After three games on the road, Fernandina Beach is heading back home. They will take on The Baker County Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Fernandina Beach will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 307th, while Baker County is ranked 147th).
Last Friday, Fernandina Beach came up short against Palatka and fell 29-16.
Meanwhile, Baker County had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They strolled past Andrew Jackson with points to spare, taking the game 31-14.
Baker County's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Benny Lewis, who rushed for 183 yards while picking up 8.0 yards per carry, and Hudson Register, who rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.3 yards per carry.
Baker County's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB six times. The heavy lifting was done by Phillip Jackson and Tucker Thrift who racked up five sacks between them.
Fernandina Beach has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season. As for Baker County, their victory was their third straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 5-3.
Fernandina Beach suffered a grim 43-17 defeat to Baker County in their previous matchup back in October of 2022. Thankfully for Fernandina Beach, Cam Smith (who rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries, and also picked up 141 receiving yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
