PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Nease didn’t downplay the desire for revenge in its playoff opener.
The Panthers embraced it and used it as fuel against Oakleaf, and the result of the Varsity 4 Game of the Week was telling.
Nease jumped on the visiting Knights from the get-go Friday night. Quarterback Aiden Phifer ran for three touchdowns while the Panthers smothered Oakleaf on offense and added a blocked punt return for a score on the way to a 45-7 rout of the Knights in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs.
The fire was noticeable from the start as Nease (9-2), seeded fourth in Region 1-6A, scored on four of its first five possessions and came out with a defensive intensity that showed as fifth-seeded Oakleaf (8-3) managed only three first downs and 81 total yards in the first half.
It was all part of payback for when the Knights knocked the Panthers out in last season’s second round with a stunning 17-point victory. At the time, Nease was the top-ranked team in the state and ripping through teams.
So, this one felt good, and there was no holding back thoughts of revenge.
“Last year was a heartbreak,” said senior linebacker Jacob Curry, whose blocked punt led to a touchdown return by Damion Bridges. “We thought we were going to win state. It’s a revenge tour now.
“This was our get-back game. We came here to take Oakleaf out.”
The vibe was noticeable to guys who were not with the program last season. Fellow senior linebacker Kru Casey, who came over from Beachside this season, saw how important this game was to his new teammates.
“Ever since Monday morning, I felt a fire in my teammates’ hearts to come out and put a belt to this team,” said Casey, who had a tackle for loss, a stop for no gain and a pass defensed. “I know they were so fired up; it gave me motivation to be out here with my brothers. Being so emotional, it could have been my last game, it was so great.
“I’m not going to lie; they were talking about (revenge) all day. A lot of these guys were salty about it, and they had the right to be. Ending the season last year like that, and then (Oakleaf) talking all that crap, to shut them up, it’s got to be great.”
The talking was expected, and Oakleaf’s players had some words to say when the Panthers took the field. It doesn’t just go to last season’s game, but the teams also met at a team camp in July and were frequent scrimmage partners there.
Nease coach Collin Drafts said there were constant scuffles in that camp, and it was easy to see the intensity.
“I do know there is a mutual respect there,” Drafts said. “Before you knew it (last season), the lights got shut out. They kicked our butts. That one hurt. They were loud about it. You win, you get to talk about it. I don’t have a problem with that.”
Next up is another team the Panthers are familiar with, as they will make the trek next week to Gainesville to face District 3-6A foe Buchholz, the region’s top seed and a 49-41 victor against Oviedo in its Thursday night playoff-opener. Nease lost by 20 points at Buchholz seven weeks ago.
The Panthers looked like they were on the road to Gainesville early. The defense, which is allowing less than 12 points a game this season, allowed a first down on the opening series and didn’t surrender another until the last drive of the half. By then, Nease held a 31-0 lead.
Last year, Oakleaf had two 100-yard rushers against the Panthers. This season, they managed 61 yards rushing as a team. Fareed Coleman, who had 151 yards last season, was checked to 71 on Friday — with 52 coming on one run — before leaving with an injury late in the third quarter.
At the same time, the Knights absorbed some self-inflicted wounds with a pair of fumbles and an interception on fourth down.
“Our goal all year has been stopping the run, our goal is to hold each team to under 100 yards rushing,” said Curry, who had a pass batted down and was in on one of his team’s four sacks. “That’s what we do best, and we had a team that comes out here and runs the ball.”
Phifer made sure that defensive effort didn’t go to waste. The sophomore had his first 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 116 yards on eight carries and scoring runs of 41, 5 and 45.
That was planned for a player who entered the postseason with only 87 rushing yards on 62 carries.
“That was something we wanted to keep close to the chest,” said Drafts, whose only losses this season have come to St. Augustine and Buchholz, the top regional seeds in Class 4A and 6A, respectively. “We felt the way they played their defense, they play a lot of man, so are you going to account for the quarterback in the run game?
“We hadn’t really shown that a lot during the year because he was young, we didn’t want to run him too much. But when you get to the playoffs, you have to empty the tank. I told him before the game, ‘I believe you are going to rush for over 100 yards.’”
It took Nease 11 plays on its first drive to end up with a 35-yard field goal from Aric Davis-Baer. After that, things would be quicker and simpler for the Panthers.
After the first of three consecutive three-and-out possessions for the Knights, it took two plays for Nease to reach the end zone, this coming when Phifer raced 41 yards up the middle on a draw for a 10-0 lead.
The next three-and-out was even more lethal for Oakleaf. Curry fired in from the left side and batted down a punt. Damion Bridges scooped it up and went four yards for the touchdown and a 17-0 first-quarter lead.
The Panthers started their final three drives of the half in Oakleaf territory. Scoring on two of those, with Phifer adding another scoring run — this from five yards — and Enrique Ordoñez tacking on a 3-yard run after a Knights fumble was recovered by Noah Hodge at the Oakleaf 10.
Phifer tacked on a crushing blow at the start of the fourth quarter, with the Knights closing to 31-7, when he raced left on a fourth-and-inches and took off 45 yards for a score.
That gave his teammates the right to do the talking for the next year and the chance to get the title that eluded them last season.
“We’ve got to make up for what we didn’t do last year,” Curry said. “We try to never let off the gas. Until the coaches pull us out of the game, we’re going 100%.”
Nease 45, Oakleaf 7
Oakleaf, 0, 0, 7, 0 — 7
Nease, 17, 14, 0, 14 —45
N – Aric Davis-Baer 35 FG
N – Aiden Phifer 41 run (Davis-Baer kick)
N – Damion Bridges 4 blocked punt return (Davis-Baer kick)
N – Phifer 5 run (Davis-Baer kick)
N – Enrique Ordoñez 3 run (Davis-Baer kick)
O – Mike Conner 26 pass from Jack McKissock (Sam Pena kick)
N – Phifer 45 run (Davis-Baer kick)
N – Derek Hardie 4 run (Davis-Baer kick)
Category: O — N
First downs: 7 — 13
Rushes-yards: 25-69 — 32-192
Passing: 130 —107
Comp-Att-Int: 11-23-1 — 10-18-0
Fumbles-lost: 2-2 — 1-1
Penalties-Yards: 9-46 —3-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — O: Fareed Coleman 12-71, C.J. Moses 8-19, McKissock 5-(-21). N: Phifer 8-116, Ordoñez 10-30, Brayden Felder 2-23, Hardie 4-14, Vernon Stephens 1-10, Camden Clinton 3-8, Quinn Bradfield 1-1, Tyshawn Ford 3-(-10).
PASSING — O: McKissock 11-23-1-130. N: Phifer 10-18-0-107.
RECEIVING — O: Conner 5-92, Jordin Price 2-33, Jeremy Esquizel 1-4, Isaac Young 1-4, Moses 1-0, Trace Burney 1-(-3). N: Felder 6-56, Ford 3-41, Nate Severt 1-10.