St. Johns Country Day (1-6, 0-3) lost to Gainesville Oak Hall (2-3, 0-2) by the score of, 26-9, in a 2-1B district football game Friday night. The Spartans controlled most of the first half and took a, 9-7, lead at halftime, but were outscored, 19-0, in the second half.
Spartan Coach Rodney DuBose said his team failed to take advantage of some opportunites.
"Our defense played great," DuBose said. "They were well-prepared. We made a couple of mistakes. We couldn't capitaize on some big plays that we made defensively and on special teams."
St. Johns marched 75 yards after receiving the opening kickoff to score the intial touchdown of the game on an 18-yard pass from quarterback Jake Haznedl to former quarterback- turned- receiver Ray Grant. The extra point attempt was blocked. St. Johns led, 6-0, with 4:02 left in the first quarter. A roughing- the- punter and interference penalties gave the Spartans first downs on the drive.
Oak Hall quarterback Will Indianos, who was 22-of-32 for 251 yards in the spread formation offense, made one of his few mistakes of the game on the Eagles first drive. He threw a pass that was intercepted by defensive back Clayton Jones, but the Spartans did nothing with the ball and had to punt.
After the punt, the Eagles drove 75 yards to tie the game. Oak Hall's first touchdown came on a 43- yard pass from Indianos to receiver Gene Rodrick. Rodrick also kicked the extra point to give the Eagles a, 7-6, lead with 11:50 left in the second quarter.
St. Johns started the next drive on its own 32- yard line and drove down to the Oak Hall 21- yard line where Haznedl kicked a 38- yard field goal to give St. Johns the lead, 9-7. There was no further scoring in the first half.
DuBose said his team controlled the tempo in the first half.
"The plan was to run the ball and keep momentum and make positive plays," DuBose said. "We know that they can spread it out and throw it around. If you throw it around enough, you can hit one or two and in football one or two is all you need."
The Spartans got a break on the opening kickoff of the second half when the ball hit an Eagle player and linebacker T J Weaver recovered. St. Johns drove down to the Oak Hall 38- yard line where they turned the ball over on downs after failing to convert a fourth- and- one.
Oak Hall wasted no time getting into the end zone. They scored on four plays with the touchdown coming on an an 8-yard pass from Indianos to his favorite target Skyler Neale, who caught 11 passes for 126 yards. The two-point conversion attempt failed and Oak Hall led, 13-9, with 7:35 left in the quarter.
Spartan defensive back David Sherman took the ensuing kickoff back 35 yards to the Oak Hall 40- yard line. On the next play, Haznedl was intercepted by Eagle defensive back Luke DiPerna.
Both teams failed to score the remainder of the quarter.
Oak Hall scored its next touchdown on the opening drive of the fourth quarter on the strength of 16 and 12- yard runs by running back Jared Goodman. The drive was capped by a 9- yard touchdown pass from Indianos to DiPerna with 9:20 left in the fourth quarter. The extra point attempt was blocked and Oak Hall led, 19-9.
The Eagles scored their final touchdown with 1:18 left in the game on a 8- yard pass from Indianos to DiPerna. Rodrick's kick was good resulting in the final margin of, 26-9.
Haznedl was 9-of-20 passing for 121 yards and two interceptions and one touchdown. He also led the team in rushing with 45 yards on 17 carries.
DuBose said Heznedl is making progress at quarterback.
"Jake played a really good game and made some positive plays," DuBose said. "That's the key for our team."
Andrew Creighton led the Spartans in receiving with two catches for 32 yards.
DuBose also praised the play of Sherman, Jones, Grant and linebacker Brandon Harris.
The Spartans next game is home against Arlington Country Day on Friday, Nov. 2. SJCD is off next week and they have a forfeit on Oct. 26 in a scheduled game against Shekinah Christian.
Scoring by quarters
SJ-6-3-0-0-9
OH-7-0-6-13-26
Scoring
First Quarter
SJ-Haznedl 18- yard pass to Grant; kick failed
OH-Indianos 44- yard pass to Rodrick; Rodrick kick
Second Quarter
SJ-Haznedl 38- yard field goal
Third Quarter
OH-Indianos 8- yard pass to Neale; two-point conversion failed
Fourth Quarter
OH-Indianos 9- yard pass to DiPerna; kick failed
OH-Indianos 8- yard pass to DiPerna; Rodrick kick