Though Percy Harvin’s contributions couldn’t offset Florida’s deficiencies in a 42-30 loss to Georgia on Saturday, it wasn’t from a lack of effort.

The sophomore wide receiver finished the game with a season-high 10 carries for 97 yards and added two catches for 41 yards.

“I’m just trying to keep finding ways to put the ball in his hands,” Gators coach Urban Meyer said.

However, not being able to get the ball into Harvin’s hands might have been the turning point in the game.

With Florida trailing 28-24 early in the fourth quarter, an intended fourth-and-2 reverse never got to Harvin as Andre Caldwell was hit in the backfield before he could hand the ball off. The play resulted in a turnover on downs and swung the momentum of the game in Georgia’s favor. The Bulldogs followed with a two-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that gave them a 35-24 lead.

Harvin’s 10 carries were the highest single-game total of his career, and his 97 rushing yards were his most since he ran for 105 yards against Arkansas in last year’s Southeastern Conference title game.

“He’s someone you give the ball to and make a play,” Florida quarterback Tim Tebow said. “Whenever you need a big play, you know you can count on him.”

The Gators went to Harvin after running back Kestahn Moore was pulled in the first half. Moore fumbled on Florida’s opening possession and later botched a snap that cost the Gators 12 yards. But Meyer said Harvin was a part of the plan from the start.

“That’s a game plan,” Meyer said. “That’s every week. I think teams just do a lot to try to defend him because he’s one of the more dynamic players in college football. I’d like to get him the ball more than that.”

Harvin’s 138 yards were his second highest total this season. He had 195 on Sept. 15 against Tennessee.

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in: The Florida Times-Union
December 25, 2007
Link: Family connection sets Crusaders senior apart

For Ali Sinden, attending Bishop Kenny High School wasn’t just about playing volleyball.

It was about playing in the John A. Baldwin Athletic Center.

“I was just excited to play in this gym,” Sinden said. “That’s all I wanted to do. I didn’t care what sport it was. Coming in, I wasn’t focused on volleyball. I just wanted to play in this gym.”

Baldwin, whose name was synonymous with Bishop Kenny for dozens of years, was Sinden’s grandfather. He coached boys basketball and was the longtime athletic director.

His legacy lives on at Bishop Kenny in the gym that bears his name.

And in the past four years, that same gym is where Sinden has built a legacy of her own.

Sinden, the Crusaders’ senior setter and the Times-Union All-First Coast volleyball player of the year, was one of the driving forces behind the team’s three-year run of state semifinal teams.

“She was our captain this year and was definitely a leader on and off the court,” Bishop Kenny coach Suzanne Winkler said. “She brought both her athleticism and her volleyball skills as well as leadership and experience to the team.”

Sinden finished the season with 639 assists and 48 aces, both first on her team.

Despite her individual success, the Crusaders never met their ultimate goal, as they lost in the state semifinals the past three seasons.

“I think it’s really important that you can take criticism because anyone can stand there and take leadership when your team is successful and winning all the time,” Sinden said. “But for the last three years, we’ve not won the state championship.”

Though her family’s roots were planted in Jacksonville, Sinden was born in St. Petersburg and spent her first seven years of school there. It was in St. Petersburg that Sinden picked up volleyball from her middle-school coach, Brian Shaffer.

“He was probably the most inspirational person I’ve had in my life,” Sinden said. “It really started with wanting to learn from him.”

Despite being paralyzed, Shaffer is the coach of every sport at Saint Raphael’s Catholic School in St. Petersburg.

“Seeing that as a young child, that he couldn’t physically participate but he was still so involved in our lives, I think that was really something that pushes me to succeed,” Sinden said.

Shaffer still keeps in touch with Sinden, and is proud of the player and person she has matured into.

“Ali was one of the girls that you could always depend on being a good team player, and she always worked her hardest,” Shaffer said. “She never thought of herself as the best, but she always wanted to work hard.”

Sinden also credits her mother, Debbie, for instilling in her the work ethic that has gotten her where she is.

“For me, she has pretty much redefined Wonder Woman,” Sinden said. “I’ve always wanted to make her proud. By excelling in a sport, especially at her very family related school, I think that’s been a real highlight in my life, to be able to pay her back in a way for all she’s done for me.”

When her family moved to Jacksonville after seventh grade, Sinden had the opportunity to realize her dream of playing at Bishop Kenny.

“It was kind of like fate when we moved up here because … I always wanted to go to this school,” Sinden said. “It’s been a big pride for me. I walk around and I carry my head held high because there’s a tradition here.”

Sinden will move on past Bishop Kenny after this school year, and while she had committed to Tennessee-Martin to play volleyball, a coaching change there has left her next step up in the air.

Florida Southern and Rockhurst University in Missouri are among her other options, but with her heritage being in Jacksonville, she knows she’ll always see it as a place she can come back to.

“I love Jacksonville. I think having the family roots here is really nice,” Sinden said. “I could definitely come back here, make a home and have a family here. I’m a big family person, and this has really been an awesome experience for me. I could see myself coming back here.”

Splitting time at running back hasn’t been a problem for Trinity Christian’s Jamie Harper and Montel Harris. It might be the reason both are thriving.

The seniors share the load in the Conquerors’ offense and have made the most of every carry. Five games into the season, both players have gained more than 500 yards, and each averages more than 10 yards per carry. The duo has led Trinity to a 4-1 record this season heading into a non-district game Friday against Tampa Catholic.

According to both players, sharing the load is a blessing, not a curse.

“If you can watch how we run, it’s actually two totally different styles of running,” Harper said. “It’s hard to defend. The chemistry we have is important. We don’t even have to say anything. We already know.”

Conquerors coach Verlon Dorminey said Harper is more of a power runner, and Harris is a slasher.

“[Opponents] aren’t keying on one person,” Harris said. “One game, they might key on Jamie, but then I’ll have a big game and vice versa. So all the attention isn’t on one back.”

Both players point to San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson as a player they try to mimic. Harper also admires Clemson’s duo of James Davis and C.J. Spiller. Spiller played at Union County.

Playing and working together isn’t new to Harper and Harris. They have been friends since grade school and have risen from Pop Warner football to high school together. Both have been varsity starters all four years at Trinity.

“They can call the plays better than I can call the plays,” Dorminey said of his running backs. “They know it backwards and forward. They’re not selfish kids, either. One doesn’t complain because he doesn’t get the ball or the other gets more yards. It’s been very fortunate to have two good kids that work together like that in a team atmosphere.”

The Conquerors, perennial state-title contenders, started this season on a rough note, losing 13-6 to First Coast in the opener.

“It gave us an idea of a whole lot of things we needed to work on to get better,” Dorminey said.

Since then, Trinity is 4-0, and the offense has thrived, scoring at least 40 points in each game. Harper and Harris have been the top performers, but the running threat also opens up the rest of the offense.

“Last week, Jamie and I were tired, but [Tallahassee FAMU High] was looking for us to go out on a pass route,” Harris said. “They left one of our wide receivers uncovered because they were covering us.”

Harris has given a verbal commitment to play college ball at Duke.

“It was my first offer, and I was excited, so I kind of jumped the gun and committed,” Harris said. “My parents said it’s a good academic school. I just went ahead and committed. I tried to get it out of the way.”

Harper is taking a little more time to make his college decision. Touted as the top running back prospect in the state and No. 13 in the nation by Rivals.com, Harper has plenty of teams recruiting him. His list remains lengthy, with Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Florida State and LSU at the top. Harper is silent on which way he’s leaning, instead concentrating on the present.

“I try to stay focused on school, church and my football team,” Harper said. “I’m focused on this season.”

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in: The St. Augustine Record
March 26, 2008
Link: Growth Spurt

Jordan Hoover was always a fighter, but he didn’t start wrestling until ninth grade.

Four years removed from picking up the sport from scratch, Hoover is The St. Augustine Record’s Wrestler of the Year.

“He actually went from, as a ninth grader, a kid that wanted to fight everybody, to a leader,” St. Augustine High School wrestling coach James Russell said. “All the kids looked up to him and he was team captain. I had no problem putting responsibility on him, whereas, four years ago, I would have never even thought about putting responsibility on him.”

While he wouldn’t call himself a troublemaker, Hoover did admit there were some instances of fighting.

“Freshman year, I had some slip-ups,” he said. “(Wrestling) has just taught me how to control my anger and hurt people legally and not get in trouble for it.”

While Hoover came in with no wrestling experience, Russell was impressed with how quickly he picked up the sport.

“He had a natural talent. He was a natural grappler. There’s some kids that, as soon as you show them something they know exactly what to do.”

In his four years at SAHS, Hoover worked his way up the state rankings. He finished his freshman year with a 28-9 record and two matches away from the state tournament. His sophomore year, Hoover made his first of three state tournament appearances, placing in the top eight.

As a junior, Hoover was ranked third in the state in his weight class and finished at 40-5.

“I went to state, went to the semifinals and choked,” Hoover said. “In the next match, I didn’t wrestle well and lost.”

Hoover entered his senior year ranked second in the state and posted a 36-2 record entering the state tournament.

At the state tournament, Hoover wrestled his way to the semifinals again where his dream of a state title was derailed.

“I dislocated my shoulder in the first 15 seconds of the match,” Hoover said. “I wrestled the whole match with it out.”

Suwannee’s Jordan Cone took advantage of Hoover’s injury.

“I was up 2-0 and he ended up beating me, pretty bad, 19-2, because I couldn’t do anything,” Hoover said. “Coach wanted to throw the towel and I told him no. I just wanted to wrestle. I knew I was going to lose. I couldn’t do anything. I still just wanted to wrestle. I didn’t want to give up.”

Cone went on to win the state title in his next match.

“The next day they told me not to wrestle,” Hoover said. “I said ‘I’m wrestling, there is no way I’m taking sixth place in states.’”

Despite his injury, Hoover was winning the match against Riverdale’s Jose Lopez 9-1 when, during a lock up, Hoover’s shoulder popped back out. After being taken down, Hoover found the determination to fight through the pain.

“I got up and said, ‘There’s no way I’m losing.’ I got back up, took him down again and the match was over,” Hoover said.

“I would have pinned him but I let him go. I put him on his back and then let him go. I just got away from him because my shoulder was hurting.”

The win put Hoover in the third-place match, which he was forced to forfeit because of the injury, and he left with a fourth-place finish.

“Once he won that, his arm couldn’t move again. He literally couldn’t pick it up off of the ground,” Russell said.

“All the way up to the semifinals when he got hurt, he was just doing everything perfectly. He didn’t make any mistakes and he hit his moves right on. He did everything the way I asked him to do it, and it showed in how he progressed through the tournament.”

“I honestly think I would have won,” Hoover said.

“I was pleased but at the same time I still think about that match (with Cone). It doesn’t sit with me too well. I still think, if the kid would have been better than me and he would have just beat me, that would have been different. But I think I should have beaten him. He was good, though, he’s well deserving of it.”

For Hoover, the shoulder injury was a reoccurrence of an injury he suffered in practice his sophomore year.

“I was wrestling our heavyweight and he came down on me and they thought I was paralyzed,” Hoover said.

“I couldn’t move for like 30 minutes. But then all of a sudden my neck came unkinked and I just stretched out a little bit and it just hurt really badly. I went to therapy and they thought it went away and then it just happened. It’s a freak accident.”

Though his high school career came to a close in a disappointing manner, Hoover was still the only wrestler in St. Johns County to place in the state tournament and finished with a four-year record of 149-21.

“No one in this county has beat me,” Hoover said.

One of Hoover’s biggest supporters has been his identical twin brother Jerrod. Jerrod and Jordan have wrestled together for three of their four years at SAHS and Jerrod also received All-County honors at the 135-pound class this year.

Though the two rarely wrestle each other outside of practice, there is still a sibling rivalry.

“He’s better on his feet and I’m better on the ground,” Jerrod said. “Whenever we wrestle each other, we both know what we’re going to do because we train with each other all the time. It’s really a big rivalry; we don’t like losing to each other. Probably the biggest thing in our lives would be going against each other. It’s like life or death to us.”

Recently cleared to wrestle again, Jordan has been training with Jerrod and his best friend Justin Swilling of Matanzas for Senior Nationals in Virginia Beach, Va., which begin Thursday and run through Saturday. Jordan says the shoulder has not bothered him at all since training started and he hopes to impress college scouts and earn a scholarship that would allow him to continue wrestling.

“There’s going to be a lot of scouts there and stuff so it’s going to be really tough,” he said.

“Definitely if you win more matches than you lose than you’re a prospect. You’ve got to win like 12 matches to get to the finals.”

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in: The Florida Times-Union
September 28, 2007
Link: Fernandina flips over its record

FERNANDINA BEACH – After an 0-10 season in 2006, the Fernandina Beach football team is trying to go full-circle.

The Pirates have won their first four games in 2007 and have their sights set on a playoff berth.

“The adversity that we went through last year has made us a closer team,” said Fernandina Beach coach Ed Brown, whose team returned all but six players from last season. “We worked very hard last year even though we were 0-10. The atmosphere among the team was not the atmosphere of an 0-10 team.”

The reason for last year’s poor performance cannot be entirely attributed to poor play.

When Yulee High opened last fall, Fernandina Beach lost half of its enrollment and half of its team. However, because of a district rule that only allows reorganization every two years, the Pirates remained in Class 4A. Now in 2A for 2007, the Pirates play schools with comparable enrollment.

“Being able to get that year of experience was tremendous for us,” Brown said. “The experience they got was playing against 4A teams, having to fight each week.”

The Fernandina Beach players believe that playing against bigger schools in 4A last season has prepared them physically and mentally.

“We understand bigger games,” running back Terrell Dallas said. “We know what it’s like to play faster teams and stronger teams. I think, not saying it’s less competition, but playing teams the same size as us, I think we have a little bit of an edge over them.”

After missing last season with a knee injury, Dallas leads the team with 515 yards rushing and six touchdowns. The senior has been recruited by Auburn and Navy, among others.

“We call on him a lot to carry the load offensively,” Brown said.

The Pirates scored 46 points against Baldwin on Sept. 14, but there have been times that defense has picked them up.

Last Friday at Bradford, the Pirates managed just 13 points, but the defense held for a 13-12 win.

“We had our best half of the season, the second half of the Bradford game,” junior linebacker Sean McNamee said.

Senior cornerback Vince Salucci has three interceptions in four games. Like many of the players on what now is a small-school team, Salucci plays on both sides of the ball. He has two touchdown receptions from the receiver position.

“We’re pretty much balanced,” Brown said. “Being able to score points but being able have a defense that you can count on when you can’t score points speaks volumes. All of our players have contributed. The games that we’ve played have been total team efforts.”

And even last season, the Pirates held the belief that better days were ahead.

“Even after the last game of last season, after we went 0-10, we always looked forward to this season saying we can go 10-0 and make a stretch for the state championship this year,” Dallas said.

Added Salucci: “We don’t want to come out here and lose every game. We’re determined and we’re disciplined.”

Today, the Pirates take on Keystone Heights (3-0) in a matchup of two of the district’s unbeaten teams. The Indians feature a power running game that Brown believes will be a tough challenge.

“I think it’ll be a test for our defense overall,” he said. “I feel that we have the athletes to be able to score.”

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in: The Florida Times Union
October 19, 2007
Link: Stallions work in progress

A strong work ethic and a culture of winning are nothing new to Paul Peterson. But until his arrival, both were foreign to Providence Stallions football.

Peterson, an assistant at Bolles for six years, became the head coach of the Stallions this season and overhauled the program. Now, after finishing last season 1-9, the Stallions are 4-2 and are one of the up-and-coming programs in District 3-1A.

“It’s been night and day,” senior linebacker Evan Husk said, “Everything has changed. We have come together as a team. I feel like the team has bonded. Last year we were all a bunch of individuals. We didn’t play as a unit and that is what hurt us a lot.”

The players credit Peterson’s commitment to them as the reason why they’ve been successful. Peterson has changed the work ethic of the team by setting the standard himself.

“We’ve never seen this type of commitment from a coach.” Husk said. “Our old coach wasn’t really fully committed. [Coach Peterson] will give all his time in the world for this team. As long as he gets the job done, he doesn’t care how much time he puts into it because he knows it will all be worth it in the end.”

Peterson, however, attributes the change to his players.

“They did what we told them to do,” Peterson said. “There were no false hopes because we had a hook to hang our hat on. Eight weeks, five days a week over the summer, working them beyond the levels of throwing up. For them to recognize that and notice that ‘hey, I made it through’ – that is a notch on their belt.”

Husk said that although football workouts were technically required under coach Mike Sinor, few showed up.

“It was more like it was an optional thing to do,” he said.

Providence now wears plain black and white uniforms, not the teal and gold that was formerly a part of the color scheme.

“Football is black and white,” Peterson said. “You either do or you don’t. I asked our administration can we please go to black and white because its part of our message. There is no straddling the fence. It’s either black or white because gray is not right.”

Peterson stressed sweat equity to his players as well.

“We immediately taught the players that the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied,” Peterson said. ” I told the boys I was going to be here every day. We worked in the offseason five days a week. We had 71 days of weightlifting in the offseason and we were here every day.”

The changes made were evident to the entire school. Providence baseball player John Murphy joined the team this year, his first year in football, after working out with the team in the summer to try to make himself a better player in baseball.

“I liked the way the program was turning around and I could see it changing before my eyes,” Murphy said. “I decided it was something I really wanted to be a part of.”

Murphy is now a starting safety and has three interceptions in the first six games.

With their four wins to date, the Stallions have doubled the total of the previous two years combined. They have also won their only district game, beating St. Joseph 37-14 on Oct. 5.

“There are times we wanted to say, ‘How is this worth it when we’ve had such a losing record?’ He just continued to make promises that if we are diligent in our work ethic on and off the field, good things can’t help but come,” senior wide receiver David Kampfe said.

Kampfe has 578 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns this season.

“Last year I played defense and now I’m leading the city in touchdowns and receiving yards. I never dreamed that would happen,” Kampfe said.

Running a Wing-T offense designed with dozens of formations and stressing misdirections and angles allows the Stallions to use their speed. The new offense has scored at least 20 points in every game.

This week, the Stallions face their toughest test in their quest for a playoff berth against perennial state Tallahassee North Florida Christian.

“They are the best football team we have seen,” Peterson said. “They have tradition in a great football town and they’ve got big, strong, fast football players that understand the pigskin. Any time you’re faced with a challenge like this, it not only challenges the team, but it challenges every player to be perfect in preparation and in effort.”

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in: The Florida Times-Union
November 18, 2007
Link: Last shot too late in Seminoles’ loss

DAYTONA BEACH – Isaiah Swann’s desperation 3-pointer swished through the basket, but it left his hands one second too late, and instead of heading to a second overtime, Florida State left the court dejected.

The Seminoles lost their first game of the season Saturday night, falling 69-66 to Cleveland State in the Glenn Wilkes Classic.

“When you look at those plays that happened at the end of the game, it’s easy for you as a coach to try to beg one out,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “The game should not have gotten to that point. We got caught up with a team that was motivated and executed very well. Our defense was not sharp enough to take them out of their comfort zone.”

Cleveland State junior guard Cedric Jackson stung the Seminoles (3-1), scoring a game-high 27 points and shooting 9 of 14 from the field.

“He handled the ball real well,” Hamilton said. “He was very difficult for us to defend. We tried two or three different people on him, and he just seemed to continue to keep getting the ball where they wanted to go.

“I said before the game that he’s as close to being an ACC type player as anybody we’ve faced.”

Actually, Jackson was a Big East Conference player. He transferred to Cleveland State last season from St. John’s, then sat out last season to meet NCAA requirements.

“I thought Cedric played an outstanding game as a floor leader, doing everything offensively and defensively,” said Cleveland State coach Gary Waters, whose team improved to 2-2. “He is one of the primary reasons we had a chance to win this game.”

Waters said the Vikings’ primary game plan was to keep the ball out of the hands of Swann, FSU’s leading scorer with an average of 23 points per game.

“They’re not the same team unless he gets going,” Waters said.

Swann finished with 11 points and shot 2 for 6 from the field. He sank all six of his free-throw attempts to remain perfect (18-18) from the line this season.

“A guy like Isaiah, he just spends so much energy on offense, and maybe it caught up with him a little bit at the end,” Seminoles guard Jason Rich said. “He got some good looks, we all got good looks that we normally make. But you’ve got to give them credit – they were there on every catch to contest the shots.”

FSU finished 28 of 66 from the field, after starting the game 2 of 21.

The Seminoles led 60-58 with 1:15 remaining to play in regulation, but a jump shot by Jackson tied the score with 47 seconds left, sending it to overtime.

FSU had won its opening game of the tournament against Alabama-Birmingham, 78-70. Cleveland State was coming off a 72-70 loss to Georgia Southern.

FSU concludes play in the three-day event against South Florida at 8:15 p.m. today.

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in: The St. Augustine Record
April 10, 2008
Link: Thief in Saints’ clothing

Kenny Ray doesn’t have the look, the size or play the position of a typical leadoff hitter, but none of that could stop the Flagler College senior from making the top of the lineup his own.

Coming off of a 2007 season that saw an underachieving Flagler College baseball club finish below .500, coach Dave Barnett installed Ray at the top of the lineup to ignite the offense. So far it’s paying big dividends for the Saints.

“He’s an interesting player because he combines speed with the ability to hit for average,” Barnett said.

“He’s probably overall our best contact hitter. You want your best hitter to come up the most times. It’s worked out well. He’s been a mainstay in that position.”

Ray, a St. Augustine High School graduate, leads the 21-16 Saints in a number of crucial categories with a .344 average, 52 hits and 34 runs scored, but there’s one category that Ray is particularly proud of.

“My favorite part about baseball, now, has been stealing bases,” Ray said. “Anything else doesn’t really matter. I want to steal. I was never able to do that back in high school.”

At 6 feet tall, 200 pounds and playing first base, Ray doesn’t fit the mold of a base stealer. But after stealing a team-leading 19 bases in 2007, he has 21 so far this season.

Barnett said that one of the things that makes Ray so good at stealing (21 of 26) is his aggressiveness and a willingness to take risks on the base paths.

“To be a bona fide base stealer you’ve got to take chances,” Barnett said. “He’s a risk taker. It’s better to be that way if you’re going to steal bases than somebody that’s a little bit timid.”

Ray batted in the middle of the order last season and tied for the team lead in runs batted in with 47. But it was Ray’s propensity to get on base and then move up that led Barnett to lead him off.

“Your leadoff hitter, a lot of times, can set the tone for the game,” Barnett said. “If he has a quality at-bat, then the next guy feels confident. It kind of sets the stage for the game.”

According to Ray, he hasn’t always been the fastest guy, but he seems to be getting quicker.

“I’m doing the opposite,” Ray said. “As I age, I get faster.”

Ray’s quickness certainly takes opposing coaches by surprise when they see the first baseman’s name in the leadoff spot.

“Every single coach that has come over to first base, will ask me, ‘Aren’t you the leadoff hitter? Why are you the first baseman?’ I don’t know, that’s where coach put me,” Ray said.

“It works out, though.”

Ray played first base for four years at SAHS. Barnett said he gave Ray a look as a high school junior and kept his eye on him when Ray enrolled at Lake-Sumter Community College.

“He kind of wanted to play local so we were fortunate to get him after Lake-Sumter.”

Ray’s teammates know they can count on him to be on when they get to the plate.

“Somehow, some way he always manages to get on base,” senior outfielder Glenn Kiture said.

Kiture has knocked in a team-leading 24 runs, and many times Ray has been the one crossing the plate.

“He has great instincts and he’s just a hardcore ball player,” Kiture said.

According to Joey Rivera, who follows Ray in the lineup, Ray’s propensity to get on base makes things easier for the rest of the lineup.

“We all know how much he loves to steal,” River said. “He can steal second, and it helps me to easily get my job done.”

Though Ray isn’t sure if he has a chance to be drafted to play professionally in June, he wants to continue playing regardless.

“I don’t know if I’ll get drafted, but if I don’t I’m not going to give it up,” he said. “I’m going to try to go play overseas or in some men’s league somewhere around the U.S.”

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in: The Florida Times-Union
November 17, 2007
Link: Backs boost First Coast

It took 17 years, but the First Coast Buccaneers will play a second week of playoff football.

The Buccaneers used running back tandem Jermaine Thomas and Chris Johnson to put up 35 first-half points and cruise to a win over the Tallahassee Leon Lions on Friday in a regional quarterfinal game at Buccaneers Field.

“We’ve been trying for this for three years,” Thomas said. “They had it in the papers that we weren’t going to get past anyone. We proved people wrong once again.”

Though Thomas didn’t get many carries on the ground, he accounted for three touchdowns. His first was scored on a 65-yard punt return that put the Buccaneers up 14-6.

“We’ve always wanted to get one,” Thomas said. “They finally put me back there and when I got it I had a lot of playmakers surrounding me and they just gave a couple of good blocks and I shot it in there on one cut.”

Thomas’ second and third touchdowns came through the air. The senior piled up 140 yards on six catches. The touchdowns were 52 and 34 yards, respectively.

Johnson was the Buccaneers’ primary playmaker on the ground, carrying 11 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns. His 1-yard dive was the game’s first score and an 87-yard run late in the first half, during which he bowled over two defenders to force a path down the left sideline, put the game out of reach.

“He had a great game,” Buccaneers coach Marty Lee said.

“He and Jermaine did an outstanding job, the whole team did really.”

Leon answered the Buccaneers’ first score right away with an 83-yard kick return for a touchdown by Jared McSayles, but a missed extra point left the score at 7-6. First Coast followed with a punt but when the defense forced a three and out, Thomas took the punt for a touchdown.

Leon cut the lead back down to two on the next possession with an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Dantin to Brandon Graham. But First Coast scored the next 21 points.

First Coast will host their second-round game next week against Tallahassee Lincoln.

By Devon Jeffreys
Published in the St. Augustine Record
March 11, 2008
Link: Happy to be Home

All Sam Bridgeman wanted when he transferred to Flagler College last fall was a chance to try out for the baseball team.

Flagler coach Dave Barnett is glad he gave him that chance.

“Sam’s been a great addition to our club,” Barnett said. “(He) had called me about wanting to come to Flagler. He just wanted to come back home and have the opportunity to play baseball. He’s really been a nice surprise for us because we were struggling offensively.”

After spending two years biding his time on the bench at Wofford University, Bridgeman, a graduate of Menendez High School, reached out to Barnett in hopes of getting a chance at Flagler.

“I just asked for an opportunity,” Bridgeman said. “He was pretty up front and honest and he said they were bringing in two pretty good freshmen and he said he would give me a tryout to see if I could make the team. He just gave me that opportunity.”

Bridgeman has made the most of that opportunity, excelling in a platoon role with freshman Jordan McClure.

“We go out there everyday, but it’s definitely a friendly competition,” McClure said. (Sam’s) a good, scrappy ballplayer. He brings it everyday to the ball field. Him and I talk back and forth. Actually, we go over each other’s house and play Donkey Kong all the time.”

McClure is hitting .289 in his freshman year and hit his first home run of the year in a loss to Nova Southeastern on Saturday. After a nine-game losing streak early in the year set them off track, the Saints have won seven of their last eight to move to 10-11 on the season.

“We have great offensive potential,” Bridgeman said. “It’s just that’s how hitting goes sometimes. We’ll get in little funks here and there and get in slumps, but for the most part, we have been hitting the ball hard and putting it in play.”

Bridgeman, the lefty half of the platoon, is hitting .314 with 7 RBIs on the season in 13 starts in right field and has already gotten a better opportunity than he did in his two years at Wofford.

Coming out of Menendez, Bridgeman was highly recruited by Wofford and accepted a scholarship when he was offered early. Though he struggled as a freshman, Bridgeman was told he’d have an opportunity to get more playing time as a sophomore.

“After my freshman year, they told me their recruiting class was done, they weren’t bringing in any outfielders,” Bridgeman said.

“They told me and another guy, a rising senior, that we’d be platooning in left field. I would face right-handed pitchers and he would face left-handed pitchers.”

But when Bridgeman returned to Wofford for his sophomore year, the team had recruited three freshmen outfielders. And though he played well in practice, Bridgeman never got a chance.

“In practices, we played games every day, for 15 practices,” Bridgeman said. “I had one of the highest averages. I was on fire for those 15 games. The start of the season came and I wasn’t in the starting lineup, wasn’t getting any looks at all. I just kind of felt like they had given up on me.”

Bridgeman, who still holds Menendez records for hits, runs scored and walks, was a first-team All-County selection in 2005. He had kept in contact with high school teammate Adam Jaudon, who had signed with Flagler as a pitcher. Jaudon gave him the idea to give Flagler a try.

“He just kept on telling me about how he really enjoyed it down here,” Bridgeman said. “It sounded like a good idea to come back home. So that was what my decision was based on.”

But with Joey Kampfer and McClure coming in as freshmen and Glenn Kiture, Nate Van Der Sluys and Brett West returning, the Saints had pretty much filled out their outfield. Still, Barnett didn’t mind giving Bridgeman a shot to impress him.

“He was coming to Flagler regardless,” Barnett said. “It wasn’t a baseball decision. That’s why it’s worked out really well. I felt like we had enough outfielders, but we’ve got some guys who are still learning the game, so he brought a little bit of experience out there to us. He’s been one of our better hitters early in the season.”

Bridgeman impressed Barnett enough to make the Flagler squad, but to Bridgeman, the biggest thing was showing himself he could still do it.

“You’ve always got to try to prove yourself,” he said. “I was pretty down about what happened (at Wofford). You just kind of give up on yourself a bit. But I worked hard. I played summer ball this past summer, that kind of helped me out and prepared me for coming here.

“I was just nervous trying out, just hoping I could make the team. I really didn’t even expect to be in the situation I’m in now. I definitely had to prove it to myself. The whole thing was just fun. Going into it, it was just that mentality of trying to make the team and doing the best you can.”

Now involved in the Saints offense on a regular basis, Bridgeman is enjoying his second chance at baseball.

“I’m really just trying to battle for the right field spot,” he said. “I have to keep on driving in runs and producing runs. Competition is good. It makes everyone better.”