Ponte Vedra High School’s Homecoming day may have been an exciting one for Homecoming King and Queen Max Kren and Maddie Coffey, but it was far from that for the school’s football team. The Sharks lost Friday night’s Homecoming affair to St. Augustine 41-0.
The Yellow Jackets dominated the game from start to finish. Any chance the Sharks might have had vanished before the end of the first quarter when two of their standouts, Jarrett Stepp and Kyle Barker, were helped off the field.
Concussion protocol — the result of a jarring tackle on a kick return — put Stepp out of action for the evening and cost the Sharks dearly on both sides of the football. Barker suffered a leg injury after catching a Jack Murrah pass for 11 yards and an early Ponte Vedra first down. He also didn’t return to action.
The loss of Ponte Vedra’s top two receivers in the span of three plays gave juniors Reese Russi and Nick Pirris and sophomore Cade D’Errico an opportunity, and all three players took advantage of the chance. Russi caught two passes for 8 yards, Pirris caught one for 9 yards and D’Errico caught one for 26 yards.
By halftime the Jackets led 21-0, and minutes into the second half had increased their lead to 27-0. After a third quarter touchdown, the Jackets’ starters were given the night off, and still the Sharks had no answer either on offense or defense.
The Sharks face Terry Parker (2-5-1) at home on Friday, Oct. 13 and then have back-to-back away games at Trinity Christian (4-3-1) and Bolles (4-2).
