Mid-Season football report (Nease)

As we head toward the final quarter of the high school football season we turn our attention to how every St. Johns County team is faring and their possibilities of playing in the postseason.

Nease Panthers

Overall Record: (6-1)

District Record: (1-0)

Scoop: You can't say Nease coach Craig Howard's team won't be ready for the playoffs. Howard scheduled road trips to state powers 3A North Marion, 2A Madison County and 5A Mainland in addition to games with St. Augustine, Lake City Columbia and Bartram Trail. Surprisingly, the Panthers have adapted to the upgraded schedule well winning at North Marion and Mainland while knocking off St. Augustine for the second consecutive year after 13 straight losses. A defense, which is giving up only 15 points per game (6 of 7 games) has been solid all year while the offense which only returned a handful of starters, has put up 30 points per game (6 of 7 games). The win over St. Augustine was even more special for Nease considering its best player quarterback Ted Stachitas wasn't 100% and only played a few plays.

This week: With the District 5-4A title on the line, the Panthers travel to Lake City to take on the Columbia Tigers. Nease leads the series 2-0 winning 49-24 two years ago in Lake City and 27-0 at home last season. Columbia features sophomore tailback Tiger Powell (1032 yards on 101 carries), who ran for 300 yards on just 15 carries and four touchdowns (90,88, 26, 8) in a 54-35 win over host Orange Park. The lone blemish on the Tigers schedule was a 15-14 loss at Buchholz, after missing a PAT in overtime in week two.

Postseason: A win over Columbia would likely give Nease its third consecutive District 5-4A title and home field advantage in the playoffs. A loss would likely put the Panthers on the road in the playoffs as a runnerup.

District Standings

Nease             6-1       1-0

Columbia         6-1        1-0

Middleburg       4-3        0-1

Ridgeview        3-4        0-1

This week

Thursday

Ridgeview at Middleburg, 7:30

Friday

Nease at Columbia, 7:30