by 
First Half
The matchup for this Friday pinned the Rickards Raiders against the Wakulla War Eagles. The skies were clear and the game began with Wakulla receiving the ball after winning the coin toss. On their first four downs in a row, Wakulla utilized athlete Jaylen Jones in wildcat and his rushing abilities were called upon. Three of those four downs including a fourth down with one yard to go, which he converted. War Eagle running back Danny Godbolt III took a handoff up the left side for an 18-yard gain. However, on the next set of downs stalled out with Rickards’ outside linebacker Keon Knight recording multiple tackles within the set of downs. And ultimately, the War Eagles would wind up punting.
Rickards’ first set of downs went well with a tough run coming from running back Adyn Grant and a first-down earning connection from quarterback Jordan Kelley and wideout Donterrious Figgers for a 7-yard gain. A botched Rickards play then put them back in a 2nd & 14 situation that they couldn’t get out of despite another 7-yard connection from Kelley to Figgers. A forced third-down throw away caused by good coverage from the defense forced a Raiders punt.
The game then quickly hit a pivot on the second play of the War Eagles following drive. On a 2nd & 8 attempt, the War Eagles drew up a screen to the right side of the field, however, it was read perfectly by safety Makhi Mitchell, who intercepted the screen and took it back 30 yard to the house to put the Raiders in front early. An extra point kick from kicker Adam Kanlinda put the immediate score at 7-0.
The first two drives of the game – despite not amounting to scoring success – had depleted a large portion of the first quarter clock. Wakulla, within the 2 minutes they had left with it, made quick work with their next drive. War Eagles quarterback Ashton Brooks looked pristine throughout this set of plays. The drive began with a connection between brooks and fullback C.J. Whitehead for an 11-yard gain off the rip. Running back Nigel Cloud handled the next two downs, getting third down into manageable territory. And the successful rushes on the first two downs paid off when Rickards committed an offsides penalty, giving the War Eagles an automatic first down. It was on that first down the Brooks uncorked a rocket of a pass that traveled 51 yards in the air into the breadbasket range of wide receiver DeMarkus Roberts for a 49-yard touchdown. Kicker Colby Carranza’s extra point kick drew the game at 7 apiece.
As the second quarter began, Rickards once again found themselves up against the wall after a holding penalty pushed them back to a 2nd & 19 attempt on their own 11-yard line. This time, however, the offense used the large down space to spread out the defense and Jordan Kelley once again found Donterrious Figgers for a 28-yard connection to give the Raiders new immediate life. On the next down, War Eagles defensive end Zay Carnline hit Kelley as he was throwing and forced an incompletion. Two downs later, Kelley would find wide receiver Davion Crumitie for another first down. Crumitie would rush and catch for a combined 15 yards on three consecutive plays to put the Raiders in position inside the War Eagles 10-yard line. However, there was a botched snap and the ball ended up loose and being recovered 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage by Wakulla safety Jaylen Jones to give the War Eagles the ball back.
On their ensuing drive, the War Eagles once again used their passing game with success. Ashton Brooks’ connection with wideout Jarrell Rudolph was especially strong this drive. On the second play of the possession, Brooks found Rudolph for a 12-yard pickup. Three plays later, Brooks found Rudolph in the middle of the field 20 yards past the line of scrimmage and Rudolph sliced repeatedly through the defense for another 36 yards to flip the field and put Wakulla in the red zone. Jaylen Jones came back into the game in wildcat and muscled his way down to the one-yard line with two rushes for nine yards to give the War Eagles 1st & Goal. A false start on the next play put them back five yards. History often repeats itself in sports and here it did. A miscommunication with the snap caused a fumble that was recovered by Raiders linebacker Marlon Wilson at the 6-yard line.
Rickards once again began to rack up yardage on their next drive. Raiders running back Timothy Scott bursted forward for a 12-yard advance. A couple plays later, Kelley spotted wideout Ja’Zae Larry on the sideline, who made a difficult catch and took the ball upfield for a 31-yard pickup. A personal foul penalty and Timothy Scott 14-yard rush later, the Raiders once again reached the War Eagles’ red zone. Wakulla then committed a face mask on a 16-yard sack by defensive linemen Antonio Harvey and Rashod Rollins, which ended up resulting in a 3rd & 2. This was converted on a rush once again by Timothy Scott. However, one of the men on offense lined up offsides, pushing the Raiders back to a 1st & Goal from the 8. Wakulla’s defense then showed up stoutly to force three straight incompletions – including a pass breakup from athlete DeMarkus Roberts & safety Ryheem Moore on 1st down and pressure leading to the throw away by linemen Antonio Harvey and C.J. Whitehead on 3rd down. This ultimately lead to a 4th & Goal with only 2 seconds remaining in the half. Rickards would then attempt a field goal. The kick was low and blocked by linebacker Rayshon St. Pierre to keep the game at a standstill 7-7 going into halftime.
Second Half
The second half didn’t have nearly as many twists and turns as the first did. The first of Rickards’ first downs on their first drive of the second half was earned from another face mask penalty on Wakulla. Jordan Kelley then found his primary wideout Davion Crumitie twice on the next two plays for 11 & 9 yards respectively. When it got to the Raiders next third down, Jordan Kelley evaded multiple sack attempts and found running back Adyn Grant for a 19-yard reception. Wakulla’s defense then stopped a few run plays to leave Rickards on a fourth down at an awkward spot on the field. They went for it and defensive end Lee-Anthony Green stuffed the run – that likely would have gotten the first down without his efforts – and ultimately the War Eagles got the ball back.
Nevertheless, the Wakulla drive did not last very long. An 8-yard sack set the War Eagles against the odds and pressure from the defensive line on third down forced Brooks to attempt a run, but was stopped at the line of scrimmage by linebacker Keon Knight before he had the chance to do any damage.
The Raiders, after getting the ball, immediately were placed into another difficult situation after War Eagles safety Ryheem Moore sacked Jordan Kelley for 6 yards to put Rickards behind the sticks to start the drive. And although Kelley would find Adyn Grant for an 11-yard gain to make up a chunk of the yardage, an immediate unsportsmanlike conduct set them right back to where they started. However, a roughing the passer from Wakulla on the next down gave the Raiders another shot. Even so, Wakulla’s tight coverage from the secondary coupled with the pressure from the line forced incompletions. Notably on the third down after the roughing the passer penalty, pressure from Wakulla defensive end Landon Kilpatrick forced a throw away.
Wakulla went back to the Jaylen Jones wildcat strategy, except they attempted him passing on third down this time. It almost succeeded and got the first, but the attempt was unsuccessful and Jones stayed on the field to punt the ball back to the Raiders to cap off a 3-and-out possession. Rickards’ possession afterward initially started very well with connections from Kelley to Davion Crumitie for 14 and 19 yards on the two of the first plays of the drive. However, Wakulla once again forced incompletions with pressure upfront and sticky coverage and forced another punt as the game eased into the fourth quarter.
Rickards middle linebacker Javis Scrivens then made his presence felt immediately, sacking Brooks for a 10 yard loss on the first play from Wakulla’s next drive, continuing a common theme for the two teams within the second half. And like most of the other possessions, this setback was too much for the offense to overcome and the possession ended in another punt.
The theme of the second half continued with the offenses continuing to shoot themselves in the foot with penalties coupled with defensive successes. A penalty on first down for the Raiders set them back to 1st & 15, a 2nd down 2-yard TFL from War Eagle d-lineman Kasen Small, and a false start on the next play put Rickards on another 3rd & a mile left to go. The Raiders drew up a pass play that looked like it was developing nicely, but defensive end Lee-Anthony Green nailed Kelley as he was throwing, causing the throw to be somewhat awry. Athlete DeMarkus Roberts then sprinted over to the middle of the field and made a diving play on the ball to secure a Wakulla interception.
As their ol’ reliable strategy, Wakulla decided to put Jaylen Jones into wildcat and let him work. And this time, that was all they did. And it was all they needed to do. Jones ran the ball ten times, almost all in a row, got the War Eagles 3 first downs, and got his offense deep into Rickards territory. Wakulla was faced with a fourth down decision and they stuck with their guns and Jaylen Jones once again did what he had done all drive long: kept his legs going, broke tackles and contact, and kept moving. Jones broke the initial contact from the Raiders defense and broke away for a 22-yard touchdown. Carranza’s kick was once again through the middle of the uprights. 14-7.
Now without their starting quarterback, who got injured on the Raiders last drive, Rickards didn’t have much momentum on their side and their final drive stalled out pretty fast. Wakulla snuffed out their attempt at a comeback and kneeled the game out.
Players of the Game
Wakulla High School War Eagles
QB/RB/FS/P Jaylen Jones – 1/3 3 YDS; 17 RUSH, 102 YDS, 1 TD; 2 TKL; 4 PUNT, 162 PYDS, 40.5 PAVG
WR/DB DeMarkus Roberts – 1 REC, 49 YDS, 1 TD; 8 TKL, 1 TFL, 0.5 TYDS, 1 PD, 1 INT
MLB Rayshon St. Pierre – 10 TKL, 1 TFL, 0.5 TYDS, 1 FGBLK
Rickards High School Raiders
SS Makhi Mitchell – 10 TKL, 1 TFL, 2 TYDS, 1 INT, 30 INTYDS, 1 DEFTD
WR Davion Crumitie – 7 REC, 74 YDS, 5 FD
MLB Javis Scrivens – 8 TKL, 1 TFL, 10 TYDS, 1 SACK, 10 SYDS
