Week 11 results, Florida
Friday, Oct. 30
Baker County 49, West Port 7
Bartram Trail 50, Land O’ Lakes 14
Beachside 57, Westside 0
Bishop Kenny 50, Fleming Island 28
Columbia 48, Suwannee 0
Flagler Palm Coast 63, Orange Park 18
Halifax Academy (1-7) at Providence (3-6), not reported
Hilliard (10-0) d. Taylor Pierson (0-4) by forfeit
Mandarin 32, St. Augustine 31 (OT)
Matanzas (2-7) at Palm Bay (2-7), not reported
Menendez 22, Tocoi Creek 9
Middleburg 37, Parker 28
Palatka 17, Fort White 6
Ridgeview 48, Englewood 0
Sunlake 41, KIPP Bold City 0
St. Petersburg Catholic 32, NFEI 12
Trinity Christian 49, Riverside 3
University Christian 42, Calvary Christian 7
Yulee 41, Zarephath Academy 8
Saturday, Oct. 31
Ribault (9-0) at Raines (5-4), 2 p.m.
OFF: Bradford, Hilliard, Wolfson.
SSAA state playoffs
Friday, Oct. 30
Atlantic League division playoffs
(1) West Nassau 38, (8) Trenton 12
(2) Paxon 24, (7) Lafayette 21
(5) Fernandina Beach 17, (4) Franklin County 16
(6) Union County 53, (3) Cottondale 38
Consolation bracket
Branford 36, Stanton 0
Interlachen 40, Bell 23
Liberty County 56, Keystone Heights 0
11-man state championship playoffs
(4) Christ’s Church Academy 50, (5) St. Joseph 8
(3) Episcopal 37, (6) Old Plank Christian 8
(2) Seffner Christian 55, (7) Cornerstone Classical 18
Consolation bracket
Bishop Snyder 42, Harvest Community 9
Branford 36, Stanton 0
Duval Charter 55, Eagle’s View 0
Keswick Christian 49, First Coast Christian 0
Liberty County 56, Keystone Heights 0
Sunshine State Athletic Association playoffs
Atlantic League division playoffs
Friday, Nov. 6
Quarterfinals
(5) Fernandina Beach (4-7) at (1) West Nassau (8-2-1)
(6) Union County (6-5) at (2) Paxon (9-2), 6:30 p.m.
Consolation bracket
Interlachen (7-3) at Sneads (6-4)
11-man state championship playoffs
Friday, Nov. 6
Quarterfinals
(4) Christ’s Church Academy (10-1) at (1) Maclay (10-0)
(3) Episcopal (11-0) at (2) Seffner Christian (10-1)
Consolation bracket
Bishop Snyder (2-9) at Duval Charter (5-5)
Week 11 results, Georgia
Friday, Oct. 30
Brantley County 26, Tattnall County 0
Brunswick 56, Effingham County 42
Clinch County 34, Charlton County 10
Colquitt County 43, Camden County 15
Islands (3-5) at Pierce County (7-1), not reported
True Institute (1-5) at P.K. Yonge (1-7), not reported
South Effingham 19, Glynn Academy 11
Ware County 49, Wayne County 0
OFF: Frederica Academy.
Week 12 schedule, Georgia
Friday, Nov. 6
Benedictine (8-1) at Ware County (7-2), 7:30 p.m.
Brantley County (4-5) at Beach (3-5), 7:30 p.m.
Brunswick (4-5) at Lakeside (0-9), 7:30 p.m.
Charlton County (6-2-1) at Irwin County (4-5), 7:30 p.m.
Grovetown (2-7) at Glynn Academy (3-6), 7:30 p.m.
Pierce County (7-1) at Appling County, 7:30 p.m.
OFF: Camden County.
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