ORLANDO, Fla. - Jacksonville Bolles is no stranger to the Class 2A state championship game. In fact, the Bulldogs’ nine state titles in Class 2A stand as a state record for all of Florida’s classes.
It took Bolles a good while Saturday to find a comfort zone in their new state championship digs, Class 2B. Or maybe the Bulldogs thought enough of Tampa Catholic to give the team a shot at the upset.
Even if the latter was true, it didn’t pan out for Catholic. Instead, Bolles scored the game’s first points midway through the second quarter and rolled to a 21-7 win at the Florida Citrus Bowl to claim the school’s record 10th state championship and the second in as many seasons.
Bolles, which won state for the fifth time this decade, struggled early on defense. Tampa Catholic charged across midfield three times in the opening quarter. On a drive that started near midfield, Hank McCloud gave the Crusaders a first down at Bolles’ 12-yard line with runs of 11, 16 and 13 yards. Bolles, though, stopped Catholic quarterback Christian Green on two runs and a short pass to McCloud, and Mike Paleveda missed on a 24-yard field goal attempt.
Then Bolles scored the game’s first points when William Carr capped an 80-yard, 14-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Luke Viering, who made a diving catch to put Bolles up 7-0. The Bulldogs missed on a field-goal attempt late in the first half and clung to a 7-0 margin at the break.
In the third quarter, Bolles scored twice in two minutes to stretch their lead to 21-0. Jacob Stenson broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown run with 4:44 to play in the third quarter. Stenson said his blockers opened big holes for him on the play.
On Tampa Catholic’s ensuing drive, Green connected with Conner Louis for a 17-yard gain, but Loius fumbled and Desmond Cooper recovered at Catholic’s 40-yard line. Four plays later, Stenson scored on a 4-yard run.
“We just kept coming, and good things happened for us,” said Bolles Coach Corky Rogers, who has been at Bolles since 1989.
Rogers called the win special.
Tampa Catholic (12-2) broke up the shutout when McCloud busted through the Bolles defense for a 54-yard run, and D.J. Williams, who replaced Green at quarterback, hit Brandon Mendoza for a 6-yard touchdown with 6:15 to play. It proved to be too little, and it came far too late.
“We didn’t make the plays to stick it in the end zone or get the key first downs,” Tampa Catholic Coach Bob Henriquez said.
Bolles had no such problem. Stenson finished with 88 rushing yards and two touchdowns on nine carries. Jawan Jamison, who set up Stenson’s second touchdown with a 28-yard run, finished with 112 yards rushing on 13 carries. Carr completed 6 of 15 passes for 69 yards.
For The Crusaders, McCloud finished with 193 rushing yards on 22 carries. He had 94 yards rushing at the half. Green had 47 rushing yards on 11 carries and 49 passing yards on six completions.
“They’ve got a good team,” Rogers said of Tampa Catholic. He noted that the Crusaders limited what Bolles could do on offense for much of the first half.
Bolles (12-1) tied St. Thomas Aquinas for the most playoff victories in state history. The Bulldogs have 68 postseason wins. Rogers notched his 388th coaching win and his ninth state championship.
Player of the Game
Jacob Stenson’s two touchdown runs paved the way for Bolles. He averaged 9.8 yards per carry and also had a 28-yard reception. Corky Rogers certainly has lots of respect for Stenson. “I think he’s the best football player in the entire city of Jacksonville,” Rogers told the Florida Times-Union after the game. “He’s the best all-around athlete on the team. If colleges don’t see that, it’s a crying shame.”
Class 2A State Championship
While Bolles was celebrating a state championship in a new class, Cocoa was pulling off a similar feat. The Tigers, who defeated Bolles 44-37 in overtime last month to break the Bulldogs’ 42-game regular-season winning streak, stretched their own winning streak to 24 games with a 27-13 win against Belle Glade Glades Central in a game that all sorts of implications.
Like Bolles, the Tigers notched their second straight state championship. This time, it was in Class 2A, where Cocoa moved after winning the Class 3A state championship in 2008. The win gave the Tigers (14-0) a second straight perfect season. Glades Central, which also moved to Class 2A after playing in Class 3A last in 2008, suffered its first loss of the season to finish 13-1.
The game’s outcome hinged largely on a 14-point second quarter swing that turned what appeared to be a Glades Central blowout in the making into a tight game.
After falling behind 13-3, Cocoa quickly put thoughts of a blowout to rest. Chevelle Buie ran for a 62-yard touchdown to make it 13-10 on a two-play drive that lasted just 53 seconds. A mere 10 seconds later, Cocoa took the lead when Antonio Wallace picked off a Leron Thomas pass and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown to put the Tigers ahead 17-13.
The sudden burst changed a game that clearly was in Glades Central’s favor. The team struck first in the opening quarter with a 60-yard, eight-play drive. Antwon Chisholm capped it with an 8-yard touchdown run. After a Cocoa field goal, the Raiders stretched the lead to 13-3. The scoring drive took just four plays and included a 65-yard pass from Thomas to Gregory Dent and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to Chisholm.
In the second half, Cocoa stretched the lead to 27-13 with another Cody Bell field goal and a second Buie touchdown run. On the touchdown drive, Buie scored on a 37-yard run.
Earlier in the second half, Cocoa had an opportunity to stretch the lead further. Thomas fumbled on Cocoa’s end of the field. Anthony Joiner recovered the fumble for the Tigers, and Cocoa drove to the 22-yard line, where Adrian Lee fumbled away possession. Tavares Crawford recovered the fumble for the Raiders.
Chevelle Buie finished with 208 yards and two touchdowns on 27 rushes for Cocoa. Thomas finished the night 20-for-39 through the air with 294 yards, but he also committed a trio of costly turnovers. Cocoa’s Tyrell Denson played a big part in keeping Thomas off his game. Denson had 3.5 sacks. The Cocoa defense also held Thomas to minus-3 yards rushing on 15 carries, many of them mad scrambles to avoid the Tigers’ pass rush. Raiders wide receiver finished with 105 receiving yards on five catches.
Player of the Game
Chevelle Buie averaged 7.7 yards per carry. The 165-pound junior figured into all three Cocoa touchdowns, and he also had three catches for 27 yards.
