September 1, 2012

Matt McCullough
FlaVarsity.com

Both coaches have been stockpiling victories since the early 90's, but it was the Yellow Jacket offense that stole the show tonight. RB Levent Sands scored 4 touchdowns for St Augustine, 2 rushing, and 2 recieving.

The first one came on a 20 yard TD run that capped off the Jackets' first drive. Trinity answered back quickly when Oshay Carter threw a perfect corner route to Nick Washington, who caught the ball over a gambling cornerback, and the Gator commit was able to dash down the sideline untouched for a 40 yard TD with 4:06 in the 1st quarter.

St Augustine regained the lead in the second quarter when QB Sandin Mims dropped back, and delivered a well-timed screen pass that found Sands all by himself on the 30 yard line. He immediately turned upfield, juked out the last Trinity defender at the 10 yard line, and sprinted into the end one to give the Jackets a 13-6 lead that would hold until halftime.

On the second play of the second half, St Augustine ran the same screen play again, and Sands scooted down the field, changing directions and following blocks for 80 yards before being brought down at the 1 yard line.

He would still get his TD 3 plays later off of a 5 yard play action pass, and St Augustine had thier fist comfortable lead of the game, 20-6.

The Trinity offense would fight back, and was able to move the ball; but had consecutive drives staul at the St Augustine 26 yard line and 10 yard line.

Although, the hard-earned drives yielded no points, it was a free gift from St Augustine that would get Trinity back in the ballgame midway through the 4th quarter.

A botched punt attempt gave Trinity the ball at the 5 yard line, and Carter bulled his way in on a QB draw to get within one TD with 7:30 remaining to play in the game.

A blocked extra point left the score at 20-12.

St Augustine faced a key 3rd and long on the next drive, but Mims hit Bobby Mitchell for a huge 39 yard gain to keep the drive alive. This would set up Sands 4th TD of the game when he followed his blocks along the left side then sprinted in for a 22 yard run to take a 15 point lead.

The Conquerers would answer late with a 20 yard TD pass to Deontai Williams, but when they were unable to convert the 2 point conversion, any realistic chance of winning was gone with St Augustine still leading by two possessions 27-18.

The Yellow Jacker defense was stingy all night and kept a powerful Trinity offense from ever getting into a rhythm. Lead by Iowa State commit D.A. Williams, the secondary was able to keep talented recievers Nick Washington and Isaiah Ford from doing too much damage.

RB Levent Sands seemed humble after the game. "I have to give most of the credit to my offensive line". But St Augustine assistant coach Steve Hardin was quick to say what most in attendance were thinking; "he's been one of the best kept secrets around for the last couple years". Hardin, the former Rutherford head coach, (who has 214 career wins himself), seems to think he may be even a little quicker than last year. Another Senior that the Jackets will rely heavily on this year is QB Sandin Mims. He is quickly emerging as one of the better passing QBs St Augustine has had in a while and will help provide balance on Offense. "I feel even more comfortable as I begin my Senior year, and although we're young, we have a good core of Seniors that are not only good players, but will help provide leadership".