JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – People had barely settled in at The Graveyard — some were still filing in — when Raines hit the end zone.
It was 30 seconds into Friday night’s game, and the Vikings’ offense had not taken the field yet. That is not a formula for success against Raines.
The host Vikings swarmed Creekside during the opening quarter and put away the Knights in the second half of the Varsity 4 Game of the Week. The result was another running-clock Raines romp, a 51-3 non-district walkover in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week.
If that seems like a rout, think of it this way: Vikings defenders were agitated that they even surrendered a field goal.
“We worked hard every day in practice for this,” said senior defensive end Makhel Smith-York, whose 30-yard fumble return set the tone for the game. “We could do better. They shouldn’t have even got the three points.”
Perfection is hard to come by in football. But Raines (7-0), ranked second in Class 3A in the FHSAA’s points rankings, seemed close on defense, allowing only 82 total yards, with 52 coming on one pass play. Creekside (4-5) gained 10 total rushing yards, with 10 of those coming on the final possession as the clock was winding down and reserves were enjoying playing time.
“They strive for perfection, they strive for excellence and wanting to get shutouts,” Vikings coach Donovan Masline said of his defense. “That’s how we practice. We push them to the limits, and the guys respond to it.
“They know, despite the accolades, they have to come out inside the rectangle Friday night and perform.”
When Eddie Hinton stripped the ball from a receiver on a screen on the game’s third play and Smith-York raced into the end zone, it triggered an opening-quarter onslaught by the Raines defense.
That defense, along with a series of Knights’ gambles, allowed great starting position for the Vikings offense. Raines started its first four drives in Creekside territory and scored on each possession for a 31-3 halftime lead.
Masline admitted the Vikings became overly eager on offense in the second quarter. They were trying to hit more big plays — a week after relying on the ground game to grind out a victory in the rain against Madison County — but missed and had their drives stall.
So, to start the second half, Raines, the second-ranked team in the Varsity 4 Super 10 and the top team in the coaches’ poll, drove 70 yards in seven plays, ending when TJ Cole connected with Ethan Sherman for an 18-yard scoring pass to trigger the running clock.
It was the third of Cole’s four touchdown tosses, with the senior also hitting Kelvin Brown from 18 yards and twice connecting with Ziyon Butler, once from 33 and another from 28. Two of his touchdown passes came on fourth down.
For good measure, backup quarterback Sa’mon Ellison-Morgan engineered a five-play touchdown drive, hitting Zion Green for a 12-yard score. Afterward, with the clock about to run out, there was Ellison-Morgan, absorbed in a tablet, looking over the Knights defense.
“Just coming out in a dry atmosphere, now the kids can play and the offense can flow well,” said Masline, whose team can claim the District 3-3A title with a victory against Yulee next week. “We were trying to stretch the field a bit more (in the second quarter), being too greedy. We made our adjustments at halftime, back to taking what they were giving us. The kids did a great job of seeing what they needed to do.”
Credit Creekside coach Sean McIntyre for throwing several things at the Vikings defense. The Knights tried short passes, runs and deep shots down the field, though quarterback Rozzi Sperry was sacked twice, once by Smith-York and once by Cam Washington, and hurried several other times.
Rarely did they meet with success.
Trick plays? A reverse pass off a fake punt on the Knights third possession yielded two Vikings defenders swarming the would-be passer and batting the ball down. Rained scored after that.
Fourth down? McIntyre gambled there too, but fell short twice, including once at the Vikings 10 following a turnover.
There was an onside kick after the Creekside field goal that ricocheted off a Raines upback. But it spiraled out of bounds as a Knights player fell on it. Vikings ball. They scored again.
“That’s as good as a football team as I’ve seen in 20 years of doing this,” McIntyre said. “Frustratingly close (on the trick plays). We’re going to be aggressive. My perspective is if we lose by 1 or 81, it doesn’t matter to me. Sometimes those things can snowball on you when you’re that aggressive, and that happened.”
There were a few things the Knights could hang their hats – or, more fitting, helmets – on. They contained Cole from beating them with his scrambling ability, holding him to 11 rushing yards. Creekside’s pass rush hit home on Cole for three sacks.
Receiver Garren Blaylock helped at least check some of Raines’ early momentum, getting the Knights’ initial first down at the first quarter by taking a short pass and racing 52 yards into Raines territory. That set up a field goal to trim the Vikings’ lead to 24-3.
Blaylock, whose big pass play was part of what Masline called a communication error when the receiver was left uncovered, accounted for 69 of his team’s 82 total yards and had the only two Creekside first downs until the Knights picked up two more on the final possession.
Still, the end result was the 11th running-clock game in Raines’ past 16 contests.
“I’m proud of the way the kids competed and continued to play,” said McIntyre, whose team clinched the District 1-7A title and postseason spot last week. “Our defense has played well all year. Our scores don’t indicate how well they have played. They stood up. They have a lot of pride in what they do, and they don’t like people scoring on us.”
(2) Raines 51, Creekside 3
Creekside, 0, 3, 0, 0 — 3
Raines, 24, 7, 14, 6 — 51
R – Makhel Smith-York 30 fumble return (Dan Duong kick)
R – Tisean Haynes 2 run (Duong kick)
R – Kelvin Brown 8 pass from TJ Cole (Duong kick)
R – Duong 31 FG
C – Landon Mendez 24 FG
R – Ziyon Butler 33 pass from Cole (Duong kick)
R – Ethan Sherman 18 pass from Cole (Duong kick)
R – Butler 28 pass from Cole (Duong kick)
R – Zion Green 12 pass from Sa’mon Ellison-Morgan (kick blocked)
Category: C — R
First downs: 4 — 20
Rushes-yards: 16-10 — 22-95
Passing: 72 — 271
Comp-Att-Int: 7-21-1 — 21-29-0
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 —1-1
Penalties-Yards: 4-40 — 8-66
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — C: Elijah Williams 3-10, Davis Baldwin 9-5, Jaxon Earle 1-0, Rozzi Sperry 3-(-5). R: Haynes 11-67, Cole 8-11, Ellison-Morgan 1-7, Curtis Asberry 1-6, Tony Williams 1-4.
PASSING — C: Sperry 7-20-1-72, Harris Oliver 0-1-0-0. R: Cole 17-26-0-229, Ellison-Morgan 3-3-0-42.
RECEIVING — C: Garren Blaylock 3-69, Aaron Tsataros 1-4, Nixson Poppinga 1-1, Chace Dolan 1-0. Baldwin 1-(-2). R: Butler 6-101, Sherman 5-67, Brown 5-61, Kiran Jackson 4-30, Green 1-12.