ORANGE PARK – Orange Park High football coach Tom MacPherson has been closed out of the playoffs the last five years.

With his current crew this year, it’s simple; win and we’re in.

“Six wins for the first time since 2013, regardless of the outcomes of the rest of the games; the most wins in Clay County this year. No one else can get to six wins in Clay County and that is real big for us when you’re talking about branding a program and trying to keep younger kids coming to your school; it means a lot” said Macpherson. “I haven’t had a team in the playoffs in the last 5-6 years and everyone knows how competitive I am. I talked to the kids about it and I finally got to a point where I told the kids; win and we’re in, we control our own destiny, go out and get this one and we did it.”

With that the Palatka High Panthers; the perennial scrappy bunch from Palatka, always have talent that impresses. But Friday night, it was the Raiders who impressed, flexed their offensive muscle early, then backed it up with a defense that Palatka could do nothing with. After a goal line stand and several spoiled two-point attempts, the Raiders held the Panthers to a measly six points in the first half on their way to a 30-18 thumping of the Panthers that sees the Raiders in second place behind Baker County in district 5-5A as the team travels to Pedro Menendez High to face off against the Falcons on Friday night.

With the Raider win and a Ridgeview upset of Menendez on Friday, plus Baker County’s come-from-behind win for the district title over Clay, Orange Park is in prime position for at least an at-large playoff bid in region 2-5A.

Winning the toss against Palatka, MacPherson reversed his trend and took the ball first.

“I felt like with the conditions and their kicking game, I wanted to be on offense first,” said Macpherson. “I didn’t know what I was going to get from them, defensively, so I just wanted a feel for the game and for our kids and I needed to know what I could do on offense first so I knew what kind of game I had to call.”

On the opening drive, the Raiders saw a steady dose of Terrance Johnson and Zykeim Sermons who slashed their way through the Panther defense and marched 72 yards on the opening drive to score only 2:29 into the game.

With an Umar Young sweep right for a two-point conversion, the Raiders were up 8-0 and ready to face what the Panthers had in store for offense.

To no surprise, Panther quarterback Mitchell McKinnon was a threat all night, but contained with the Raider scheme that would watch him closely. The drive was heavily dependent on Palatka senior running back Jaylyn Session who was able to turn several good runs, but was hawked all night as well and remained contained. The inside play action by McKinnon was a tough read all night and on the opening drive, the Raiders would not hold the Panthers who used McKinnon on a naked bootleg to put the first six points on the board for the Panthers at 5:04 remaining in the first. Trying to even the score, the Raiders held when Palatka showed an unbalanced line and attempted a pass that was intercepted. 8-6 Raiders still in command.

With a kick out of bounds, the Raiders started on the 35 and drove down, now showing Johnson in a Wildcat formation, but playing quarterback splashed in with direct snap and run that kept the Panthers on their heels. After the dynamic duo of Johnson and Sermons drove the ball down to the one yard line, it was Raider quarterback Vincent Walker’s turn to have some fun as he punched the ball in at 2:37 left in the first quarter. The kick for point after was good and the Raiders were up 15-6.

Early in the second, on the return Panther drive, it was Raider’s Deonte Domineck who came up huge with a sack of McKinnon that forced a fourth and 20 Panther punt. This drive would end on the Palatka 36 when Orange Park attempted a fake punt, pass that sailed and turned the ball over on downs.

On the return drive, with the Panthers driving at the 40, the Raiders forced a fumble of McKinnon, recovered by Raider’s Jean Breville.

The drive stalled, but put momentum in the Raiders favor.

On the next Panther drive, as McKinnon rolled right to set a screen pass, it was Raider’s Safety Shaq Magwood who would have the glory as he picked off McKinnon and took it to the house for a pick-6 interception for the Raider defense. Johnson would add another two with a sweep right to put the score at 23-6.

At 57 seconds left to the half, the kick back to Palatka was a touchback. The Panther drive was stopped by breakups of a deep balls by Alex Moore, backed up with another by Diallo Bryant. A draw play was stuffed and with the time outs called by the Panthers, and the last one by MacPherson, the Panthers

would have to punt back to the raiders with 3.9 seconds to play. On the snap, instead of running around to drain the clock, the Panthers tried to punt and the Raiders brought the house. Seeing the onslaught, the Panther’s punter was distracted, and his toe jammed the turf, just tipping the ball that popped right into the hands of rushing Raider defender Cameron Griffieth. Griffieth snagged the ball mid-air, took off and cashed it in as the buzzer sounded to end the half. The Raiders kicked the point after and headed to the locker room up 30-6.

The second half was a Raider defense highlight reel loaded with outstanding play that choked the Panthers to two scores in the second. The opening Panther drive was thwarted when Jean Breville stripped and recovered the ball as the Panthers went for fourth and short. The counter Raider drive got inside the Panther ½ yard when the Raiders made the only faux pas in the game. After using a steady diet of Terrance Johnson and Zykeim Sermons, MacPherson tried a twist with Hunter Moore, Umar Young, and Robbie Reynolds III in the backfield. The plan was a direct snap, sweep, but something went wrong and the ball sailed through the trio and recovered by the Panthers at 7:05 in the third.

“I made a mistake. I tried to get a kid in there to keep his head in the game for the next few weeks and it backfired on me,” said Macpherson.”That situation I should go with Terrance Johnson all day. I made the mistake and I own that.”

The Panthers drove and capped it off with a 59 yard deep throw touchdown. Again, the Panthers went for two and the Raiders foiled the try once again. Both teams would trade possessions capped with punts and the Panthers would add one more score with 3:02 left to play. The Raiders killed the 2-point try and that’s where the game finished as the Raiders got the on sides attempt back, and killed the final 3:00.

“I’m so proud of our defense,” said Macpherson. “Even on the goal line stand, even if we didn’t stop them, making them go 6-8 plays from inside the 10 yard line takes the clock down.”

With the loss, Palatka will finish out the season and move to winter sports. Orange Park appreciated the Baker win over Clay that helped the Raiders in the standings. They must win Friday night at Menendez to keep their hopes for post season burning bright.

Menendez, 6-2, beat Palatka 66-65 two weeks ago, and is coming off a division loss to Ridgeview last week, 34-33.