Week 11: St. Augustine 35, Palatka 15 (Nov.9)

PALATKA-With the momentum swinging in the closing seconds of a tight first half, St. Augustine junior athlete Lashaud Lockwood took it personal to stop it.

Lockwood received the second half kick near the 15-yard line, cut up the middle and bolted left down the sideline untouched to give visiting St. Augustine all the momentum back early in the second half and a deliver a knockout punch it needed in the Jackets 35-15 win over arch-rival Palatka at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Junior wide receiver Kevin Moore hauled in a 30-yard pass for a score with four seconds remaining in the first half cutting the lead to 14-9. The ensuing PAT was blocked, but the host Panthers swung all the  momentum into the second half.

Lockwood’s return seemed to take the wind out of Palatka (4-6), who was held scoreless in the second half until the closing seconds of the game.

Levent Sands 2-yard touchdown run, set up by Bobby Mitchell’s 60-yard reception and Sands ensuing 15 yard run, made it 28-9 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The Jackets defense picked off two De’Abrie Smith passes in the second half, the first of which set up Mitchell’s 40-yard touchdown reception with 11.5 remaining in the third quarter making it 35-9.

DA Williams picked off Smith in the end zone out jumping Moore to stop another Palatka scoring drive in the fourth quarter.          

Jaylon Oxendine score in the closing seconds of the game cut the lead to 35-15 to end the Panthers second half shut out.  

Like it has much throughout the 90 years of the rivalry, St. Augustine capitalized on Palatka turnovers and took control of the game and control of the state’s second oldest continuous rivalry played every year since 1922.          

The Yellowjackets, who lead the all-time series 49-42-3, won for the 13^th time in the arch-rivals last 14 meetings and for the eighth straight time in the series. According to the Palatka Daily News, the last time Palatka beat St. Augustine in 2003, the current seniors were in third grade.        

With the playoffs looming in a week, St. Augustine (10-0) tuned up for its first round playoff game against Ridgeview (9-1) clicking on all cylinders but more importantly left the game injury free.

St. Augustine coach Joey Wiles got exactly what he wanted in his teams last regular season game of the season, a win and no injuries.

The win also capped the seventh undefeated regular season for the Jackets under Wiles and assured the senior class a perfect record against Palatka and a perfect record against Sunshine State teams in the regular season, having only loss to North Gwinnett.