JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s the final four in high school football and the area has four teams still going strong. Two area teams (Bolles, Raines) are hosting state semifinal games, while Ponte Vedra and Trinity Christian head on the road for their games. Here’s a glance at the matchups. All games are Friday.
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State semifinals
Class 5A
Ponte Vedra (11-2) at Lakeland (11-2)
Road here: Ponte Vedra beat Niceville, 31-30 (OT); beat Beachside, 38-3; beat Daytona Beach Mainland, 27-10; Lakeland beat Wesley Chapel, 35-0; beat Tampa Gaither, 15-8; beat Orlando Edgewater, 27-14.
Winner gets: Riverdale (12-1) or St. Thomas Aquinas (12-1) in the state championship game on Dec. 11 at 7:30 at Pitbull Stadium in Miami.
Glance: For just the second time in program history, the Sharks are in the final four. They went in 2016 when the eventual Mr. Football winner Nick Tronti powered the Sharks over Clay in a 52-42 thriller. Ponte Vedra went on to lose a 35-33 classic to Plantation American Heritage in the championship game. Unlike that team, which was offensive centric, this Ponte Vedra team under head coach Steve Price has been balanced all over the field. QB Cole Rosendahl (3,137 passing yards, 31 TDs) and RB Alex Winkles have been excellent (1,093 rushing yards, 12 TDs). Pass catchers Davitt Doherty and Jack Berquist have close to identical stats (more than 1,500 yards combined, 19 TDs) and have shown playmaking ability on deep balls and short ones. They are good. Ponte Vedra has really shined on defense. JP Dolan’s blocked PAT in the opener against Niceville saved the season, and he’s one of numerous indispensable Sharks on that side of the ball. Dolan has 12 tackles for loss and 49 tackles. DL Reece Beck has 14 sacks and is a terror for offensive linemen. LB Talan Babin has 76 tackles and nine for loss. In the secondary, DB Fionn Day has five picks, followed by Trey Butz and Hudson Hauseman with three apiece. Ponte Vedra’s defense gives them a slugger’s chance for an upset. It is really that good. Can that pull off a colossal win against one of the most storied programs in Florida history? Lakeland has nine state championships, tied with Trinity Christian, University Christian and Miami Central for second most in state history. The Dreadnaughts lost to powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in the state title game last year.
Class 3A
Sarasota Booker (12-1) at Raines (12-0), 6:30 p.m.
Road here: Raines beat Baker County, 43-6; beat West Florida, 54-0; beat Bishop Kenny, 61-15; Booker beat Mulberry, 75-0; beat Bayshore, 68-0; beat Nature Coast Tech, 50-14.
Winner gets: Bishop Moore (11-1) or Miami Northwestern (12-0) in the state championship game on Dec. 12 at 7:30 at Pitbull Stadium in Miami.
Glance: A rematch of last year’s state semifinal, won in a 28-23 thriller by the Vikings. Booker’s loss came in the season opener to Class 7A Auburn (Ala.), 24-6. The Tornadoes are averaging 40.7 ppg and allowing just 9.6. Raines has put up staggering numbers this year (52.4 ppg and 5.1 ppg on defense) as it attempts to get back to the state championship game. The Vikings have been on the warpath since losing to Miami Northwestern in the Class 3A championship last year. Their closest game was a 13-point win over Madison County. Their next-closest game was the playoff opener against Baker County, a game the Vikings “only” won by 37. QB Timothy Cole has been a terror through the air (2,501 passing yards, 38 TDs), although his rushing number have dipped (872 yards/9 TDs to 406/3). That’s been a good thing because it’s meant the Raines ground game has been blasting defenses. Tadarius Washington and Tisean Haynes have racked up more than 1,400 yards on the ground and combined for 24 rushing TDs. That’s taken more of the wear and tear off Cole and allowed him to do what he does best — picking which one of his receivers to get the ball to. Ziyon Butler, the all-time leading yardage receiver in program history, has 16 TD catches and 942 yards. Ethan Sherman and Kelvin Brown Jr. have 17 combined TD catches and more than 1,100 yards. Cole and backup QB Sa’mon Ellison-Morgan have thrown 45 TD passes and just three picks. While the offense has been cooking defenses all year, the defense is why the Vikings believe they can change the narrative in the title game. Take away a couple kickoff returns for TDs and Raines has only surrendered 47 points all year. DE Troy Butler (59 tackles, 9 sacks, 23 tackles for loss), LB Travis Williams (59 tackles, 10 TFL, 5 sacks), S Jucoby Marion (52 tackles, 2 INT) and Tony Williams (51 tackles, 6 TFL) are the top performers for Raines. DB Shareef Jackson has been a huge addition since returning after one season at Mandarin. The Raines defense has 21 takeaways. The Vikings have 11 defensive TDs and four more on kick and punt returns. How much better is that than last year? Raines had nine defensive and special teams scores last season. … Booker QB Joel Morris has 29 TD passes (2,359 passing yards) and just one INT. WRs Tyren Hornes and Dylan Wester has 12 TD catches apiece. On defense, DL Kevontay Hugan has 13 sacks and 32 tackles for loss, both the highest on the team. Booker is 1-2 all-time against local teams in the playoffs (losses to Raines and St. Augustine, win over Flagler Palm Coast).
Class 2A
Cardinal Gibbons (10-3) at Bolles (12-1), 7 p.m.
Road here: Cardinal Gibbons beat Miami Monsignor Pace, 48-28; beat Miami Killian, 38-35; beat Immaculata-La Salle, 20-17; Bolles beat Walton, 63-13; beat Florida High, 51-27; beat Pensacola Catholic, 44-10.
Glance: Bolles is looking to reach its first title game since 2020 when it lost to Cardinal Gibbons (33-21). The Bulldogs are 2-3 in state semifinal games under head coach Matt Toblin, including 2-0 at home. This is arguably the best team in Toblin’s tenure. Bolles has immense firepower all over, including the frontrunner for the area’s top player (RB Xander Edwards), two excellent pass catchers (Naeem Burroughs, Cam Tietze) and an offensive line that is unquestionably the area’s best and deepest. Defensively, the Bulldogs have hammers at every level. On the line, Chance Faucheaux, James Gibbs and Asher Ghioto have racked up 57 tackles for loss and 39 sacks. Off the edge, LB Christian Hayes has 83 tackles and 14 tackles for loss. Ohio State signee and LB Simeon Caldwell leads Bolles in tackles (96). In the secondary, DB Santana Starks has six of Bolles’ 16 picks. If the Bulldogs can keep doing what they’ve been doing since a 40-35 loss to St. Augustine, they’ll win this game. Edwards has tortured defenses this season. He’s scored TDs on 11 of his 39 carries in the playoffs and is averaging a staggering 10.5 yards per carry this year. QB Jaden Weatherly is completing 65% of his passes and has 22 TD passes. The Chiefs added their third state championship the following year. QB Jayden Torres has passed for 2,981 yards and 35 TDs, with a chunk of that going to Gary Hadley Jr. (954 receiving yards, 11 TDs). But Gibbons is deep at receiver, with four players at 38 catches or more.
Class 1A
Trinity Christian (9-4) at Chaminda-Madonna (10-2), 6:30 p.m.
Road here: Trinity beat Providence, 42-16; beat Maclay, 56-28; beat University Christian, 27-12; Chaminade beat St. John Paul II, 63-0; beat Edison, 47-18; beat Miami True North Classical, 35-14.
Winner gets: Carrollwood Day (12-0) or Cardinal Newman (10-3) in the state championship game on Dec. 11 at 12:30 at Pitbull Stadium in Miami.
Notable: The last two seasons have been some of the best coaching work in Verlon Dorminey’s storied career. Trinity had two of the youngest and most inexperienced teams in Dorminey’s tenure, and both reached the final four. Trinity started 1-2 in 2024 and 1-4 this year. In the playoffs, the Conquerors have been a different team after halftime. Trinity has outscored teams by a combined 83-27. The theme has been the same for the Conquerors much of the last two seasons. Those young players have continued to develop and deliver. Their top players at QB (Terel Dallas, Hicks Zarah), RB (Micah Anderson) and WR (Marquez Hicks, Chris Grissett and Arryon Brookins) are all underclassmen. There’s more experience on defense, but not by much. Among its top four tacklers (William Striglers, Jacob Weldon, Adrian Williams and Kasir Jennings), only Weldon is a senior. Do the young and hungry Conquerors have a monumental-sized upset in their arsenal? The Lions are a dynasty. They are seeking their fifth consecutive state championship and haven’t been remotely challenged in those previous title romps. They’re just 1-3 all-time against local teams in the state playoffs, with last year’s 35-6 win over Trinity in the final four their first win. The last time Chaminade lost a playoff game was to Trinity in the 2020 state championship in Tallahassee. QB Malik Leonard (2,506 passing yards, 28 TDs), WR Jasen Lopez (1,005 receiving yards, 11 TDs) and RB Derek Cooper (1,391 rushing yards, 17 TDs) lead the Lions.