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ClayRadio's Podcast
Clay County Sports Report 8-20-26
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Randy Lefko and Tim Mooney interview 20 Year Clay Today Sports Writer Mike Zima recapping the HS Football Preseason and previewing Clay County's Week 1 Football schedule. Also, Tom McPherson joins the show talking about his upcoming game against Atlantic Coast.
Time now for the Clay County Sports Report on Clay Radio, your home team station. Each week we break down the big plays, celebrate standout athletes, and bring you the stories behind the scores. Now here are your hosts, Clay Today Sports Editor, Randy Lefko, and Clay Radio's Tim Mooney.
SPEAKER_02All right, Clay County football fans, this is the ClayRadio.com's Clay County Sports Report, Tim. We are full tilt uh football in uh one day.
SPEAKER_01This is amazing. This is a blast. I've seen the hype being now a father of a Middleburg student, uh, Middleburg high school student. Seeing how hyped she was at that football game, her first high school football game, I'm excited for the rest of the season, especially in Clay County, especially for Middleburg.
SPEAKER_02Where'd you guys sit?
SPEAKER_01Did you get to see? I didn't sit anywhere. I dropped her off and I was not hanging out with the high school kids and that stuff, and plus the weather. But she had a blast uh freshman at her first game. It was fun.
SPEAKER_02So we can't ask about your take?
SPEAKER_01No. No, but uh, she said it was a fun game to watch her and watching a close game against Baldwin with 76 victory. That's all that matters right there, is the scoreboard.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they got on the board. Most of the teams went half of varsity and then uh started going with the uh guys on the second and third strings to get them in there, get some reps and whatnot. But uh, you know, for our show today, we're gonna have one of our premier riders in the area, and then we're gonna talk about the preseason games, what's going on uh tomorrow, and then uh some look a little bit into the future because uh nowadays that playoff points is what this is uh what's important.
SPEAKER_01Yep, every game matters starting now. Here we go. All right, we'll back right after this. All right, Tim.
SPEAKER_02We had a great uh preseason opening last week, and uh a lot of good surprises there. On the horn with us is uh Mike Zima. Mike Zima, are you out there with us? Yes, I'm here, Randy. All right, Mike Zima, a uh renowned uh sports writer, sports journalist in the area for probably 25, 30 years, uh uh a little bit of a clay today, a little bit of a Times Union. Anyone else in my uh that you're with, Mike, over the years?
SPEAKER_04Well, I mean, I've written for really most of the papers in North Florida and even Northwestern Florida, as far west as the uh Tampa Tribune, as a matter of fact, and the Orlando Sentinel, but but these days mostly the clay the clay today.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I know I tell people all the time you're the the best stat writing football writer, even better than me, because I don't do that stuff as well. I'm not good with the with the math. I just uh wing it and uh you're more precise about it with me. I guess it's all that IRS stuff that you do.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it may be my background as a tax attorney. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's what I was I was doing a little homework on you, and I noticed a lot of stuff. I was I looked up Mike Zima, Jacksonville, and nothing came up about writing, but all kinds of stuff about IRS, and I'm like, this can't be the same guy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's he's he's my football nerd. But he uh gets the job done. He likes to be in air conditioning. That's uh one thing we have to send him to to football fields that have air-conditioned press boxes because he's he doesn't like to stand in the rain. He's got like his cool papers and whatnot, but uh one of the best, one of the best. What what okay?
SPEAKER_01If you're going to IRS, then what brings you to writing? Why, why what's with that passion?
SPEAKER_04Well, that's kind of funny, Tim. Back in college, I was trying to decide between journalism and being a lawyer. And at that time, you know, I it kind of occurred to me that, like, hey, why do I want to write about other people's lives when I should be like doing something with my own life instead of just chronicling somebody else? Uh so that's kind of why I I went away from journalism at that time and uh and sports writing. But you know, it didn't occur to me then until some years later, after I had been writing for a while, that that actually doing the writing, you really get to determine what happened because for the readers who weren't at the game, the only thing they know is what you wrote. Yeah, what you wrote.
SPEAKER_01So you get to paint the picture for them.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and so uh I think had I realized that back in college, I may have made a different choice. But things have worked out well and made a lot less money.
SPEAKER_02So pre-season-wise, preseason-wise, Mike, I know you and I were in the parking lot at Orange Park High School because uh they were playing Tokyo Creek, got about two offensive series in before the lightning bolt came in and blew up the stadium. But uh in that one, uh we saw some good stuff. Aaron Little, uh a young uh wide receiver coming in, had some nice catches. Uh talk about the quarterbacks, Mike. What did you see? What did you see uh on the field in our brief momentary there that's gonna bring them back? I think they're playing Andrew Jackson in their opener on Friday.
SPEAKER_04Well, and and a spoiler alert for uh if we're any Jackson coaches that are listening out there, I think that Coach Wimberly is gonna start Davion Williams at quarterback as opposed to Galen Williams, although they might they both might see time. And um, I got the impression from speaking to Coach Wimberly that he's quite comfortable with both of them. Yeah. And and from what I saw out of Davion Williams, I thought he looked good. Uh I think better than average. So uh I don't think that's gonna be a problem for Orange Park.
SPEAKER_02And they got a lot of weapons, they got uh two of the best running backs back there with uh Austin Mills and Xavier Jones. Uh got some good wide receivers, got uh uh with Aaron Little there, and and even Julian still plays a safety, could be an all-state safety this year. And then uh James Waters is uh kind of a Kim likes to call a Swiss Army knife. He's just a tough kid out there, plays H back, tight end, fullback, blocking fullback, and then a little bit of linebacker. So uh Coach Wimberly is looking forward to in his fourth year of breaking the breaking the spell of five and five seasons. He uh thinks he's got a good team here. They're kind of all his kids. Uh the other game we were at, uh you and I, Mike, was Fleming Island and uh Flag La Pomp Coach down at Bartram Trail with uh Tom McPherson uh in his first full season. You know, last year we kind of got off in and kind of got in off thing. Uh but we had some excitement there, man. Tell me, tell me uh, were you surprised? Brady Digman, three carries, the third one for 50 yards and a touchdown, and then von Jariah Bryant with an 88-yard bomb after uh after Flagler scored there.
SPEAKER_04Well, let me first just close out the Orange Park discussion, if you don't mind, Randy. Go. And I will say this that for Orange Park, I think this this year is going to be a year where they truly will compete for a playoff spot um in this new clay district, this 4-4-A, uh, because I think that they think they're every bit as good as Middleburg, Fleming Island, Clay, and Ridgeview.
SPEAKER_02Well, the big elephant, the elephant in the room is St. Augustine, you know. So in uh in the playoff spot there, even if you lose to St. Augustine now, you know, they could win, and that's big playoff points. But if you lose, you're also going to get playoff points. So the matter of inter-rivalry games now, Orange Park has had the spell on clay high the last couple of uh games over there, and they went uh, I think overtime and and uh lost by a point last year to Fleming Island. So, you know, those kind of games are are the turning points. And uh so Fleming Island 24-14 at the half to Flagler. Then I think uh Coach McPherson kind of emptied the bench in uh 28-3 to Bartsham Trail in the second half, but not to discount Bartsham Trail being a very good team this year and always a good program, but this year they're kind of responding back into it there. So tell me about tell me what you saw at that, Mike.
SPEAKER_04You know, Randy, I I think we saw that Fleming has some very good players uh around the perimeter of the field. In other words, not so much on the lines, but the cornerbacks, safeties, receivers, and running backs. And then the problem that you see is they just might not have enough of them because the the guys that you see on the offensive side of the ball are also the same guys you see on the defensive side of the ball. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02We had we had Coach McPherson on the on the radio last week with uh Brady Digman and Chase Donaldson. Donaldson with a with a very cool interception, he kind of turned at the last minute, and the ball hit him in the hands as he was reaching up to to battle with the receiver, and it just stuck. And he turned around and uh kind of didn't even know he had it, I think, for a second. Then he ran about 20, 30 yards up the field with it. So it was pretty good. But I think the the the establishment of the long-range passing game of Grayson Crits is gonna be key for uh, you know, because McPherson needs to get him these guys like on the field and off the field. And uh Brady was was hammering. He had two scores in the game there. He had they actually could have had a fourth one, uh was Gavin Boyson stepped out of bounds at like the eight-yard line and that gave uh Digman his second score uh before the half was over. So uh I like what I see with Fleming. You're gonna be at Atlanta Coast with uh Fleming Island. Atlanta Coast took a took a little bit of a beating in their preseason, but you know, between you and me and Tim, you know the preseasons, you can't gauge too much about it uh when they give you a f a full game score because they normally uh you know have have uh the rest of the bench coming in in the in the second half. Um Timbo, how you were at Middlebury, 7-6 over there with 6-0 for most of the game. So uh Coach Wolf probably held back the reins a little bit there to show off a little bit because I think he said that to us on the radio that he was gonna play a little soft. But Baldwin, you know, doesn't come in as a as a slouch. They're 3-8 playoff team most of the last five years, just like uh just like Coach Wolf.
SPEAKER_01Well, and I don't think he was gonna show everything right there. He wanted to get a lot of people in and out. There's a ton of substitutions that happened, but there was people they were he was trying to pull some plays at to see where he could get away with some things, and some things he didn't get away with. He's just feeling it out, using what preseason's made for, and that's just to get that last little feeler, get that last let's hit some people with some pads right now and get it the rust knocked off.
SPEAKER_02So uh Mike, while you were at the Fleming game before I got there, I was at uh Bishop Kenny with Clay High and uh you know, Clay High with a load of seniors coming. We tried to get the coaches on there, they're having their team dinner tonight and uh couldn't get here. We almost had them here, but they uh they put on a good show, had uh landed Martin with sharp passes to uh Eric Gentry, our guy from uh Fleming Island, made some nice mid-rangers in Makise Battle. You know, I toted him as the highlight maker, and he he made the highlights, caught the first one, and then uh their utility guy, Cade Williamson, caught a nice little soft out, flat pass and uh and rumbled into the end zone for uh for Clay. They were uh 21-14 at the half and wound up taking a win 29-28. Uh Landon Martin showing the way he actually had about a 30-yard sprint out run off of uh off of a uh quarterback option. That was pretty nice. And then a kid named Brody Moses came in at quarterback and finished the game for the Blue Devils to knock him out 29-28. So hopefully the momentum there is gonna carry because they they got Baker County coming to town on Friday, and that's gonna be a monster game with Jamie Rogers back uh uh in the in the coaching for uh for the Wildcats.
SPEAKER_01Timbo, you know anything about Baker County? A little bit, not much. I know that last year they were four and seven, they lost to Rains, so without Jamie Rogers now.
SPEAKER_02Jamie Rogers got him to the Final Four and state championship game while he was in it. He went to Bradford, did the same thing to them. So he is a very astute coach and uh knows how to get those guys rolling there. The uh the only regular season game was Keystone Heights in front of Dina Beach at Keystone, 63-14 for Fern. But uh, you know, the quarterback, Cole Crabsey, 99 yards, touchdown, got an interception, but he also rushed for 82. They had uh another guy, Dylan Blankenship, 25 yards and a score, and then Trey Simmons had uh three passes for 40 for a score there. So uh, you know, they're they're gonna come around. But I mean Fernadina was a two-round regional playoff team last year, and and Coach Cameron Ports is new on the job, and uh just getting guys in the right spots probably what he's gonna do. And and uh they competed the whole way, even though I mean it opened up with a hundred-yard kickoff return, so that kind of you know blew their socks off for a little bit, but they responded back and uh made some goals in there. And our other guy, Tim, Jason Smith, went down to uh to Gainesville on Thursday. And uh have you ever met Jason Smith, Mike? I don't think so really. Oh the coach were okay.
SPEAKER_01So he uh you get a chance to meet that coach, meet him. He is so full of knowledge and just energy right around him.
SPEAKER_02So he told me they got a little overwhelmed in the first quarter because it was 26-0 before they could even blink, and uh and Gainesville wound up just 34-nothing. So they got eight points in the in the third quarter, probably with the bench bench players. So he uh he told me that, hey, you know what? I think they got a kick in the butt. They know that, you know what, you can't go in there being all uh uh happy about things because you got you gotta play the game, you know. So they're going to West Side uh Friday. So we'll see what happens there. Both of them two and eight last year. And then the other one, Oakleaf, 0-0 at the half with Columbia. Supposed to play with Deland in a three-way, but Deland didn't come out. So it was 0-0, and then uh Oakleaf wound up uh taking it 21-14 over Columbia with uh mainly just running. They ran a couple of you know, CJ Moses and a guy named uh uh Kwazeem Swain got an interception in there, but uh Columbia took over a fumble for a touchdown. And uh so Oakleaf got uh defending champion Reigns coming. We talked about that with Coach Voice. So hopefully this week they uh they corrected a lot of stuff on film, but that's what it's that's what it's all about, you know, as Tim said. Oakleaf, what do you know there? What do you know there, there, Mikey? I know you've been to Oakley for me as well a numerous times.
SPEAKER_04Well, as we know, even before Coach Foy got there, Oakley was a strong team, other than their very like first year of existence. And Coach Floyd has certainly uh maintained that high level of play, and in fact, maybe even increased it, to the point where at this point, I mean, it's not crazy to say that anything less than a state title game appearance would be a disappointment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_04That only goes to how how high Coach Floyd has set the bar for this team.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and they uh they got the firepower to do it. So, you know, he it's kind of the same thing with preseason. You never know what's on the field there, you never know what they're looking at. You know, I know uh Coach Wolf moved a lot of guys around and trying to see who's gonna respond in different spots and so that he can move things around. So, Mike, uh Michael, we're gonna take a break, five seconds, and we'll come back. We'll talk about game one coming up on Friday. We'll be right back, Tim. All right, we'll be back after this. All right, Clay County Football Report, ClayRadio.com's uh football report here. Randy Left Go Clay the A Sports Center, Tim Moon at ClayRadio.com. Preseason's done, uh Tim. Uh we got a little bit of intel, you know, and it's it's it's always a uh, you know, how much do we really know kind of a process when it comes to that?
SPEAKER_01And how much did they really show to show us? So what's on tape right now probably matters about maybe sixty, seventy percent, but no coach is gonna show their full hand right away during the preseason.
SPEAKER_02They don't even have the time report the scores. I I just uh usually talk to the athletic trainers that are there after we leave and uh to figure out who the score was. There's no stats and whatnot. Although, you know, like with uh uh with Mike at the Fleming Island game, he's a stat guy. How many, what did what did Brady finish with? Digman, you know, do you remember? Like 78 yards?
SPEAKER_04He had nine, I think he had 91 yards on six carries. Yeah, yeah, because he he rocked. So in the 78 in that first half.
SPEAKER_02So we're gonna go into the week one stuff. We got Menendez at Middleburg, Middleburg eight and three last year, Menendez three and seven. Uh wait a minute, Menendez went to Bradford County for their preseason game, 46-0 there. So um, you know, that's one of those kind of games that you can't blink. I mean, Baldwin came in and 7-6 them. So uh you never know.
SPEAKER_01I cut Coach Wolf did not show everything. He was playing around. I think this is gonna be a melee. This is not gonna be fair to Menendez, and this is gonna be a great opening week game for the Middleburg Broncos to be able to just flex on the entire county right now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I think uh the the Menendez quarterback from a couple years ago is now the quarterback at Ed White King Boylston. And uh he's gotten them deep into the playoffs the last couple years, so uh they miss him as well. And they've also had, I think, two or three coaches in the last four or five years. So uh after that, one of the big ones in town is Baker County at Clay High, Baker County four and seven. They lost to uh Reigns in the region quarters, they got in four and seven based on that schedule. You know, they've always had a strong, strong schedule, and they get the playoff points, they got in. Of course, they had to play the number one team in the state, and uh, but now they got the the big guy back, Jamie Rogers. Have you ever uh interacted with Jamie Rogers, Mike? He was at Bradford for a while, and I know they played Keystone all the time, and they did come to play Middlebury a couple years ago, Mikey.
SPEAKER_04Yes, I think I've interviewed him one time, and he was definitely a a gentleman and uh gave me all the time that that I wanted from him and certainly knew his football, you could tell.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's he's gonna raise the ante at Baker County, and and uh he's a Baker County guy, also a Swannee High guy over there, so he knows what it's like to be in those small towns and have uh one or two football teams to get it done. But I tell you what, the Blue Devils, they look good. Landon Martin's taking that team on his shoulder. Uh um they got uh Carson Beck was in there. Connor Beck, I think, is the is is is uh Carson Beck. Isn't he the quarterback? Yeah, Connor Beck is the is the wrestling running back. They also got Howard Hill, the uh wrestling guy for uh St. John's that's playing the line. They got a really good senior laden guy. Jay Sean Jayshawn McLeod had probably six sacks in the first half against Bishop Kenny. So he uh they couldn't stop him. And they and yeah, and Bishop Kenny had the number one running back in the in North Florida area there. Uh guy had like 2,200 yards, and they were smoking him uh in that one. So uh that's gonna be you know, that it could be Coach Girky's first major test of uh the second year split, whatever you want to call it, to get into that winning, winning mode there. Ridgeview uh going to west side, that's gonna be an interesting one there. Two and eight.
SPEAKER_04Hey Randy, if I if I could interrupt real quick, just about that clay team. Um, I do think that you know, Jeff Gherky, last year he would tell everybody that would listen how young his team was. Yeah. And now this year, with all these starters coming back, and almost all his starters are second-year starters. I think he is licking his chops and can't wait to get at this season because I think you're gonna see a lot of improvement in Clay. And uh, and and as opposed to Fleming Island, they do have depth. They've got like a 70 or 80-man roster. Everybody who goes to that school seems to want to play football. Oh, Fleming Island? He's got 44.
SPEAKER_02Oh, he had a yeah, he had like 110 kids on the whole squad from top to bottom, uh, all the way down to the freshman there. So yeah, he's gonna if he gets it together there, he's gonna be loaded for a couple years, which which has always been his goal to get back to the the Josh Hockstra era of stuff where you went to the deep in the playoffs every year. So uh Ridgeview at Westside. Westside was a 14-13 loser to Anglewood in their preseason game. So uh well, hopefully uh Jason Smith will get his things going there. Kenny Stone is at interlocking, Eric Gibson, a Middlebird guy coaching at interlocking there, both of them in the Sunshine State Athletic Association. So uh it should be a pretty even match. Interlocking 10-7 lost in their preseason to Trenton High. Uh another one that went to the playoffs last year. So uh Keystone's loaded with West Nassau at the end, Paxson at the end, both of them playoffs, Atlantic Coast in there uh coming up, uh not Atlantic Coast, Atlantic High School out of Port Orange. Uh three major players that are gonna be at the end of the Keystone schedule.
SPEAKER_01And that's with with Keystone, I'm curious with them because they do that. They had that brand new coach this year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Cameron Ports, yep.
SPEAKER_01Brand new system, brand new everything's brand new. And the biggest thing they need is to keep players. They've lost a lot of players over the last four years, everybody transferring out. Moral victories are great, but this team needs victories, and I think they're gonna get them this year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, interlocking is gonna be a good one. Uh uh, Mike, you're going to Fleming Island and Atlanta Coast High School. You know, Fleming Island 6'4, just missed the uh playoffs last year, Atlanta Coast. Think about Atlanta Coast, they got beat 34-3 by Beachside. Uh and then Creekside is also on the Fleming Island schedule, 21-6. That ain't been like an Achilles heel for uh Fleming Island, but um Atlanta Coast has two NFL guys, two NFL Jaguar guys on the coaches staff, head coach and the defensive uh line coach. So that's gonna be uh interesting test for for uh Grayson Critch and the guys out there. The VJ Bryant guy, yeah, he loaded it up. The the number 15 for uh Fleming Island, I think he's gonna be uh a marketable player because he made some really good plays for that that that first half with Flagler.
SPEAKER_04Yes, he's very fast, he's a kick returner as well as a receiver, and he's explosive. Uh Coach McPherson loves him and he does claim to use him because it's it's kind of all hands on deck at Fleming, as we mentioned a little earlier. And I think I think this first game is a critical game for Fleming Island because to me, if they win it, they kind of prove that they can win games with all their best players playing both ways. Yeah. If they lose it, then I'm afraid then it it you know it may be a long season for them because they are there are going to be better opponents on their schedule than Atlantic Coast, so they've got to win this one.
SPEAKER_02Were you were you surprised when uh Bryant took that 88 yard pass that that that McPherson, who's traditionally a uh kind of a basic player there, throws up a bomb and the guy made a great uh Critch made a great pass. Uh VJ made a great catch and run, broke away, he had that separation speed with three guys chasing him to the end. zone. And then Digman, of course, is uh is is a great runner who likes to bounce. He'll get through that line and bounce. And he made a great cut on the safety trying to come up and smoke him. And that's how he got his what fifty fifty fifty-five yards was his first one there. Three carries in a row, bang.
SPEAKER_04So um yes and Randy, I think uh to answer your question, I wasn't I'm not really surprised because McPherson had said to me that he thinks Critch is going to be a very good player. So I think he trusts him. So even backed up to their own 12 yard line he was willing to throw that pose pattern and and uh you you you could see that it worked.
SPEAKER_02Yeah it was great. He also got a good kick from Noah Graston a soccer player. Uh was that about a 30 yard kick that he that he put in at the end to give it 24? So it was 42 yards. Yeah so that's that's a good little weapon to have where you get inside the 50 they you got a soccer player that can knock one out of the park. Andrew Jackson going to be at Orange Park. Of course Orange Park didn't get any preseason work. And uh they kind of I guess you would would you say behind the eight ball coming into the season opener. So hopefully they had a good week of practice even though we had a lot of rain and lightning and stuff like that. They lost Gabe Taylor, their quarterback but like you said Mike Devion Williams looks like he's going to be the guy to step up and uh get the job done.
SPEAKER_04Well the thing is Randy he he doesn't even have to be that good because of the running backs that they have and returning receivers. He just has to be adequate and I think he will be so like I said I think Orange Park with the district the way it is has a real opportunity to finish second to to St. Augustine and get into the playoffs.
SPEAKER_02It's just it's wide open between them Middleburg Clay well that's going to be the thing is uh I mean you got Middleburg Fleming Orange Park now Clay all four of our county teams are are in a great position and I mean this is just after preseason with the amount of uh power firepower in the player rosters that uh I mean it could be a dogfight to the to the very end there with uh with our county teams traditional I mean the biggest thing Fleming Island and Clay play late in the season now they're not in the season opener so that's gonna that's gonna pack the stadium there uh for for both teams.
SPEAKER_04It will that game has always meant a lot it means a world to those two schools and and now it's even more important it being a district game.
SPEAKER_02So in the uh uh Orange part uh Andrew Jackson they lost 14-0 to Riverside in their preseason which on its face they got beaten 14 up by Riverside comes in strong and uh so the Tigers they've always have athletes I don't know if they have enough but uh to hang that close to Riverside is a pretty good mark for them so Orange Park uh doesn't need to sleep at the wheel on that one of course the big one we got three minutes three minutes here Mikey we got Reigns at Oakley holy moly that's like the first Super Bowl game for uh coach foy over there amongst others how how are you starting the season off with a number one against a number nine ranked team that's gonna be interesting right off the bat and uh and they returned they they actually they lost 29 graduates I don't know how many of them were started but they beat Bond they beat first coach 56 to 14 in their in their preseason club with with quick scores they got backs named TJ Williamson and the quarterback Simone Ellison Morgan he was the director of traffic last year for them to when they won their game in the last minute of the game there. So uh you know I'm a little surprised at uh the starting quarterback we talked Jelon Delone and and those guys you know don't know what happened. Yeah they they played and whatnot and they had a freshman quarterback in there with number 83 that uh they got the win for Oakley from that one. So uh we'll see what's happened. You know Chris Foy you know he wants to be that program that people want on their schedule. That's he says that more and more. Mikey yeah that that's a great way to start the season you know what an exciting opener and both teams will certainly be focused um you know after after after having to watch romantic comedies with my wife the last you know three months uh during the summer and finally football is here and and this is going to be a treat are you gonna be able to go home after that one there Mike do you want me you want me to edit this part out yeah I went out of there Mikey so uh she didn't hear that she knows she knows she's ready for a break from me on the uh on the Oakleaf schedule though that doesn't get any easier with bowles on September 18th coming after beating a great Camden County team 34 to 10 and then Nice coming to town September 23rd. So you got Bowles and Nice back to back. Nice was losing a to Ed White third quarter and they stopped it uh because of the weather just like us at at Orange Park so you know what do you what do you what do you what's your take on that kind of a schedule that early in the season September 18th. I mean it's kind of Middleburg's playing St. Augustine September 11th and uh so you they're the first one that gets a shot to knock out the yellow jackets if possible.
SPEAKER_04Right well let me say this uh Randy and Tim I think Coach Foy won't say it publicly but I don't think he wants any game more than he wants that Bulls game on September 18th. If you notice he put a bye week in the Oak Leaf schedule right before the Bulls game. Yeah I think having lost to them last year uh he wants revenge and I I hope I get to see that game.
SPEAKER_02Well they're gonna have uh Xander Edwards in there who ran for about 300 yards and five touchdowns last year and uh and I even asked him after the game I even I asked him at the um uh what was it what's uh who oh what was the guy Mac Jones had a camp over here and in Xander Edwards and one of their uh linemen his name was Giafi like Joshi Giaffey was an all-state lineman I said why did you get why were you still in it was 34 and he says we didn't have anybody else we there was one of those weeks where our running backs were dinged up and the coach just kept me in there and now the coach over there Matt Toblin is an old clay guy so who knows maybe uh you know he's trying to exercise some some muscles there so do you know anything about bowls there Mike have you have you followed them around they're always you know I cover they're yeah they're they're the bell weather program in the area let's face it um because where rains has ebbed and flowed and Oakleaf has come on lately I mean bowls has just always been good so I think that coach foy put them on the schedule for a reason because he wants to maybe take their place as the top program in the area.
SPEAKER_03All right Mikey we're gonna let you go here we got Tom McPherson going to give us a buzz here so we're gonna let you go great great having you there's calling right now Mikey have a great day very much guys all right all right thanks Mikey we'll be back right after this all right we are right back for segment three of the Clay County Football Report on the horn now we just uh special thanks to Mike Zima one of the uh more consistent and uh one of the great writers for uh for Clay Today newspaper been with me for almost 20 years and uh most of the coaches know him have interacted with him just a total professional great stat guy and uh coach McPherson you know Mike Zima yeah he's covered a few of our games yeah we got uh Tom McPherson on the on the horn now from Fleming Island High School we're uh a game away or a day away from uh season openers uh coach he had a great uh flagler palm coast game over there we were just talking about does it surprise you that uh that mcpherson threw the bomb we were we were kind of like whoa look at this and uh and uh you guys went full explosiveness yeah I mean uh I don't I don't have much of a hand in calling plays on that side of the ball right now anymore so um you know it was uh well dialed up by our offensive coaches our offensive coordinator and um you know it was nice to see uh you know a tenth grade kid that we're kind of relying on to step up and fill the shoes of of some people that that uh you know that are no longer here and and he's you know a vital part to what we're gonna do with you know with obviously with Chase Donaldson playing both sides and how much we can play him so um you know it's just one of those things we're we're outside of having some success it's nice to see some young kids step into a role that maybe you thought they weren't ready for so um obviously Grayson you know we knew we knew when when Critch had an opportunity we know he's gonna put the ball where it needs to be and you know we're very comfortable with where he's at right now it was good to see the O-line protect and then you know again to to see a 10th grade kid step up and make that play you know if Chase makes that play it's like all right we already knew that you know when a 10th grader makes it it's like all right now we you know we should be able to count on this kid a little bit.
SPEAKER_02Were you was uh was Bryant with you last year or is he J V?
SPEAKER_03Yeah no yeah Bryant was J V last year. He was a ninth grader last year and and did some sixth quarter stuff with us here and there but he was predominantly J V and you know and then obviously um you know this year coming up we lose we lose a couple players and and uh you know we've got a we've got to fill the void with what's left and and we got to count on a lot of 10th grade kids at at this point right now as coaches you're not sure if they're ready to play in those scenarios with that type of game speed but uh anytime you can see a kid early on make plays like that it makes you a little bit more comfortable to know that all right he can handle this.
SPEAKER_01So going with with you guys were playing who'd you guys play this past week sorry I got the notes in me but they're a little bit around we played Flagler in the first half and then Bartram in the second half that's right that's right. So was there anything in either one of those offenses or defensive spe uh plays that surprised you that besides your sophomore stepping up anything big that stood out to you that another team's going to look at and say wow we weren't expecting that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah I mean I think we're a little bit different different defensively than than people are used to um you know because we have more players playing both ways and um you know our rosters uh a little bit smaller than it had been so with guys playing both ways it's hard to carry the volume of things and and play some of our normal deals that we would play that would take us a lot of time and and effort to teach and you know you got to anytime you play guys both ways your your practice time gets cut in almost half. So now instead of you know four full days of defense you get two days of defense and two days of offense and so now you got to figure all right well what could I have done in four days I can't get to all that in two days so what can we carry that our kids can play so um you know after after the spring game and struggling a little bit on defense and and trying to make some changes it was good to see us run to the ball and tackle a little bit and hold up decent in the run game when when we needed to um and then you know on the back end we feel okay with what we're doing keeping the ball inside and in front and like I said it it's different than most people are used to but uh and then and then being able to run the ball on offense you know so start the game with start the game with three three plays of the same play repped over and you know get up on the ball and run it again and and you know it's a inside run with with throws that crutch can make tag to it and based on the look he got it's inside run hit it inside run hit it inside run hit it for 50 so who was uh who's the right guard on that because he went he went up in uh probably East and Isbel was it yeah yeah because he yeah Easton Isbel Easton Isbel's our are you know a three year starter for us so he's our mainstay put it yeah he's our mainstay on the O line so you know obviously he put a cut count on him he put a cut on the safety on that score that was magnificent you know and and uh and he was strong the whole I mean I you you talked to him when he was here about you know these uh your marquee plays have got to step up and uh make the big plays and he did Chase had that I guess a reverse interception I don't know you know even when he came off the field and the the thing kind of stuck to his hand.
SPEAKER_02I you know when I saw it I the picture he he had his hand kind of backwards and then it just fell down into his bread basket and that was that. And he knew what to do with it turned around and about 12, 15 yards after the after the catch. So big plays from big players.
SPEAKER_01Now now was was this idea to do play Ironman football as what we called it back in the day playing offense and defense. Was this the player's idea your idea or do you just spur the moment hey we need help on this side you're gonna be the one to step up it's kind of more my idea looking at the roster what we have and looking at our numbers and what we have.
SPEAKER_03I mean you got to you know it's hard for people to believe but we're now the second smallest school in Clay County so you know you take a school that for years had 2200 2100 kids and now we've got 1550 or whatever we have so you know your roster's gonna be a little bit smaller and it it's for me it just puts me back in a comfort zone of of most places I've been this is how we've done it. You know so when I was at Ridgevie we did it that way forever. When I was at Orange Park we did it that way and when I was at Bishop Kenny we did it that way. So um you know it for me it's more what I'm comfortable with how I'm comfortable doing things but trying to get you know guys on our staff to understand that are used to you know your typical Fleming Island and an offense and a defense and this is how we practice you know getting those guys used to it and then coordinators obviously trying to figure out we can't carry as much um yeah I mean it it it makes no sense to have your best players standing next to you right you know when you when you can get them on the field and you got to be smart with their pitch count and you know you got to take care of guys and obviously conditioning is a factor this early in you know in the year when it's this hot. So finding guys to step up and play 10 12 snaps, 15 snaps that maybe you think aren't ready but they're gonna have to it it's it's to me it's more you know it's more about navigating the the the amount of plays that guys play and and calculating where you need rest on which side of the ball like where are you going to choose the rest chase if you have to rest them. You know is if the game's going to where we feel like we're we're okay on defense and we can rest them on defense, you know then we have to do that. If if we feel like we can score without him and somebody like VJ goes in and makes a play or Gavin Boyson outside or Jim Counts making plays. Stepped out of bounds and would have had his own yeah so I mean you know it it's if Gavin Boyson can make plays and and um you know uh Jaden Counts and Brian Siliac and you know if all those guys can step up and make plays then you can rest chase on offense. So it's going to be more of a game by game feel.
SPEAKER_02How was the film on Zion? I thought he was him and Landon were one two punching it on these guys and they had they had some big offensive line in front of them but uh they were they were getting that they were getting back there. Uh Zion was doing a nice job of of squeezing through the big guys I guess and uh you talked about his wrestling and uh body of body of physical work to get in here and speed. He was making it happen.
SPEAKER_03Yeah so I mean obviously we you know we're counting on him to do that for us based on you know what we need and how we need it and you're playing an odd front with somebody that's over the center all the time so you know you feel like if you play somebody like that it's a leverage thing and a movement thing and you know so you're trying to you're trying to get matchups on a center that's got to snap the ball and so you know I thought he did thought he did a really good job with that and we just got to find some people behind him because he carries the ball also so with the with the rain and the lightning there how has preparation been for Atlantic coast you they got the the two NFL guys coaching over there they got some marquee players uh it could be it could be a fourth quarter game and uh talking about your your attrition and and new you know your hydration and stuff like that could be uh a critical part of the game with this team they're very fast very fast yeah I mean it it's tough when you can't get outside I mean obviously we hadn't we haven't had one rep outside this week between wet bulb and lightning every time you know every time the wet bulb goes to an area where you might be able to get outside for an hour then lightning strikes and you know the the the days of of doing your own thing are kind of over we have a weather alarm in our stadium that goes off we have a trainer with an app on our phone so you know as a coach you're just constantly making changes you know and you know today we had a plan we're gonna start with meetings we're gonna start in a gym and then we're gonna get out by four o'clock and by the time the wet bulb hits and says we know out then lightning strikes and you and the siren goes off. So you know I just try to tell our kids you need to be a you need to be the type of team that takes advantage of things like that and feels like we can prepare inside of a gym better than someone else and you know it's not easy we got a lot of young kids and trying to do things with the JV and 60 kids in the gym is kind of tough but you know it is what it is either you don't have a choice and either you know either it's an excuse or it's something that that you use to motivate you. So you know we got to pick and choose what we want.
SPEAKER_02Have you have you thought about maybe like a 5 a.m practice I get up and uh go ride the bike at 5 a.m to avoid that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah I mean there's there's there's obviously that thought and we've we've we've tossed it around and I know some other schools have done it. Turn the lights on. You know it's just it's just one of those deals you know where it's all right can we count on every one of our guys what kind of rides what well what kind of rides do they get what's their situation do you know do you have a parent that drives somebody to school on their way to work and they're not you know going to be ready to do that. So you know obviously it's it's it's definitely a thought other people have done it. You know I know some people in the area that that did it this you know this week and God bless them if they get it done and they have other players there that's obviously a better option because there is no wet bulb and usually no um you know no lightning to worry about or so I mean yeah that that's obviously a choice or an option but you got to figure out at your place what's best for you and how you can do things and I just didn't feel like in this week on such short notice that that was really an option. But moving forward you know going into going into next year that might be something we discuss with players and parents hey there's always a the chance that if we get if it gets ugly we might have you know 530 a.m practices in the stadium so you know without giving anybody any warning and without telling any parents what might happen it I just didn't feel like it was the right thing for us.
SPEAKER_02Now did you guys get a reading on wet bulbs like around Atlantic Coast High School or lightning because you know sometimes the the rain and the lightning is sporadic but the um I'm thinking the wet bulb is pretty consistent.
SPEAKER_03I mean I think the wet bulb's pretty consistent but to me you know everything you do in high school football is is kind of you know you're relying on other people to do the right thing and and you know in 30 years of this business that doesn't happen a lot. So you know I can't wa I can't worry about like you know we every rule if they're in the locker rooms and the wet bulb yeah I got you. Well whatever. I mean every rule you have in football from you know from when you're supposed to practice when you're not from recruiting to you know everything that you do it's kind of a you know it it's kind of a of a trust system and and you know a a a self-reporting system and if somebody's at a place where they don't have a trainer or they don't nobody's asking them about wet bulb and they go outside you know knock on wood god forbid hopefully nothing happens and they don't lose a player and and and nobody gets you know injured or heat heat related injuries or whatever but you can't like I can't worry about what other people are doing. This is what happens at my school this is what my trainer tells me this is what my weather alert system tells me and I'm not doing anything differently so I I can't you know you'd like to think that everybody's in the same boat but you know that's really none of my that's really none of my concern I I can't worry about whether somebody is inside or outside or what their wet bulb says. I know what mine says and I know what we have to do and I'm not changing what I'm gonna do. You know I just hope that everybody else if you know and and to be honest with you hopefully for everybody else they're not stuck with it because it sucks. It's not fun and you know nobody likes it and I don't want to wish that on anybody. So if there were people who what lightning or wet bulb could get out and it was legally and they got out the right way then you know good for them. God bless them. But if anybody was in a similar situation you just hope that they follow the rules but you can't you can never worry about stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah well that's you're fortunate right there I don't know if your your players are noticing it but I mean you're teaching them integrity right there.
SPEAKER_03So beyond the game of football itself you know the rules you're following the rules and you're making sure that they're taken care of it's it's part of the deal it's part of who you are and what you do and some people you know kind of put the card in front of the horse a little bit because football's important and they want to win games and you know I mean I'm not not gonna do it any different they tell me you know what the rules are whether the state says it the county says it or my school my trainers whoever we're using like if that's what it is that's what we're doing and and we work around all that and you know if if kids learn from that obviously kids when they're young they're they're upset that they can't get outside and you know they don't understand all the ramifications of it but it's like look this is what we do and we've got to be able to teach our players that you've got to be better than all that like we've got to prepare better. We've got to feel like we can do better in a gym than other people can and you got to you know use it as a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and at the end of the day though you can't look elsewhere you just got to look at yourself and what you do and go from there. If I worried about what everybody else did in high school football I would have quit 25 years ago that's true.
SPEAKER_02Hey let me ask you on uh I don't know if you you know catch wind of anybody else but uh the district looking looking pretty solid all the way around. I mean uh everybody except Orange Park played and uh most of them played pretty well so that it looks good for the county that that the county games are going to be pretty intense. You guys got uh clay coming uh later on in the season. Uh what's your gut feeling you've been you've been around the ballpark a couple times what's your gut feeling about what you saw out there that uh you know Evan Sharp making the calls and the kids executing them against a pretty good flagler team. They're always a good anywhere seven a six a uh team like that to to come out there and do that. Or are you concerned about the Bartsham Trail thing or was that just uh you you got a lot of guys out there to play, see what they look like against a pretty good Barcham Trail team?
SPEAKER_03Yeah I mean that that wasn't the Barcham Trail half was never going to be a concern for us. When you're playing two teams in a classic and you have two completely different game plans it's impossible to prepare for both. So we knew that when we got to the second half we would play a bunch of young kids and we knew that they weren't going to be able to handle multiple game plans. So when we got the Bartram Trail we played one front one coverage the entire time and they do a really good job on offense with personnel groups and they're going from you know 23 personnel with two tight ends and three backs direct snapping it to a quarterback with lead blockers and then they jump into five wide empty and you know we knew we were going to play some younger kids and we knew that there was no way we could put two game plans together. So you know we kind of put our game plan together for Flagler with our older returning guys and the guys we needed to play for us that we feel like are kind of ones and twos and and then by the time we got to Bartram it was just run your base stuff regardless of what they do and and you know the good thing was good thing was for us we got a bunch of young kids in that need to see that speed and they need to see that physicality and we weren't really concerned with I wasn't trying to match personnel. I wasn't trying to make the right call I didn't even I don't even know if I made a call in the Bartram trail half we just played one front and one coverage and just want to see some guys run around and tackle.
SPEAKER_02All right coach we'll appreciate you uh tapping in on us here you're always uh you're always a good guy to to get on the phone here even if uh even if we have to call you in the middle of a practice or what do you were you were you in the practice or were you finished? Uh by the time I got the text um I I was just we were just about out of practice out of the gym and everything we appreciate you we got it we got a heart break coming uh good luck on Friday Mike Zima's gonna be out there I may pop in take some photos but uh a very impressive uh flagler palm coast half uh for the golden needles there uh way to go sir I appreciate you guys thank you have a good week all right all right that's been the end of the show right there this has been Tim Mooney and Clay today's Randy Lefko we're gonna be we're gonna see you next week talking about more of week one and preview in week two we'll see you guys later