MIDDLEBURG - For Middleburg High football coach Ryan Wolfe, the stinging loss to district 3-5A's Ponte Vedra two weeks ago gave his team a little perspective on how tough earning the elusive district title would be in this year's lineup of Ponte Vedra, Beachside, Middleburg, Fleming Island and Orange Park.

“For our kids to come off a loss to Ponte Vedra and to be able to play like that against a top opponent like Beachside, and to keep believing the whole game, that is what I am most proud about,” Wolfe said. "Right now, the district is a matter of us winning out; Fleming Island and North Marion, to be in contention, but if Ponte Vedra wins out, they have the advantage. But this season has been crazy, and anything can happen."

Ponte Vedra, with a higher strength of schedule factor towards a region playoff slot, still has two formidable non-district opponents left on their schedule; IMG Academy B (5-3) and 7A-Creekside (4-5), while Middleburg has Fleming Island and North Marion (2-6). Beachside, who will play Orange Park on Friday then Nease (6-2, 7th in 6A), then Fleming Island on Nov. 4 due to a weather cancel earlier in the season, is also still in the mix contingent on the result of playoff points after regular season games are complete.

Fleming Island's final score was a pick six interception from Chase Singleton to end the game.
Fleming Island, on Friday, beat 3A Terry Parker 55-26 with running backs Brady Digman (2TDs), Cedrick McNeil (1TD), Zion Longmire (1Td) and wide receivers Tristan Stevenson (2TDs) and Noah Voltin (1TD) scoring touchdowns on runs and passes against the now 1-6 Braves. Fleming Island moves to 4-3 with a district win over Orange Park and a district loss to Ponte Vedra with Middleburg and Beachside still in play.

Middleburg travels to Fleming Island in a must-win to survive game that comes after the Golden Eagles under coach Derek Chipoletti won a 42-6 win last year.
Orange Park, 3-5 after a bruising 53-0 loss to Ponte Vedra, has Beachside on Friday, then Clay to finish. A win over Beachside would benefit Middleburg.

District 2-6A features repeat of last year

For Oakleaf High football coach Chris Foy, the path to a repeat of last year's region final finish goes through the same path as last with Mandarin figuring to be one of the biggest obstacles.

"We play the games we play to test ourselves against the best we will see," said Foy, after an exciting 45-41 last minute win over ED White. "ED White is here as our test. Now, we know we can play with the Duval County boys. Mandarin is next."
Mandarin, 7-1 with a loss to the nationally ranked IMG Academy team by a whopping 57-7 score on Sept. 19, has rolled to wins of 34-13 against First Coast, 38-10 against Rockledge and 22-13 in a tough battle with Fletcher.

Last year, Mandarin beat Oakleaf at the Dungeon to earn the district title and now Oakleaf looks to repeat the favor by taking on Mandarin in their own backyard.

"That's a tough place to play, but we got them last year in the playoffs," Foy reminded. "Our guys are playing at the right level at this point of the season."

In the rankings, Mandarin sits at fourth behind top teams like top-ranked Tampa Armwood (8-0), Buchholz (7-1), Orlando Evans (7-1) and Mandarin (7-1) with Oakleaf eighth (7-1) behind West Boca Raton (6-2), Pace (7-1) and Nease (6-2).
On the statistics, Mandarin returns with sophomore quarterback Knox Annis with 1581 yards in the air with 17 touchdowns sophomore Brysen Wright his top target with 31 catches and seven scores. Mandarin features three pass catchers in double figures with Will Jones with 22 and two scores and Tian Wyche with 19 and eight touchdowns.
The Mandarin run game is not individually explosive but has six ball carriers with more than 100 yards topped by junior Shaunqueze Foster's 646 with seven touchdowns. Junior Kyree Wilson has four scores off 471 rushes with an 11-yard average per carry. Annis himself averages 10 yards when he flees the pocket.