ORANGE PARK - Orange Park High softball coach Lee Taylor said his team got a big win about every 10 years and, if history were to repeat itself, it happened at Middleburg High when his upset-minded Lady Raiders stomach punched the Broncos with a 3-1 district semifinal win en route to a berth to the district championship.

"We did the same thing to Oakleaf a few years ago. Out of nowhere, the girls played out of their minds and we won a game. We were not supposed to even be close," said Taylor, who had his daughter Lexi on that team that defeated Oakleaf 4-2 in the 6A region semifinal with a two-run seventh inning. "Somehow, we find a way every 10-12 years."

In that Oakleaf game, Oakleaf came in with a 14-3 season record while Orange Park was 14-16.

Fast forward to April 29, and Taylor got a quick 3-0 first inning blast on the Broncos, who were ranked 11th in Class 5A while the Raiders' were 40th, and just held on with defense.

"When we got there, I don't think the team liked having everyone think it was going to be a blowout," Taylor said. "We scored first and the dugout energy changed dramatically to let's win this thing."

A couple of walks, a fielding error and an RBI double from Kamryn Hutchins fueled the Raiders' early barrage with pitcher Layla Petty befuddling the vaunted Broncos batting lineup for five strikeouts. But, more effectively, slower pitching than their normal fare.

"Her pitches were hard for them to hit because they weren't the 70 mph that they were used to on their tough schedule and they didn't adjust," Taylor said. "And we played outstanding defense."

Unfortunately, the energy of the win was not enough as Fleming Island defeated the Raiders 8-3 in the district final to end the Raiders' season at 8-18. The score was locked at 2-2 into the fifth before Fleming Island put up four runs.

Also in the spring, the return of long jumper Nethan Verger to near top form got the University of Kentucky commit a region title by nearly a foot with a state third place finish in class 3A with a 23-foot-11.5 leap to end his career with a bronze after a 2025 silver medal by just three inches in his event; 24-1.5. Verger was sixth in his sophomore season with a 22-2.25" leap.

In wrestling, Elijah Grant, at 132 pounds, made a solo run at the Class 2A championship meet after a 40-12 season record and a stellar 85-39 career as a Raiders wrestler.

In his region meet, Grant lost to the eventual regional champion, but he battled back for third place to get his state ticket. In his region consolation bracket, Grant put up two double-digit tech wins, 18-3 and 16-1, to stay alive before winning 3-2 in the consolation final. A late three-point takedown won his consolation quarterfinal 9-8 in a gallant effort to stay in the hunt for the coveted top four spots to state.

Out of districts, Orange Park had region qualifiers in Donavan Hall at 106, Jago Murphy at 113, Terrion Butler at 190 and Ethan Strother at 215.

For the girls weightlifting, the big, bright smile of Unlimited Lohi Richburg was a sight to brighten up the gym as she proudly knocked out a fourth-place finish in Traditional, with the second- through fourth-place finishers all withing 15 pounds of each other.

Richburg also punched out a region title in Traditional, and a third in Olympics, with teammate Kayti Mowery finishing second at 183 in Olympics and third in Traditional.

Also at regions, Richburg had teammates Kristal Torres, Erin Strother, Arayah Brown, Brailyn Quarterman and Avery Louque finishing among the top 10.

In fall sports, that includes football, cross country, golf, volleyball, swimming and diving, football finished at 4-6. But a 31-28 win over Clay High in their season finale came after a tough 31-28 loss to Beachside the week prior.

The Raiders were led by quarterback Gabe Taylor. The offense featured running backs Austee'n Mills and Xzavier Jones, with Taylor passing for 1290 yards with 15 scores. Mills and Jones return in 2026 to be a top backfield duo in the county.

For cross country, Raiders' Briley Mulder was one of top finishers in her meets, with Mulder becoming a threat in the track 1600 and 3200.

Volleyball finished 3-21 with returning senior hitter Emma Weber accounting for 145 Kills.

In golf, the Orange Park boys finished 12th in their district 2-3A lineup that featured standouts like Ponte Vedra, Beachside, Nease, Fletcher and Tocoi Creek. Their top district finisher was junior Elias Hernandez in 50th place.

In swimming and diving, coach Susan Johnson again had some fast athletes out of the starting blocks, led by seniors Ashton Juarez (55.07 100 free), Nicholas Santana and Jabin Buckman, with Dakota Blake (57.06 100 back) and Princeton Williams both returning in 2026 after regional finishes in 2025.

In the winter sports (basketball, soccer, wrestling and girls weightlifting), the boys basketball team, led by coach Derek Kurnitsky had to battle against teams like state runner-up Fleming Island, which beat them in the district finals.

The Raiders, however, beat Oakleaf twice, and the two teams will be in the same region next year. The Raiders finished at 17-9 and will probably return top-scoring Markell Campbell, along with a handful of returners including Derek Aponte and Cace Puzie. But Orange Park lost big man Josiah Bell to graduation, who was the lone starting senior on the 2025-26 squad.

Girls basketball was 21-8 with departed coach Mike Nesmith, has a new coach, former Raider standout Shaquita Snow, but Snow has been sidetracked by a mass exodus of players including Emma Crowe (FIHS), Trinity Dinkins (Snyder), Kai Longmire (CHS) and Gabby Mallory (Bolles). Nonetheless, Snow is confident of her ability to inspire.

In soccer, girls soccer had three wins, 3-9-1, with senior Amelia Hart top scorer with four goals. Boys soccer was 3-12-1.

In spring sports (flag football, track and field, tennis and baseball), the Lady Raiders flag football team got a boost with Crowe at quarterback and Dinkins at wide receiver after the basketball season. Running back Erin Strothers was the speed back that helped put together a 10-3 season.

One critical injury was to all-around athlete Anna Rykalsky who suffered a knee injury against Oakleaf in March with the Raiders riding an 8-2 slate. Orange Park got to the district title game but lost a close match to Fleming Island 18-13. Crowe, now at Fleming Island, finished with seven players catching double digit passes from her, led by Aiyanna Maclin and Callie Cammilleri, both with 13 snags.

In baseball, head coach George Eldredge is stepping down after a district title upset of Clay a few years ago and a 12-14 season in 2026. Eldredge nearly pulled of a second upset of the decade for the Raiders with a 2-1 loss to Ponte Vedra in the district semifinal. Ponte Vedra won the district title but lost in regional quarters.

Seniors Brian Allen and Yaziel Del Valle led a stable of seniors with exciting batting and baserunner for the Raiders.

Broncos O-Line to be key for 2026 season

By Randy Lefko, randy@claytodayonline.com

MIDDLEBURG - Middleburg High football has developed a strong offensive game plan that features hard running ball carriers, a mobile quarterback with efficient decision-making skills and an offensive line intent on punishing the other side of the line of scrimmage.

"We have just two returning senior starters right now with Logan Tedrick the most seasoned of the five up front and Mark Albney also coming back, but we have some good-looking younger guys coming in," said Middleburg Coach Ryan Wolfe, who finished at 8-2 last year with a fourth consecutive region playoff berth. "Our program from junior varsity to varsity is layered so that everyone is doing the same reps and techniques."

Missing from last year's offensive line roster were Jakeyvious Carter, Brad Darnold, John Elixson and Trent Pavlus, who were all big, strong people movers.

Junior Kaleb Holstine was one name Tedrick liked for the fall.

"Kaleb is a solid nose guard that can go either side, and Maverick Clark is expected to step up for a tackle spot," Tedrick said. "Our tackles are going to new faces - sophomores coming into their junior season, but they are working hard."

For Wolfe, and for Tedrick, the key is the overall strength of the offensive line athletes and that entails a summer of weight room visits.

"The team is intensifying weightlifting and conditioning this summer with an emphasis on the power at the snap," Tedrick said. "Mark and I have moved between center and guard over the past few weeks to try and put the younger guys in better position for the fall. It's all a matter of chemistry up front."

Wolfe concurred with Tedrick's assessment as his younger guys, so far, have been big in size, mobile and look to be finding their spots on the line.

"We are going to start the season reps with basic plays like outside and inside zone blocking and just power up front," Tedrick said. "As the season moves closer and begins, we should be able to start moving to more complicated schemes as the younger players learn the calls and assignments."

For Wolfe, the proof of the returning strong run game will fall into the very capable hands of junior Braydon Ventura, who emerged in the second half the season as a spark for the Broncos offense that was relying on the legs of graduated Gino Addison, now at North Carolina Central University after rushing for 1,103 yards with 18 touchdowns. Addison's best game was a 285-yard effort in a upset overtime win over Beachside High with four touchdowns in a 37-36 overtime win.

Over the past five years, Wolfe has had hard running backs such as Michael Mitchell and T.J. Lane pounding the line of scrimmage for the Broncos - Mitchell having played at University of Utah and University of Arizona and Lane at University of West Florida.

"Braydon got a lot of reps late in the season and he provided a spark for the team," said Wolfe, noting Ventura finished as top rusher in the Broncos spring game 34-0 win over Palatka in May. "We wanted to make a statement in that game."

Coincidentally, Addison's younger brother, Iyen Addison, will also figure in the rushing duties for the Broncos.

Tedrick liked the efforts of his young troops against Palatka, as Ventura and his backfield partner Iyen Addison kept the chains moving, while quarterback Dalton Motes engineered two first-half scoring drive with mixes of runs and passes. Wide out C.J. Williams also sprung up as a downfield threat against Palatka.

Wolfe's schedule, notoriously rugged in his first two years, returns to the same difficulty of those years with the Broncos opening with a preseason game against Menendez, then a gauntlet of Bartram Trail (region semifinalist), North Marion, St. Augustine (4A region finalist) and Newberry (2A region quarters).

Middleburg, and most of the Clay County schools (except Oakleaf), are now in the District 4-4A lineup, with St. Augustine the only out of county school.