JACKSONVILLE - Orange Park football got a glimpse of some hard running from its backfield with juniors Aust'een Mills and Xzavier Jones, both pounding between the tackles in a Saturday scrimmage with Tocoi Creek at Atlantic Coast High.
With both teams playing in front of a referee and officials crew in training, the scrimmage was scripted to include 10-to-15 plays on both sides of the ball, along with some kickoffs and some punts with returns, as both teams got to hit helmets against someone new before Friday's preseason classics. Mills, who took many of the handoffs from senior quarterback Gabe Taylor, scored on one drive, running up the middle showing power and balance, while coming a few inches short on another plunge as the Raiders balanced passes and runs.
On the air side, tight end James Waters snagged a short post pattern with a Tocoi Creek defender wrapped around his helmet and trying to twist the ball out while Taylor was short on a pass to a wide Jovanni Gonzalez at the Tocoi Creek five yard line. That drive ended with a Mills score though.
Taylor looked decisive out of the pocket with a few bootleg read/pass options by keeping the chains moving.
On the offensive line, the Raiders were creating seams on the Tocoi Creek defensive line to break Mills and Jones into the linebacker level for gains of five-to-nine yards.
The Raiders offensive line was led by Terrion Butler in the middle with wingman Caleb Fields clearing the way for a Mills touchdown.
On defense, with defensive end Jakeem Powell and Ethan Achai Strother making strong drives into the Tocoi Creek pocket, Orange Park had picked up an errant snap fumble in the back of the Tocoi Creek end zone and a scrambling sack by Powell on a quarterback chase inside the 10 yard line. Defensive tackle Jeremiah Jackson also chased down an errant snap for a tackle with loss.
In the back of the Orange Park end zone, safety Jack Rivera had a nifty pass to prevent what could have been a score.
Orange Park did have a fumble on a Mills run with Tocoi Creek eventually scoring off a swing pass play.

Preseason classic: Orange Park at Mandarin, 7 p.m.

Orange Park now readies for one of its more monumental preseason classics with a road trip game to Mandarin High on Friday, Aug. 15.
Mandarin, a region quartefinal finisher last year with a fourth quarter loss to Oakleaf, is raring to stay in the mix for Class 6A football with a slew of returning players. Coach Toby Bullock, who beat Oakleaf for their district 2-6A title, is not one to shy from great opponents; Bradford County, IMG Academy, Rockledge and Oakleaf again in district play, all on the schedule for the Mustangs.
Mandarin was 7-4 last year, 11-4 the year before with a state runnerup finish and 8A state champs in 2018 under coach Bobby Ramsay with former Georgia national champion quarterback Carson Beck.
Mandarin returns with a sophomore quarterback, Knox Annis that lit up the field for 1349 yards passing wiht nine touchdowns, but he will be missing all everything wide receiver Jaime Ffrench, but with sophomore Brysen Wright's 31 catches returning.
Mandarin will be first look at the Raiders ability to conquer their tough schedule.
Orange Park will open with Ridgeview before facing a second juggernaut with a trip to Oakleaf in game two, the back home against Riverside.