Jacksonville FL– Coach Deran Wiley knew that this season could be a real make it or break it for his program. After celebrating their second consecutive state title, the FHSAA reclassified them from class 4A to class 5A which brought on the whispers saying they had the “easy route” the last couple of years to the title.
The Vikings had a fair number of student-athletes returning and Wiley wanted the young men to have a challenging schedule to boost their chances of keeping the streak alive of consecutive playoff berths under his tutelage. Up first for this challenge was Jones High School from Orlando, and one team’s day would quickly be turned upside down.
The Vikings won the coin toss and elected to defer, giving them the ball at the start of the second half. Things looked to be on the up and up for the Vikings. After a three and out by Jones, their punter fumbled the snap and the Vikings were on the board first with a safety, putting them up 2-0, with ten minutes left in the first quarter.
That would be the last time Raines put any numbers in the score column until midway through the third quarter. Jones capitalized on every Raines’ mistake. Raines was never able to get the offense moving down the field, having three straight three and out sequences resulting in a short field for the Tigers to capitalize on. Raines appeared to be open for multiple first downs but they weren’t able to hold onto the ball, dropped passes would haunt them the entire game. One of those tipped passes led to an interception by junior defensive back Delmontre Pryor that he returned the length of the field for a touchdown.
On the next set of downs, Raines senior running back Nigel Smith appeared to have a lower leg injury and he never returned to the game. Everything that could go wrong for Raines did as the first quarter ended with a short pass turned long run touchdown by senior Avarius Sparrow for his first of three scores for the evening. The first quarter ended with Raines being down 19-2, after another Sparrow touchdown to close out the quarter.
Things didn’t get any better for Raines in the second quarter. The band and the fans started to rally behind the hometown team hoping they would be able to dig out of this deep hole they were in. Wiley switched quarterbacks for his team thinking that would give a different look to the Tigers, switching out senior starting quarterback Adrien Williams.
They started to move the ball down the field with great catches by senior wide receiver Reginald Harden Jr., and sophomore receiver Kareem Burke. They moved the ball down the field, but never were able to convert on third downs which gave the ball right back to the Tigers. The Tigers were able to score one more time before the end of the half, putting the score at 26-2.
Jones’ Marching Band didn’t make the trip up I-4 and I-95 for a battle of the bands at halftime against the Raines Marching Band. Both of these schools being historically black high schools, both named after African-American staples in their various communities, take their music programs very serious. Jones’ Marching Band has performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and Raines’ Marching Band travels down to Daytona Beach every year to perform in Bethune-Cookman University’s Homecoming Parade.
Jones came out of the tunnel focused on finishing what they have started, shutting down the “back to back champions”. Raines came out of the tunnel looking determined to turn the tables in the second half. Raines’ senior punt returner Jarius Stewart had a nice 38-yard return making it a short playing field for Raines to start the half. Both teams went three and out after a long 40 yard punt by Raines. This made it a long field for Jones to have to score on. Raines’ junior Jaylin Griffin caught a nice pass and ran for a touchdown on the far end of the field to breathe a little air back into Raines’ lungs, shortening the lead to 26-9, in favor of Jones.
After a Raines touchdown the fans came alive, Jones’ sidelines for the first time seemed quiet and scared of a chance of a comeback. That changed within a matter of seconds as a 74-yard touchdown by senior wide receiver Dacarri Allen-Johnson, all but put the nail in the coffin for the Vikings in the graveyard. The score was now 33-9 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
Sloppy play on both ends made for a slow rest of the quarter until Jones’ junior wide receiver Jadan Robinson took one to the house and scored for the Tigers again to grow the lead to 40-9 over the Vikings. The Vikings were able to score before the end of the quarter with a touchdown reception by now making the score 40-15, which is where it would stay for the remainder of the game.
Though Jones doesn’t have the back to back state titles under their belt they do know all too well what this feels like, as they switched classifications at the start of the 2017-2018 school year and lost their season opener. They went on to lose to Cardinal Gibbons in the Regional Quarterfinals that year.
The hometown Vikings go out on the road again this week facing off against Pahokee who is also coming off a double-digit season opener loss as well. Coach Wiley talked to his student athletes about shaking this loss off and getting back to work on Monday. “I reflected on how far we’ve come and how far we have to go as a team” said Wiley. Raines claimed a state title in both years. Seniors #1 Treyon Hubbs and #2 Nigel Smith were on those teams, and knows what it takes to get back there this year.
Jones will be on the road as well next week against John’s Creek. Raines and Jones might have a chance to meet again down the line in the class 5A state playoff bracket.
