When Trinity Christian travels to Ed White tonight to open the 2022 high school football season, it will be the first time the two schools have met on the football field in both of their rich school’s history. That may come as a surprise to some, seeing that only eight miles seperate the two schools. Yet even though both schools are close in vacinity, they’ve seemingly been miles apart when it comes to facing one another. That is until tonight, when they finally cross paths.
Two Teams In Passing
So you may ask, why have these two teams never faced one another? Well, to answer that question you’d have to go back in time. Back to 1993 when Ed White was establishing itself as a state playoff power in class 4A. Their playoff appearance would kick off an eight-year span from 1993-2000 where the Commanders made the playoffs every year under legendary head coach Dan Disch (1988-2003). Under Disch, Ed White won seven district and six conference championships, reaching the state quarterfinals four times in Class 5A, which is the equivilant to Class 7A today. Ed White also was ranked in the Top-10 of the state’s final football poll eight times.
At that same time in 1993, Trinity Christian was an Independent coming off consecutive 3-7 record years. Yet in 1995 they would make the playoffs in Class 2A, followed by a regional finals appearance in 1996. In 1997, Trinity defeated Union County in the playoffs, ending their 52-game winning streak sending shock waves around the state. That win was apart of a five-year span where Trinity went to the playoffs every year culminating into their first championshup in 2002.
As both teams enjoyed success from the mid 1990’s to the early 2000’s, they unfortunatley did not play each other. One of the main reasons their paths never crossed, is due to the teams residing in two different classifications. In that time in high school football, teams in smaller classifications did not play teams in larger classifications as they do today. So a 5A team would not play a 2A team. This reality left two teams with top athletes basically passing one another on opposite sides of the perverbial high school football interstate to the championship. Yet that competitive urge contintued to grow and build between both programs, especially as neighborhood kids began to choose to attend Trinity Christian over Ed White.
Family Ties
Some truly exceptional players have come through the two historic programs. For Trinity, players like Guss Scott ( UF, NFL), Gerard Ross (FSU, NFL), Kevin Toliver (LSU, NFL), and Shaun Wade (Ohio St, NFL). Likewsie, Ed White has produced some exceptional players as well including , Byron “Bam” Hardmon (UF, NFL), Dee Webb ( UF, NFL), Javon Wims (UGA, NFL), and Javaris Davis (Auburn, NFL). Players like Scott and Webb were not teammates in high school, but shared a common fraternal bond as Florida Gator greats. Scott will be on the sidelines as Trinity Christian’s offensive coordinator in tonight’s game, while Webb will be front and center on the sidelines. Webb in particular has wanted to see this matchup for a long time, and was instrumental in getting the game scheduled this year. His cousin, Treyaun Webb is the 4-star runningback for Trinity and is committed to the University of Florida
Of all these great players, there have been very few who have played for both teams during their High School playing days even though the schools are virtually next door neighbors. One of these players is Chip Frazier, a fullback who played for Trinity and then transferred to Ed White in the early 1990’s. Frazier remembers some of his teammates at Trinity laughing while reminiscing “I had some great teammates, they were tough guys, Scott Weldon, man he was a beast”. Frazier also spoke on the signifigance of the Westside of Jacksonville as a whole, and for his era who he identifies with the most. “Great job that Trinity is on top, it’s awesome to see the Westside of Jacksonville as a whole on top, but I went to Ed White”. Frazier’s transfer to Ed White was worthy of making the news paper. It’s a decision he’s glad he made considering the climate at the time, and feels Ed White is his home.
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Another athlete who attended both programs is linebacker Eriq Gilyard. Gilyard currently plays college football at Kansas and shared his thoughts on both schools and what they mean to him.
“Ed White is deeply rooted in my family from my mom to my dad to my little brother who is currently on the team”. “Being able to start as a freshman on that field; hearing stories about my Dad and the other great players, it was always a dream of mine to be on that field”. (Ed White great Roshard Gilyard is Eriq’s father, and current linebacker Malcom Wilson is his brother). Gilyard made the move from Ed White to Trinity for his sophomore through senior seasons. Becsuse of that current climate he felt like it was the best move for him. He spoke about the signifigance of the Trinity traditions.
“When I was there, we handed down our jersey numbers to the players that either reminded you of yourself, or ressembled you on the field”. Gilyard continued, “You didn’t want to be the person to let them down, so you try to out do the person that came before you”.
That timeless tradition continued five years later, when safety Christian Ellis came over to Trinity Christian from Sandalwood. He was given the number #2 by the coaches and the players accepted him as a teammate. It meant something very special to him. So much so, that he kept the number when he decided to switch schools to Ed White.
Said Ellis, ” I gotta talk about the state championship, the great coaches and the great group of guys I played with and the ones that came before me at Trinity; two get that number was most memorable” . He also spoke about his one year at Ed White before signing with New Mexico this past January.
” I felt like we accomplished something really special qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in a long time. The great coaches and the great players at Ed White, the school support from administrators, I was very grateful to play where my mother went to school”.
These players span over three decades, and in that same span the high school football landscape and climate has shifted drastically. From Chip Frazier’s move to Ed White from Trinity in the 90’s, to Eriq Gilyard’s move from Ed White to Trinity in the mid 2010’s, to Ellis who moved from Trinity to Ed White fresh off a state championship in 2021. The shifts have shown one thing, that no matter the circumstance or situation, both schools and programs are important to High School Football in Northeast Florida as a whole, and players have personal connections and feelings tied to them both.
Public vs Private
There are 9 state championships that the Conqueors have won over the course of twenty years. In fact, this season will be exactly twenty years since Head Coach Verlon Dorminey won his first state championship. He’s amassed 306 wins, and is chasing history, attempting to tie the late legedary Bolles head coach Corky Rogers with 10 state championships. Both Trinty and Bolles are private schools, and while they along with University Christian have represented Northeast Florida by dominating the lower classification landscape in Florida, the same can’t be said about the public schools.
Ed White’s most storied coach is Dan Disch. Disch had five of his high school assistant coaches go on to land head coaching jobs. One of them was coach Terry Gilliam (Sandalwood/Ed White). In 1997, Gilliam replaced renowned head coach Bob Withrow who led Sandalwood to the state championship game in 1995. The Saints were attempting to be the first Duval County public school to win a title, yet they fell to Miami Northweastern 12-7. Two years later, coach Welton Coffey would lead Raines to a state championship in 1997.
Since that time, Duval County Public Schools wouldn’t see another championship until 2017 when Raines would repeat under head coach Deran Wiley. A twenty year drout, that is something much different than the other metropolitan regions in the state like Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. Some have blamed private schools like Trinity for recruiting talented athletes from their neighborhood schools, leaving public schools with less talent. A thought that has fueled the public vs private debate not only in Jacksonville, but around the state .
Championship Goals
In any case, if a public school team like Ed White is to achieve state championship success like Trinity, this game against a defending state champion is a much needed test. Ironically, Ed White’s current head coach (Lawrence Johnson) played under Gilliam at Sandalwood, and was an assistant coach at Ed White, before eventually coming back to the school as it’s current head coach. As a player and coach, Johnson knows the significance of this game and difficulty in trying to build a championship caliber team as Coach Dorminey has done at Trinity. As fate would have it, their paths will cross today. In a game that has finally brought two teams together who are so close , yet have been so far apart.
