Oakleaf wrapped up its second consecutive Clay County Junior High Football title against Lake Asbury last week. Oakleaf is now “Back to Back” Clay County Champions, finishing the regular season (5-1 Overall) .
Wilkinson (2-2,2-4) defeated Lakeside 38-20 to advance to the playoffs over Lake Asbury and Green Cove who fell to Baker(3-1,5-1) 42-0. Bradford (4-0,5-1) defeated Orange Park Jr High 46-8 in their regular season finale to advance to the NEFAC Junior High Playoffs where they will host Baker today.
Now is the time for teams to play as a cohesive unit to accomplish one goal which is a championship. If Oakleaf and Bradford win, it will set up a rematch of last year’s championship game. One that saw Bradford take the 38-23 victory. However Wilkinson and Baker County will certainly have something to say about that.
Wilkinson has lots of size and discipline. They rely on a ball control offense and stingy defense to control the clock and wear teams down. Their signature win this year was against Lake Asbury where they were able to bottle up their play makers and squeak out an 8-6 win. They must do the same against Oakleaf, as the Yellow Jackets have speed and aggressiveness on both sides of the ball.
Oakleaf traditionally has attempted to jump out on teams quickly and if they do this against Wilkinson the game will be over quickly.
Baker County and Bradford will be a big test for both teams. They’re very similar in many regards. Opportunistic defenses that force turnovers and capitalize on them. Athletic play-makers on offense that can take it the distance at any time.
The key for Baker County will be to stop the run and force Bradford to convert long 3rd downs. In their matchup earlier this season, Baker came out with the close 20-14 win, holding Bradford to just two touchdowns. Bradford must eliminate the turnovers and convert in the redzone so that they wont leave plays on the field like last game. Baker looks to repeat their performance from by executing at every position. These two teams could be playing the best junior high ball in the conference right now.
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