Naples crowned 3A champs

At the end of three quarters, St. Augustine and Naples Golden Eagles found themselves in a hard fought battle for the Class 3A state crown.. The Yellow Jackets had controlled the airways with senior quarterback Kawaun Jakes passing for 146 yards, while the Golden Eagles veer offense proved to be the more dominant ground attack with 121 yards. St. Augustine led 10-7 with just 12 minutes remaining.

Things started well enough for head coach Joey Wiles. His Yellow Jackets defense forced Naples to a three and out. Rob Randolph’s punt went out of bounds at the 17 yard line. The Jackets offense responded by moving the ball to their own 44 yard line before Carlton Lewis was flagged for offensive interference. The penalty pushed the ball back to the 29 yard line and forced kicker/punter Caleb Sturgis to punt. However, the snap sailed well over Sturgis’ head and the Florida commit did the only responsible thing when he booted the ball out of the endzone for a safety. The play narrowed the Yellow Jackets lead to 10-9.

Sturgis then kicked a long squib kick that was fielded by Golden Eagles return man Antwain Harvey who returned it 51 yards to the St. Augustine 38 yard line. Two plays later a tired Yellow Jackets defense couldn’t keep up with running back Greg Pratt who sprinted around the left side 34 yards for Naples game winning touchdown. The Golden Eagles successfully converted the two-point conversion and took a 17-10 lead.

That would be all Naples needed to secure the win.

Jakes, who found himself under increasingly heavy pressure in the second half by a blitzing Naples defense tossed his third interception on a 4th and 21 play at the Golden Eagles 24 yard line with just over one minute remaining in the game.

Naples quarterback Craig Wingate took a knee and the Golden Eagles had earned their first FHSAA state title game with the 17-10 victory.

Notes:  Florida commit Caleb Sturgis pounded a 51 yard field goal in the first quarter that would have easily been good from 65 yards out…Sturgis also had six punts and averaged 42.8 yards per kick. Three of those punts were after a high snap that forced him to go up high and get them before punting it away…Sturgis is expected to depart for Gainesville for his official visit this weekend and will report for practice on December 31st for the Under Armour All-American Bowl Game. He will enroll at the University of Florida after playing the game on January 5th.