PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – After a slow start which saw the Ponte Vedra Sharks (1-0) trail the Nease Panthers (0-1) 13-0 after the first quarter, a key punt block shifted the momentum in the game and the Sharks didn’t look back as they powered their way to victory.
The Sharks flashed a ton of grit on Friday night, overcoming adversity and dominating the last two and half quarters of the game forcing three turnovers as they scored 27 unanswered.
THE INFO: The Sharks came out the gates and moved the ball down to the red zone before turning the ball over on a backward pass.
The Panthers capitalized on the turnover, marching downfield before Jareem Westcott punched the ball in from three yards out to give Nease an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Panthers would force the Sharks to a quick three-and-out and put the ball back in the hands of their senior quarterback, Leighton Alley, who would throw an absolute dime to Jayson Sowden for a 59-yard TD to put the Panthers up 13-0 after the PAT was no good.
On the ensuing drive, Ponte Vedra quarterback, Nick Tronti, was intercepted by Kenny Whitehead and it looked like the Panthers had the Sharks on the ropes.
The Ponte Vedra defense responded to the turnover by coming out and forcing a three-and-out. The Sharks would go on to block the punt attempt and momentum was shifted that saw Tronit score from five yards out early in the second quarter.
Tronti would add a six-yard TD pass to JD Pirris to finish the half and take a 14-13 lead into the locker room.
Nease received the ball to begin the second half and moved the ball for a few first downs before Cade Macri, of Ponte Vedra, picked off Leighton Alley on a pass that seemed to be totally going nowhere near any Panthers receiver.
The Sharks quickly put the ball back into the end zone behind the driving force of Hal Swan to take a 21-13 lead in the third quarter.
Another interception, this time from JB Shepherd, on the ensuing possession would lead to three more points for the Sharks to take a 24-13.
The fourth quarter was relatively quiet for both offenses, although the Sharks did add a second field goal to make it 27-13.
The Sharks rugged defense laid quite a few hits on Alley in the final quarter, with Alley slow to get up on more than one occasion and forced another interception with Andrew O’Dare sealing the deal for Ponte Vedra in the final minutes for a 27-13 victory.
KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: A punt block in the second quarter proved to be the turning point in this game. Down 13-0 and the offense struggling to get much going, Ponte Vedra brought the house to block the punt and would go on to punch the ball in the end zone two plays later.
STAR OF THE GAME: Ponte Vedra RB Hal Swan unofficially ran for 144 yards and 1 TD. He displayed a nice mix of toughness inside and finesse outside while looking the part of a complete back. Swan’s offensive line deserves quite a bit of credit, however, as Swan suffered zero runs of net yards.
QUOTABLE I: Nease HC Tim Krause on turnovers and penalties – “It’s not like we don’t coach it, and that’s what’s frustrating. It’s really a choice that the kids need to make. That we’re both going to be really disciplined and smart football team and not allow emotions to get the best of us”
QUOTABLE II: Ponte Vedra HC Matthew Toblin on what to improve on – “We’ve got to limit penalties and be better in the red zone. We left some opportunities in the red zone, we had a turnover and had to settle for two field goals in the red zone. We need to be more efficient.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Ponte Vedra will look to improve to 2-0 next week against a Palatka team that will be looking to forget its 56-14 loss to Ocala Vanguard. Nease will head to Creekside in hopes of a much better showing than they had week one.
