OAKLEAF - It was only a matter of time that Oakleaf High football coach Chris Foy would figure out the Oakleaf magic and with the precision of his long tenure as a uber-successful football coach in the northeast Florida ranks, Foy put Oakleaf football back on the map of programs that must be included when talking state contenders.

"I've always said that the teams we play are the teams that will make us become the team that other great programs want to play to assess their inclusion into the programs considered great programs in Florida," Foy has said throughout his short tenure at Oakleaf, now going into year three. "We want to be the Bolles, the Clay, the Buchholz, the Niceville's on the map of who other coaches talk about."
For his third year, after a 3-6 opener and a 9-4 region final last year, Foy is grooming his guys in 2025 to take the lessons of 2024; a scintillating 25-19 region final loss to Buchholz, to absorb the sting of that game and carry it into the locker room and practices of 2025.
"We didn't like the taste of losing that Buchholz game like we did," said Foy, who has an identical schedule to last year's with Columbia added in as the preseason game. "The returners on this team have that feeling in their gut to take the next step."

Highlighting the 2024 season, Oakleaf utilized a fast-moving offense led by a first year transfer quarterback; Jack McKissock, who returns for his senior year, and a cadre of offensive weapons led by Chris Foy II at running back; the bulldog of the package flanked by whippets like Michael Conner, Jordan Price and Fareed Coleman; all who return with McKissock. One clutch guy to be missed will be Carlos Witherup, who was the Superman of the postseason with his catch-and-go talent, keeping the chains moving for Foy.
"Our biggest holes came on the offensive line with the graduation of guys like Reggie Houston, Luis Innocent, Hardley Germain, Mykel Mayo and Amare Thomas, all super linemen on both sides of the line," said Foy.

The second best team in Oakleaf's chase for state titles had to be the boys weightlifting team, that, despite just a handful of lifters getting to the state championship meet, came home with a fourth place team finish in Traditional, led by a state title to Noah Shevchook and thirds by Christian Rodriguez and Ray Williams with Ethan Simons adding bonus points with an eighth place finish.
In the Olympics, with Rodriguez not lifting, Shevchook and Williams chased for third, Simons blasted a fourth, and Lucius Manley earned bonus points with his eighth-place finish to give the boys their sixth-place finish.
For the fall sports beyond football, volleyball coach Jamie Reed utilized the Foy schedule philosophy by pitting her girls against tough teams, resulting in a strong finish led by Jiyanna Rivera, who returns to push the Lady Knights next fall.


Cross country features sophomore Luke Janke, who returns after a strong freshman season, boasting best times of 16:44 in cross country and 2:03 for 800 meters in track.
In boys and girls wrestling, led by Kailani Barrientos for the girls; third at state, and Connor Barnes (sixth), Ghais Cooper and Bryant Taylor (fourth) for the boys, the Knights battled in the uber strong Class 3A ranks with the likes of South Dade, Miami Southridge and Southwest Miami and finishing 20th.


Barrientos continued her excellence on the mat with a top-five ranking through most of the season.
In the winter, with soccer and basketball creating highlights on the courts and the grass, coach Jason Price's boys team rolled hard (18-8) through the season behind Jelani Wright's 3-point bombs while girls soccer had a best matches of a 1-0 loss to St. Johns Country Day School and a 2-1 overtime loss to Mandarin in the district tournament. Sophomore Franchesca Rodriguez was a stealth leader of the Lady Knights with her team-leading 10 points coming back to a team chock-full of young players looking to build for 2025.
Boys soccer had its best games of 2-0 losses to Fletcher and Clay late in the season, with a 1-1 tie with region finalist Bartram Trail.
Swimming will graduate Peyton Loving as a stalwart for her four years, with sophomore Brylee Wood a top contender to be the next stalwart.
In girls' basketball, coach Fred Cole has promising young players for 2025 as he tries to reenergize his Final Four program. Oakleaf had its best win of the season with an upset of 3A 20th-ranked Bradford County in midseason.
In the spring, track got a blast from junior sprinter Rayna Lawson; third in 4A 100 by less than a second, plus strong efforts in the shotput and discus from the twin powerhouses, Rayna Autry, seventh in shot, and Gloria Lewis. For the boys, senior jumper Devin Collins was a top contender through most of the season in long jump (24'-.5") and the 100 (10.63). Sophomore Jelani Chester knocked out a 1:59.68 800 and will return to chase titles in 2026.
On the diamonds, softball rode the power arm (and bat) of senior pitcher Charlotte Maddox to finish a topsy-turvy season in the region semifinals with state runner-up Pace High ending the Knights' season. Coach Heather Han had thriller finishes behind the late bats of Ava Tolbert and Zoey Schmehl, who both return, while senior Jaydyn Beall's base stealing kept the Knights' games thrillers to the end.


Baseball had player of the year J.P. Espinosa as the rocket on the base paths, with the Knights going 4-3 in eight games against 2A champion Trinity Christian and 5-4 in the playoffs against Ocala Forest, which were highlight games.
Flag football won four of their last five regular season games, but fell in districts, 12-6, to Mandarin to finish 6-6.