ORANGE PARK - Orange Park High senior quarterback Gabe Taylor threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more and the Raiders’ defense stopped Clay on downs with under a minute to play, lifting host Orange Park to an entertaining 31-28 victory over the Blue Devils in the season finale for both teams on Oct. 30. 

At Ridgeview, the Panthers let a muffed punt recovery to touchdown, then a block field goal to touchdown for a 14-14 halftime score that got away as Episcopal (7-3) controlled the second half to win 36-13 in the season final of a 2-8 season for second year coach Merlin Smith. 

At Keystone Heights, in a traditional rivalry game with Crescent City, the Indians lost a 36-9 match to finish at 0-10. 

 
At Orange Park High School, Orange Park rallied from a 21-17 deficit in the fourth quarter, scoring twice to take a 31-21 lead, only to see the Blue Devils draw within a field goal and then get the ball back with 2:10 remaining and a chance to tie or pull ahead. 

Clay started their final possession at their own 22-yard line and quickly moved 53 yards, mostly due to a 40-yard scramble by quarterback Landon Martin. Facing fourth and six from the Orange Park 25-yard line, Blue Devils head coach Jeff Gierke rejected a field goal attempt and went for the first down. 

Martin took a shotgun snap and ran right as he had successfully done all night, but this time the junior pulled up as he reached the line of scrimmage and threw a low pass to a wide open Parker Dykas on the right sideline. Dykas was able to get his hands on the ball but could not corral it as the Raiders celebrated with 47 seconds left on the clock. 

“It was a quarterback power with a wheel [Dykas] out of the backfield,” explained Gierke, who cited the facts that the distance was at the very edge of kicker Andrew Riddling’s range, that the ball had been spotted at the hashmark, and that the Raiders had nearly blocked several extra points as factors in his decision not to try the field goal. “We knew they thought we were going to run the ball with Landon, and it was there. He just threw it a little too hard, and Parker did not get his head turned around quick enough. It just didn’t work out.” 

Two Taylor kneeldowns closed out the game. 

“It felt good,” Orange Park head coach Marcus Wimberly said of the win. “We fought through adversity. Early in the season, if we faced that type of adversity we would cave, but we kept fighting and found a way to pull it out.” 

The game was mostly a battle between Taylor and Martin, who also accounted for four touchdowns, two running and two passing. Taylor drew first blood after a costly Clay turnover. Orange Park ran 19 plays on the opening possession, but a missed field goal left the Raiders with no points and gave Clay the ball at the 20-yard line. After standing on the chilly sidelines for the first 8:24 of the game, Martin took the field and had the ball slip out of his hand as he raised his arm to throw on the first play.

Raiders defensive end Joseph Fortin caught the fumble on a bounce and rumbled to the Clay one-yard line before Martin tackled him from behind. On the next play, Taylor took a shotgun snap and kept the ball on an option play, cutting upfield and scoring easily, giving Orange Park a 7-0 lead with 3:25 on the first quarter clock. 

Clay answered, sweeping 67 yards in 11 plays. Martin fooled the Raiders with a fake handoff before connecting with a wide open Matthew Jones from three yards out to tie the game at seven, 11 seconds into the second quarter. 

Orange Park moved back in front 14-7 at the 4:28 mark of the second quarter when running back Xzavier Jones slipped behind the defense and caught a soft spiral from Taylor for a two-yard score. But Clay responded again. Daylen Brown’s 47-yard catch and run gave the Blue Devils a first down at the Raiders nine-yard line. Two plays later, Martin followed two wingbacks over left tackle for 7 yards and a touchdown, tying the game 14-14.

Taylor led a critical two minute drill, completing three consecutive passes to put the Raiders inside the 20-yard line. A tackle for loss by Clay’s Jay’Shawn McCloud and a sack by Blue Devils end Adam Whigham kept the Raiders out of the end zone, but a 41-yard field goal by Brock Afflege that barely crept over the crossbar gave the hosts a critical three points and a 17-14 halftime lead. 

Orange Park ran 37 plays in the first half, more than twice as many as Clay’s 18. Wimberly called the opening drive crucial even though it ended with no points, believing it helped tire the Blue Devils.
Martin gave Clay its first lead of the game on the opening drive of the third quarter, cutting into the end zone off a block by running back Nehemiah Bailey from the nine yard line. Riddling’s extra point made the score 21-17 less than five minutes into the third quarter.

Gierke was faced with another critical decision on the first play of the fourth quarter. On fourth and 10 from the Raiders 16-yard line, Gierke opted to go for it instead of trying a 33-yard field goal that would have extended Clay’s lead to seven points. The move failed when Martin overthrew Brown on a fade route, turning the ball over to Orange Park.

The Raiders seized the momentum, driving 84 yards, 33 coming from Xzavier Jones. Taylor capped the drive by faking a handoff to Jones running right, running left and falling over the goal line to put Orange Park back in front 24-21 with 10:23 remaining.
Orange Park came up with another stop when defensive linemen Jermain Orr and Jayden Blanton stood up Martin a yard short on fourth and three at midfield. The Raiders took advantage of the short field, with receiver Jaden Fields making a diving catch of a bomb from Taylor. The 40-yard score gave Orange Park a 31-21 lead.

Clay drew within a field goal on their ensuing possession, moving 73 yards in just 2:40. On third and 10, MiKeise Battle beat Orange Park defensive backs Julian Still and Quinton Downer for a 45-yard touchdown on a perfect rainbow from Martin. 

Taylor and Martin had similar statistics. Taylor had the edge in passing yards, completing 16 of 24 throws for 201 yards, while Martin completed 15 of 22 for 181 yards. Martin had the rushing edge, carrying 28 times for 147 yards, while Taylor ran for 46 yards on 12 totes. But whereas Martin accounted for 90% of Clay’s offense, Taylor was aided by the hard-nosed running of Jones, who ran 16 times for 112 yards and caught two passes for 21 yards and a touchdown. 

“Jones has a passion for the game. He has heart,” Wimberly said. “As the game got close, he kept running harder and harder. That is all I ask him to do: run as hard as you can and get as much as you can. And he did that tonight.” 

Orange Park also enjoyed an edge on the defensive line, where the front four of Orr, Blanton, Jeremiah Jennings and Achai Strother combined for six sacks. 

Orange Park finishes 4-6 on the season. Wimberly said that his squad would focus on strength and conditioning in the offseason, since he felt the Raiders were undersized against their Class 5A opponents.

Gierke’s first season with Class 4A Clay closes with a 2-8 mark, one less win than the Blue Devils had in 2024. Gierke emphasized that playing so many young players should pay dividends next year. 

“We are way better at football than we were when we started,” Gierke said. “We had 89 kids in the program and we have 83 coming back. So we have a chance if we work hard to be pretty good.”