High school football playoffs ‘23: Bradford, Bolles, Mandarin, St. Augustine, Trinity headed to state semis

The state semifinals are the next stop for Bradford, Bolles, Mandarin, St. Augustine and Trinity Christian.

Those teams won in regional finals on Friday night, the second straight season that five area programs reached the state final four.

Bradford crushed rival Baker County 43-0 in Region 2-2S. Bolles went on the road and pummeled Orlando Bishop Moore 34-14 in Region 1-2M. In Region 1-1M, host Trinity Christian walloped Orlando Christian Prep 48-20.

In Region 1-3S, Devonte Lyons rushed for a pair of touchdowns and St. Augustine surged back from an early deficit for a 35-26 win over Fort Walton Beach Choctawhatchee. Locklan Hewlett rushed for a touchdown and tossed the game-sealing score to Carl Jenkins Jr. on a 43-yard strike with 10 minutes, 7 seconds to play to put the Yellow Jackets in their first final four since 2017.

Tramell Jones tossed three touchdowns for the Mustangs and Tiant Wyche rushed for another as Mandarin won its third consecutive road game, beating Sanford Seminole 28-24 in Region 1-4M. For the Mustangs, it was redemption after a first-round loss to Seminole last year.

The road ended for Bartram Trail in Region 1-4S, with Gainesville Buchholz erasing a halftime deficit and racing past the Bears 37-17. And Union County slugged it out with Madison County for three quarters before the host Cowboys clawed back for a 17-10 win.

While five teams reached the state semifinals last season, the final four round didn’t go well. Area teams all lost, the first time since 2000 that no area team reached a state championship game.

METRO

Region 1-4M

(5) Mandarin 28, (2) Seminole 24

Region 1-2M

(4) Bolles 34, (3) Bishop Moore 14

Region 1-1M

(1) Trinity Christian 48, (2) Orlando Christian Prep 20

SUBURBAN

Region 1-4S

(1) Gainesville Buchholz 37, (3) Bartram Trail 17

Region 1-3S

(1) St. Augustine 35, (3) Choctawhatchee 26

Region 2-2S

(1) Bradford 43, (3) Baker County 0

RURAL

Region 3-1R

(1) Madison County 17, (3) Union County 14

State semifinals

SUBURBAN

Class 3S

(4) Fort Myers Dunbar (10-2) at (1) St. Augustine (12-0)

(3) Ocala Vanguard (11-2) at (2) Daytona Beach Mainland (12-1)

Class 2S

(4) Sarasota Booker (11-2) at (1) Cocoa (12-1)

(3) Pensacola Catholic (11-2) at (2) Bradford (13-0)

METRO

Class 4M

(4) Tampa Plant (11-2) at (1) Miami Columbus (11-2)

(3) Mandarin (10-3) at (2) Monarch (11-2)

Class 2M

(4) Bolles (8-5) at (1) Miami Norland (13-0)

(3) Berkeley Prep (11-2) at (2) Plantation American Heritage (10-1)

Class 1M

(3) Trinity Christian (9-3) at (2) Clearwater Central Catholic (12-0)

(4) Archbishop Carroll (11-1) at (1) Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna (12-0)


About the Author

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.

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