The Ponte Vedra Sharks are one of the four high school football teams left in the playoffs as they beat the Mainland Buccaneers on Nov. 28 with a final score of 27-10. The Sharks have not been in the final four since 2016.
Ponte Vedra scored first with less than a minute remaining in the opening quarter when Alex Winkles broke through from five yards out to cap an 82-yard scoring drive. The Sharks added to their lead midway through the second quarter when Noah Ash kicked a 32-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.
The Sharks played well on both sides of the ball and featured their usual dangerous passing game along with a hard-hitting defense that forced four turnovers.
Quarterback Cole Rosendahl became the second Shark to throw for more than 300 yards in the season by completing 18 passes for 239 yards.
One of Rosendahl’s main targets in the game was Davitt Doherty, who picked up 126 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Besides the four turnovers, the Sharks defense had two fumble recoveries and a pair of interceptions. Those interceptions were courtesy of Trey Butz and Hudson Hauseman. Mainland was only able to average three yards per carry against the Sharks run defense.
There were several standouts in this win for the Sharks but especially standing out on defense was Bennett Baumgartner and Reece Beck. Baumgartner had 11 tackles during the contest while recovering two fumbles. Beck made five tackles and had two sacks.
Ponte Vedra will be on the road Friday, Dec. 5, to take on the Lakeland Dreadnaughts.
