JACKSONVILLE – St. Augustine did exactly what an undefeated team needed to do on the road: Hit the opposing team in the mouth early and not let up.
The Yellow Jackets took the opening kickoff 60-plus yards down into Ed White Commander territory, before punching it in a few plays later on a touchdown pass to Donald Sapp from Cole Northrup.
The Yellow Jacket defense rose up to the challenge from their offense to make an early statement, and on the ensuing drive, forced an Ed White three-and-out. The rout was on from there.
Senior running back Jahquise Russell added a receiving and running score to help put St. Augustine up 24-0 at the end of the first half.
Senior Daniel Kirby of St. Augustine opened up the second half by returning (showing great elusiveness and ball skills) an INT 55 yards for a pick-six. The score gave the Yellow Jackets a 31-0 lead and room to coast the rest of the way.
Ed White would put up 14 points in the fourth quarter on a pair of TDs (pick-six and 42-yard TD catch) from Xavion Allen, but the damage of an anemic offensive attack the first three quarters proved to be too much and the Commanders fell to 2-5 on the season.
St. Augustine improved to 7-0 on the season, but head coach Joey Wiles says the team needs to continue to learn how to finish teams, citing three turnovers from his Yellow Jacket Football team as an issue.
St. Augustine (7-0, 2-0) plays at Nease High School next week in a likely District 6A-4 defacto championship game, while Ed White (2-5, 1-2) travels to Englewood next week.
Players of the game:
St. Augustine – Jahquise Russell. The heartbeat of the Yellow Jacket offense totaled 114 all-purpose yards and two scores.
Ed White – Xavion Allen. A two-way player, Allen accounted for the Commanders two scores. Allen picked off St. Augustine twice and had about five other deflections.
