ORANGE PARK - Orange Park High football coach Marcus Wimberly emphatically stated that his halftime talk with his team was not as emotional as the talk some of his seniors gave to their Raiders team that let visiting Atlantic Coast High take a 14-0 halftime lead Thursday night in front of a very packed stadium on the Orange Park campus. In a turn of events that awakened what may be a sleeping giant in Hoyt B. Cotney Stadium, the Raiders exploded in the second half with 27 points to win 27-16 over the Stingrays with the Stingrays getting a fourth quarter safety off a blocked punt.

"I just told them that we are better than what we were playing and that they had to decide what the second half was going to look like," said Wimberly, who has had a topsy turvy start of the 2026 season with a weather postponed preseason game, a 41-0 shellacking from a good Andrew Jackson team, then a close first half against Oakleaf that turned into a second half disaster to the tune of a 14-6 first quarter score to 42-6 loss. "We have enough seniors on this team that someone had to step up and say something."

That senior turned out to be running back Aust’een Mills, who also stepped up on defense as a linebacker in a second half that showcased the Raiders' athleticism and tenacity to make big plays.

In the first half, Raider quarterback Daeveon Williams misfired twice on his first offensive series and looked a bit miffed by the Stingrays defensive rush which featured two NCAA Div. I defensive ends.

Atlantic Coast took the ball and moved efficiently on their first handoffs until Raider senior defensive end Corey Johnson got the first of a handful of tackles for losses he had for the game as one of the more critical pieces of the Orange Park transformation.

"We have been coached to play hard from the first whistle," Johnson said.

The stop got Williams back on the field, but the Raiders stalled and Atlantic Coast demolished the ensuing punt to the Raider 20 where running back Josue Laguerre blasted in for the first score of the game at 6:49.

That score stuck through the first quarter with the Raiders unable to get past midfield, but Johnson emerging with two more big plays; a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry.

With the Stingrays seemingly stuck at midfield also, an unsportsmanlike flag added 15 to their drive with a start now at the Raider 27.

"Mistakes have killed us in the first two games," Wimberly said.

From the Raider 18, Atlantic Coast scored again to go up 14-0 at 10:59 to halftime.

"I told our guys in the locker that we needed to take the game from them," said an emotionally charged Mills after the game. "We just tired of the losing with stupid flags and mistakes."

Mills was the starting point for his words with a steal of the football on Atlantic Coast's first drive to put the Raiders at the Stingray 30.

Two runs looked like a stalled drive was coming, but Williams sliced a pass to wide out Aaron Little for 10 and senior running back Xzavier Jones barreled for five more to set up a two-yard plunge by Williams to put the Raiders on the scoreboard with just three minutes off the clock.

"That was the kicker," Wimberly said. "You could see the momentum change."

After the kickoff back to Atlantic Coast, it was Williams again with the dagger after a blocked punt by Robert Lewis with help from Christopher Wilson that bounced into Williams hands in open grass. Williams sprinted to paydirt with the ball to tie the game at 14-14 with 6:21 still in the third.

"They weren't going to block both of us," Wilson said. "We both got in, and Robert got the ball."

On the next series for the Stingrays, senior safety Julian Still snagged the first pass by Stingrays quarterback Sivon Doctor at the Stingray 36 to put the Raiders' offense back on the field.

Williams got a quick 15 with a Jaden Fields pass catch, but Williams also got caught twice for losses as the Raiders finished scoreless.

Starting at their own 10, Atlantic Coast got snubbed by defensive plays from senior defensive linemen James Waters and Jaden Jackson to get a punt that landed on the Stingray 44.

From there, a Fields' 16-yard catch and run of beauty got Mills a two-yard scoring plunge as the Raiders erupted for a 21-14 lead with 30 seconds to the fourth quarter.

"Then it was up to the entire team to keep the lead; offense and defense," Still said. "We didn't get many breaks in our first two games and this was one of our best quarters so far. We wanted to make it count."

A Wilson tackle for loss stifled Atlantic Coast's first drive of the fourth quarter as both teams buckled up on defense with Atlantic Coast defensive end Israel Hayward scooping up a fumble at the Orange Park 32.

With 8:53 still to go, Wimberly chose Mills to finish the game with three runs behind Waters at fullback but a blocked punt outside the end zone got two more points for Atlantic Coast. The safety got the Stingrays the ball back on the ensuing safety kickoff who recovered at the Raider 38 for one more shot at the end zone.

The Raider defense again withstood the Stingray assault as Still and Fields both broke up Doctor pass attempts before defensive back Jaylen Robinson nearly stole the game with a bobbled interception at the Raider 24.

On a fourth down, Still broke up a final pass attempt to put Williams back on the field.

Williams, after three shots by Mills in what looked like an end of game clock draw, calmly three wide left to senior Amare Bellamy near midfield with a swing pass that Bellamy hit the turbojets and flew to the end zone for the final score for the Raiders.

"Over the half, coaches changed my reads to be a little simpler with less choices in front of me and it slowed my game down a bit," said Williams, who finished with 10 of 10 passes for 153 yards. "I kind of got more comfortable and things started happening in front of me."

Bellamy finished with 105 yards on three catches with Fields also catching three for 33 yards and Little getting two for 156 yards. Mills finished with 49 yards rushing on 18 carries with one score.

"The seniors stepped up and started believing in themselves," Wimberly said. "Clay at Clay is a tough game that we have to have the same effort."

OHS wins with Connor highlight reel

By Chapman Sellars,

Correspondent

FLEMING ISLAND - Despite a strong first half effort from Fleming Island High football, Oakleaf High, led by senior wide receiver Michael Conner's game highlight reel performance, dominated the second half and pulled away to win 47-15.

"Big players make big plays in big games," said Oakleaf coach Chris Foy. "We weren't doing that well on the run game, but our other weapons stepped up; Michael, Syncere Murphy and quarterback Jaidan Delaune. We have to work on our ground game in the next two weeks with Bolles next on our schedule."

Fleming Island played Oakleaf close during the first half, but the Knight’s ability to turn missed tackles into explosive gains paved the way for a 47-15 victory Friday night. Oakleaf scored on their opening drive, as quarterback Jaidan Delaune found Conner for a 35-yard touchdown that started left and wiggled right including multiple missed tackles to the end zone.

Fleming Island answered back on the next drive and was able to find a 30-yard score of their own, as quarterback Greyson Critch constructed a 90-yard drive and finished it off with a strike to wide receiver Chase Donaldson in the center of the Oakleaf secondary to take the lead 7-6. Oakleaf was far from finished, as they put together a 10 play, 65-yard drive, concluded by an elusive rushing touchdown from London Carswell to take the lead 12-7.

"That is a tough, well coached 40-man football team that came to give it their all night," Foy said. "We had to answer."

Despite the lightning-fast twists of fate the first quarter provided, Fleming Island still wasn't backing down with wide receiver Gavin Boysen grabbing a Critch sideline pass, duck under a defender, then sprint away to paydirt 74 yards away to keep the momentum in the Golden Eagles favor. Boysen finished the night with over 150 receiving yards. With three minutes remaining in the first half and the Knights trailing 15-12, Oakleaf put together a 95-yard drive with Delaune, using his legs to keep the drive alive multiple times and working his way into Fleming Island territory. With just 10 seconds left in the half and Oakleaf nearing the red zone, Delaune threw a screen pass to wide receiver Savion Williams, who slipped away from multiple Golden Eagle defenders and took it to the end zone. Oakleaf took the lead as well as Fleming’s momentum, and the score was 19-15 going into halftime.

“If we play like that and prepare like that–the way we played in the first half, then the rest of the year with our schedule, we should put ourselves in good position to win games, in good position to do the things we need to do," said MacPherson, who also mentioned the Oakleaf touchdown just before the half that took away the lead and momentum from Fleming. “If we don't give up that touchdown at the end of the half, and we get to halftime with a lead, I think it might be a different game.”

The second half was where the game really slipped away from Fleming Island. The Knights came out hot and scored a 47-yard touchdown on the fifth play of the second half. Delaune found Williams yet again to extend the Knight’s lead 26-15. The Golden Eagles continued to fight back as they entered the red zone on their first two drives of the half.

However, Oakleaf’s defense stood strong and came away with two interceptions in the second half; a diving snag from Murphy, to prevent Fleming Island from capitalizing on promising drives.

Oakleaf continued to stay elusive on offense for the rest of the game. A seven-minute, 11 play drive capped off with a 50-yard receiving touchdown by Oakleaf’s Tyrell Lyons made the score 33-15 with 10:00 left in the game, and it was beginning to feel out of reach for Fleming Island. Oakleaf was able to find the end zone two more times in the final ten minutes. A 10-yard rushing touchdown by slot back Jordan Battles stretched the lead to 25 points, and a punt return touchdown from Conner in the final 90 seconds of the game made it 47-15.