The St. Joseph Academy Flashes showcased a lot of resilience and remained unbeaten on the season following a gritty 26-17 victory over the visiting Oak Hall School Eagles from Gainesville on Oct. 17.
With the win, the Flashes are now just one of two teams still undefeated in the Sunshine State Athletic Association.
The victory also came on senior night, as the seniors were honored in front of the home fans prior to the game and then did their part to put on quite the show.
The Flashes have put together dominating performances in many of their contests this season, but they had to fight back from adversity early on as Eagles jumped out to an 11-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
However, the Flashes proved up to the task and chipped away at the lead thanks to a defensive effort that produced four interceptions and two fumble recoveries on the night.
The offense began to establish its rhythm in the second quarter, and they scored three times in the second quarter to completely switch the game’s momentum and carry a 19-11 lead into the halftime break.
Oak Hall punched in a touchdown to cut the Flashes’ advantage to two points heading into the fourth quarter, but the defense came up big when it mattered most and recovered a fumble to stop a potential drive in the red zone.
It led to the Flashes extending their lead for good and securing their eighth win of the season.
Senior quarterback Cody Ott threw and ran for touchdowns in the contest and was the team’s leading rusher with 71 yards, while junior Camden Coffindaffer was a big-play threat as he finished with 151 all-purpose yards.
He also found the end zone three times, twice on the ground and once through the air.
Junior Asher Glisson was flying around on defense and stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high 13 tackles, two for a loss to go with a sack and an interception.
He was joined in the interception parade by sophomore Ollie Brynteson, Glisson, Ott and Coffindaffer.
Next up for the Flashes will be a home contest and regular season finale against the Interlachen High Rams on Oct. 24 with kickoff at 7 p.m.
