High school football: Buchholz blanks Gainesville in cross-town showdown
The beauty of football is that it’s unscripted drama.
Generally, no matter what the numbers might suggest, or the experts may predict, when the lights come on, anything can happen.
However, when the Gainesville Hurricanes and Buchholz Bobcats took Citizens Field on Thursday night for a cross-town showdown, there wasn’t much unscripted about it.
Just as the numbers suggested and the experts predicted, Buchholz dominated all phases of the game, blanking Gainesville 49-0.
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Here are our takeaways.
Gainesville QB Mason Zwilling, Buchholz star Jacarree Kelly missing
While fans filed into Milton Lewis Stadium in droves, Gainesville’s sophomore starting quarterback Mason Zwilling and Buchholz’s two-way playmaker senior Jacarree Kelly would only watch as their teammates warmed up for Thursday night’s rivalry contest.
Zwilling, who was given the keys to the Gainesville offense after transferring from Eastside in the offseason, just wasn’t feeling 100%, Hurricanes’ head coach Dock Pollard said.
In Zwilling’s absence, the ‘Canes were forced to dress freshman Tommy Coyne, who experienced his first varsity appearance.
“He got his first opportunity to start against that beast,” Pollard said, gesturing to the Bobcats. “He made young mistakes throwing the ball late over the middle. But that’s expected when you’ve never started in a game of this magnitude.”
Meanwhile, Kelly, who lines up at wide receiver and linebacker for the Bobcats, could’ve dressed out on Thursday, but was kept out as a precaution.
Fortunately for the Bobcats, they have plenty of depth on both sides and fared just fine in Kelly’s absence.
Turnovers translate to touchdowns for Bobcats
It’s no secret that Buchholz fields a well-rounded football team.
When arguing whether the Bobcats’ offense or defense is the stronger unit, the answer is unclear. However, what we do know is that when both units are feeding off each other, Buchholz seems invincible.
In Gainesville’s first offensive possession, Thomas Weinhardt sacked Coyne on second down, popping the football loose and allowing fellow junior linebacker Aiden Brake to fall on it, setting up the Bobcats’ offense with a short 35-yard field.
Senior quarterback Creed Whittemore and the Buchholz offense needed three plays to find the end zone as Whittemore rushed for 32 yards on first down and polished the drive off with a 3-yard touchdown rush – his first of two on the night.
Whittemore also added a pair of passing touchdowns to senior Jaren Hamilton (48 yards) and junior Quinton Cutler (11 yards).
Meanwhile, the Buchholz defense tacked on a score as junior defensive lineman Kendall Jackson notched an interception at the line of scrimmage before taking it 25 yards to the end zone.
“We needed to stay focused and thorough and really be task oriented,” Whittemore said. “And really not get wrapped up in what we might be able to do. That means we’re playing outside of ourselves. So we were able to play inside of the scheme, do what we do and not try to create something magical.”
Young Bobcats get valuable snaps in blowout
With a comfortable lead over the Hurricanes, Whittemore looked to his reserves to polish off the game.
Buchholz’s second-string offensive line played the entire second half, while a handful of other second-stringers rotated in and out of the game.
Each of the Bobcats’ pair of relief quarterbacks, sophomore Collins Dunmore and freshman Trace Johnson, piloted scoring drives with Dunmore tallying an 8-yard rushing touchdown and Johnson, who is the son of former Florida Gators quarterback Doug Johnson, firing an 11-yard touchdown.
“I feel really good about that portion of the evening,” Whittemore said. “Our depth was able to get out there and I’d say that’s huge for us tonight.”
Both programs have their eyes ahead
Regardless of which sideline players stood on Thursday night, it would be easy to get wrapped up in the result.
However, both coaches are wanting to make sure that doesn’t happen with district matchups coming up.
“Lucky for us, we won’t be playing Buchholz next week,” Pollard joked. “That definitely boosts our chances. And again, that’s not a slight to any of the programs out there, but everybody’s not built like them.”
Up next for Gainesville is a visit from Matanzas on Thursday night at 7.
Meanwhile, Buchholz will host Orange Park Oakleaf on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a district battle.
“Those teams in our district, their motor never stops running,” Whittemore said. “So you’re constantly having to play high-level football all four quarters. … We know Oakleaf, Fleming Island and Bartram Trail are going to be tough outs for us.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: High school football: Buchholz far too much for Gainesville to handle
