The season could not have started any different for the Ponte Vedra Sharks, who showed a lot of grit and bounced back from a tough opening week loss and did so in a massive way, by going on the road and defeating the Bartram Trail Bears, 28-21.
The Sharks (1-1) made all the right adjustments from week one and looked like an entirely different team against the Bears (1-1) and the scoreboard showed it throughout.
They jumped out to a 14-0 lead to start the game thanks to two methodical drives where the offense was able to churn out first downs and clearly win the time of possession battle early on, which kept the explosive Bears’ offensive off the field.
One of the unique things is the Sharks came out throwing the ball with Drew Price throwing quick timing routes and connecting with junior Davitt Doherty three times on the opening scoring drive.
The success through the air was able to only up running lanes for Brian Case and he knew just what to do with them and was able to pickup short yardage situations routinely and capped the first drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
J.P. Dolan had his number called on a beautifully designed play call at the goal line, where he turned the corner on a handoff and walked into the endzone untouched for the easiest touchdown he will ever score to put the Sharks up 14-0.
The Bears answered with a two-play drive resulting in a long catch-and-run from Jaden Weatherly to DeAndre Caldwell, while Neko Dawkins punched in a rushing touchdown to tie the contest at 14-all at halftime.
A key play prior to the halftime break was made when Ryker Kemp had a strip sack and Robbie Grieco recovered the fumble to halt a Bears’ drive approaching the red zone and keep the game knotted up into the second half.
From there, the Sharks were able to start faster in the second half as well and continued to be the aggressor throughout the contest and were again able to open a two-touchdown advantage and did not let the Bears comeback for a second time on the night.
