Being perfect is what so many people strive to do in life and the Nease Panthers football team can now say they know what that feels like after they finished the regular season with an unbeaten 9-0 record following a 56-42 win over Bartram Trail High on Nov. 7.
“Coming in here as a freshman we’ve been doing pretty good and have had some ups and downs, but we’ve never had a season like this,” Senior center Eason Windsor said. “Going 9-0 is so huge for the school and it’s something that will be with me forever. It’s a legacy.”
The Panthers still have a lot in front of them as they have hopes to keep the undefeated streak going with a state title at the end, but so far to this point they have checked off several boxes they had as goals heading into the season.
Those triumphant checkmarks include, winning every game en route to becoming champions of their district, St. Johns County and they will enter the postseason ranked No. 1 in Class 6A.
“It feels so surreal that all this is happening my senior year,” Windsor said. “It’s been pretty cool to see the leadership from these seniors and how it’s been what has helped build us up to this point where we’re 9-0.”
There has been so much go right this year for the Panthers that can be pointed to for the success, but one of the key places to start with on the offensive side of the ball is the play of the offensive line.
Windsor and fellow seniors offensive tackle Samuel McConnell and guard Brandon Strout have been the leaders along the line throughout the season and are part of the veteran presence that is mixed with young talent in the group.
The offensive line lost a lot in terms of starters from a season ago and there were questions heading into the year about how the new group would mesh.
It did not take long for those questions to get answered emphatically as the group quickly developed a trust in each other and a relentless nature with their play in both pass protection and in the running game.
“In the four years I’ve been here, I think this is the most glued together o-line I’ve been a part of,” Windsor said. “We don’t have a lot of big guys or guys who are going D-I, but what we do have is chemistry and that’s something we’ve just been able to continue to build on all season.”
Two of the young starters on the offensive line are sophomore Sloan Davis and freshman John O’Dwyer, who have filled valuable roles and adjusted quickly to the varsity level.
“After our spring game we were still a little unsure about where everyone was going to be, but then we came out of the gates with a big win and week after week we’ve been just proving people wrong,” McConnell said. “We’ve always got each other’s back.
As they have done all season, the Panthers’ line was able to open running lanes for K.J. Perry and Nate Harry to run through all night and they all seemed to feed off each other as the game went along.
As a result, Perry ran for four touchdowns, while Harry ran for two and threw for two more to Tyler Ghazanfari.
“We know that if we do our job, K.J.’s taking it to the house,” McConnell said.
The Panthers will find out their first-round opponent in the coming days, but they know for sure that they will be playing in the Panther Den next Friday, Nov. 15.
