The Ponte Vedra Sharks had a disappointing season opener on Aug. 22 when they lost to the Nease Panthers 38-28.
However, a week later the Sharks bounced back to defeat the Bartram Trail Bears 48-14 on Aug. 29.
Head coach Stephen Price has a mostly veteran team but not a ton of depth. “A weakness that we have is that we don’t have a lot of depth so one or two key injuries really hurts,” Price said. The Sharks felt that lack of depth against the Panthers when a couple of key injuries on defense in the second quarter severely hurt their game.
The Sharks were 9-3 last season losing in the regional semifinals to Niceville 21-20 in overtime. Price is expecting big things from his veteran group this season led by senior quarterback Cole Rosendahl. “We’re looking for some guys to step up and increase their play.” he said. Rosendahl threw for more than 300 yards in the game against Bartram Trail.
Defensive tackle Reece Beck and linebacker Talan Babin are two more seniors the Sharks will look to as leaders this season. Beck has committed to Rutgers University and Babin has committed to Old Dominion University.
Ponte Vedra will be on the road on Sept. 5 to take on Baker County, but they are already looking a couple weeks ahead to their Week 4 matchup against the Beachside Barracudas. “We are very focused on the district games. We have Beachside in Week 4, they are very close to us and it’s a good rivalry.” said Price.
The Sharks are currently 1-1 and are ready to build off the success from last season. “I think we have a really good group of guys that work well together and play hard and love representing Ponte Vedra High School.” said Price.
