ORANGE PARK - Ridgeview High football has a new coach and he was a bit pleased with the effort of his Panthers in Tuesday's first foray into game action as Ridgeview hosted a three-way spring game jamboree with Interlachen and Keystone Heights.
"We got to see what we may have hereafter just a month together," said Ridgeview coach Merlin Smith, who left his iconic position as head coach of the powerful Oakleaf Junior High football coach to take over a Ridgeview program looking to find more than one win in 2024. "Our run game looked good against Interlachen, a good defensive team that was a state champion two years ago. The team is very young; lots of freshman and sophomores out there, and we moved the ball, missed a field goal that dinked the upright and had a few offensive plays that went for extra yards."
Smith got two quarterbacks plenty of reps in the two-quarter series opener against Interlachen with Jack Buccholz and Trevon Tyrone both using wide receivers Micah Murdetsky-Smith and Josiah Bryant, a freshman, for extra yards. Murdetsky-Smith, a junior, caught a quick slant on fourth and 13 inside the Interlachen 50 and rumbled to the 14 to set up a field goal try by Christian Hanson, a sophomore, that hit the upright.
"Christian is going to hit those come game time, I'm confident," said Smith. "A lot of the mistakes we saw were just our youth on the field."
For most of the Interlachen game, Smith employed his usual game tactic of big guys leading fast guys with the ball around the corner as Aiden Janke and Marquise Beals ushered running back Christian Felder to a series of 8-10-yard off-tackle grinds that eventually had Felder bashing in for a Ridgeview touchdown.
Interlachen answered quickly with two long passes leading to a score and a tie game.
For Keystone Heights, in their opening two quarters against Interlachen, the shocker came on play one as the Rams hit an 80 touchdown bomb to open the game.
The Indians settled in, regrouped and put together typical run-strong offensive drives centered around fullback Zane Leger pounding the line of scrimmage behind mammoth center Bryce Daniels. As Leger pounded his way through the Interlachen defensive front, it was Colton Hollingsworth who benefited with two 10-yard scores after Leger pounded the ball inside the 20.
Wide-out Jackson Parmeter was a highlight reel on his own with a breakaway swing pass for 60 yards to the Ram 15 and a touchdown-saving interception at the Indian five-yard line on the defensive side.
At quarterback, junior Bailey Ford is the gas pedal for offensive coordinator Kenneth Mudge.
"I've had him under my tutelage for two years and I want to stay with him for two more years," said Mudge, who took a job offer at Middleburg, but returned to Keystone Heights. "I felt bad as soon as I said yes and knew I did not want to leave him for his final two seasons. I turned right around and, gracefully, coach Steve Reynolds let me come back."
Keystone Heights held a 21-14 advantage after two quarters, then went home with a hard-fourth 7-0 score in two quarters against Ridgeview.