Northeast Fl-In one of Northeast Florida’s most anticipated matchups of the 2025 season, the St. Augustine Yellow Jackets edged Bolles 40–35 in a dramatic finish at Skinner-Barco Stadium on Friday night. The game featured explosive plays from both sides, with both St. Augustine and Bolles stars stealing the spotlight. We spotlight several stars from the game in a series of stories. The first, St. Augustine quarterback Brenton James.
Brenton James put on a show under the Friday night lights. The junior signal-caller was the difference-maker all evening, using both his arm and his legs to carve up the Bulldogs’ defense.
Brenton James @BrentonJames_2 to Somourian Wingo!! @_somourianwingo They have hooked up twice in the first quarter! St Augustine leads Bolles 14-7 , 1st 6:50 pic.twitter.com/4yMthzK6lB
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) September 5, 2025
James wasted little time setting the tone, connecting with Somourian Wingo for a pair of first-quarter touchdown strikes that stunned the Bolles crowd and gave the Jackets a 14-7 edge. His poise was evident early, calmly executing on third downs and finding mismatches in the secondary.
Later in the half, James showed his versatility, keeping the football on a designed run for a short touchdown before hitting Trendell Anderson for another score to build a commanding 28-14 lead. At halftime, he had already accounted for four total touchdowns.
In the second half, even when Bolles tied the game James was always confident his team would come out on top. Said James after the game of the offense, “we stayed patient knowing that eventually we would pop one”. St. Augustine did just that.
He lead the Jackets down field with big drive converting passes to wide receiver Julio Santiago and Wingo. He also moved the yard marker with his legs, eluding rushers. His leadership led to a touchdown by running back Durell Preston, who capitalized on the defense keying on James who ran left, as Preston ran opposite to the right on a long rushing TD (4th quarter momentum swing) reclaiming the lead 34-28.
Wow Durell Preston weaves his way to the end zone on a long TD run!! St Augustine finally score in the second half! PAT NO GOOD! Blocked by 5-star Simeon Caldwell! 34-28, 4th pic.twitter.com/G0uVSKyQOm
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) September 6, 2025
Yet the fourth quarter is where James showed incredible maturation as a first year starting signal caller. Trailing 35-34, James led St. Augustine on an eventual game winning 80-yard drive. He stood tall in the pocket hitting Wingo on a crucial third down pass to extend the drive with less than two minutes to play.
He protected the football with no turnovers all game, and picked his spots to keep the ball himself and sometimes give the ball to backs on zone reads. With minutes left in the game, he gave the ball to senior running back Trendell Anderson who scored on a long run for the deciding score.
“All around we showed as a team that we are one of the best in the state, we’re an explosive offense and we knew we would score a lot of points” said James. After the game there was a long embrace between Brenton James and his older brother St. Augustine assistant coach Brandon James (University of Florida great).
Brenton said of his older brother, “all week he preached confidence, confidence, confidence, and just to show him that I applied that to my game really showed that I cared”. Brenton James finished 18/26, for 236 yards passing, 3 TD passes, and 1 rushing TD versus Bolles. Not only does James care about success, he has shown early in 2025 that he is committed to winning.
