NewsBreak Original

The FHSAA’s ninth week of baseball for the 2023 season was filled with exciting baseball across Clay County. Listed below in alphabetical order are the records of each high school from April 17-21.

The FHSAA’s ninth week of softball for the 2023 season produced eight victories for area teams across Clay County. Listed below in alphabetical order are the records of each high school softball team from April 10-14.

Clay County Athletics announced Orange Park Raider Nethen Verger as the Clay County Athlete of the Week for his performance in track and field and Rodney Keller as the Clay County Coach of the Month for coaching Clay High girls weightlifting to another State Championship.

Taliah Scott from St. Johns Country Day School in Orange Park has been named the 2023 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school coaches and media representatives.

As other students enjoyed Spring Break, most of the high school baseball teams across Clay County played a full schedule of games. Listed below in alphabetical order are the records of each high school from March 13–17.

The FHSAA’s third week of baseball for the 2023 season was filled with exciting baseball across Clay County. Listed below in alphabetical order are the records of each high school from February 6 - 10.

The Middleburg Broncos dominated their senior night against the in-county rival Orange Park Raiders on Friday, 35-14. The Broncos were riding high from the first drive of the game. Middleburg won the toss and elected to receive. Running back TJ Lane would score the first touchdown of the game on a 58-yard run. Middleburg would also get the 2-point conversion off another run from Lane to put the Broncos up, 8-0.

The Oakleaf Knights lost a heartbreaker on their Thursday night homecoming game to District rival Creekside Knights, 49-48. The game was originally scheduled for last Friday but was moved due to Hurricane Ian.

All of the high schools in Clay County set to have football games this Friday will have those games postponed to various dates next week due to Tropical Storm Ian. The Clay High Blue Devils are on a bye this week. Therefore, they are the only school that didn’t need to adjust their schedule amid Tropical Storm Ian.

The Oakleaf Knights traveled to Fleming Island Friday night and upset the Golden Eagles, 26-20. Oakleaf was 2-1, and Fleming Island was 3-0 heading into their matchup. Oakleaf put this game out of reach because they forced three interceptions and a forced fumble.

Rainy weather is in the forecast for high school football games in Clay County on Friday night. The National Weather Service forecast calls for showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 10 p.m. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. The low is predicted to be around 73 degrees.

With the start of the 2022 high school football season being a month away, three schools in Clay County have the best chance to make a significant run in the FHSAA playoffs. Fleming Island finished last season with a 6-5 record and 3-2 7A District 3 record, according to MaxPreps. Even though Fleming Island finished the season a game above .500 and plays in one of Florida’s toughest classifications, they have the necessary pieces to make a significant run for the 2022 season. Sophomore quarterback Cibastian Broughton started as a freshman last season and will continue to develop. Broughton has a senior-heavy team to help him win games this season. Four-star running back Sam Singleton and three-star Darion Domineck are explosive weapons on offense that are wanted by some of the top college programs in the country. Fleming Island also has explosive defensive players in three-star linebacker Abram Wright and Jhace Edwards who combined for 143 total tackles. If Broughton improves his sophomore year and key players on both sides of the ball stay healthy, the sky is the limit for Fleming Island. Fleming Island’s first matchup is against Clay High on August 26.