Friday's final:
Arlington CD 53, St. Johns CD 0
The Arlington Country Day Apaches rumbled over a
dinged up St. Johns Country Day School squad for a
53-0 win in Orange Park Friday night.
Coming off a 35-13 thumping at the hands of University
Christian School last Friday, the Apaches (6-3, 4-1
D2-1B) were hungry for a win and a spot in the
district playoffs. The St. John’s Country Day School
Spartans (1-8, 0-4 D2-1B) were too bruised and sick to
keep the Apaches out of the end zone.
The Spartans have been without Carlos Simms Jr. since
the first game of the season, but the team was also
with out emerging running back Hwang Marino due to
stomach flu and defensive standout senior T.J. Weaver
was taken out of the game after he injured a hamstring
in the first quarter.
“We brought a knife to a gun fight tonight,” said
Rodney DuBose, Spartans Head Coach. “It’s tough for a
developing program to compete against a good team when
we have some sick kids and then T.J.(Weaver) hurts his
hamstring in the first half. They’ve got a really good
team with good players.”
One of those players was running to the end zone early
and often Friday night. Apache sophomore running back
Dietrick Payne ran for 197 yards on 18 carries, five
of those carries went for touchdowns. Payne had rushed
for 1,119 total yards prior to Friday’s game,
according to Apache Head Coach James Simms.
“He’s one of the best backs in the state and he’s only
a sophomore,” Simms said.
Payne scored the Apache’s first five touchdowns before
giving way to Ron Melendez, who scored on a 6-yard run
in the third quarter, Steven Brock, scored on a
20-yard run in the fourth, and Anthony Mosely, scored
on a 60-yard punt return in the fourth.
The scoreboard may have presented a dominating
picture, but Simms new better. The Apaches were
flagged for 110 yards in penalties in the first half.
“That’s something we have to clean up before Monday,”
Simms said. “We face a Lake City (Christian Academy)
team that we beat by seven the first time, and they
want us.”
The Apaches will have a short turn around when they
square off with Lake City Christian Academy on Monday
to determine district playoff seeding. The winner
after one quarter will face Eagle’s View Academy,
which downed the Apaches 42-14 when they met in the
regular season.
With thoughts of playoff opponents hanging over the
Apache sideline, the Spartans were just looking to
improve and continue to develop their identity as a
team.
“We’ve got great kids, they work and they scrap,” said
Dubose. “We’re not going to quit. We have to dispel
some myths. We are a private school and we have to
establish who we are as a team. The future is very
bright.”
That notion was apparent watching the Spartans driving
down the field with two minutes left. Sophomore
quarterback, Jake Haznedl, threw and ran the ball to
get his team into scoring position. Juniors Matt Gray,
Mitch Agee and Andrew Creighton all caught passes to
move the offense down the field during the drive.
On the defensive side, junior Clayton Jones
intercepted an Apache pass in the end zone to prevent
another score. Freshman Ray Welch broke up a pass
attempt on an Apache fourth down to stop the drive.
Creighton was also active on defense, sacking Apache
quarterback Hogdins with seven seconds left in the
first half to stifle a last-second scoring attempt.
Rich Illes has shown a nose for the ball from his
linebacker spot, and the eighth grader could be around
to see the playing field level out with the Apaches.
The Spartans finish the season at home against
Maclay(3-6), Tallahassee, on Friday.
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