Elijah Gardner ran for a 3-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage.
It all went downhill from there for Fort White.
The Indians threw three interceptions while not completing a pass until the third quarter in Saturday’s 35-0 spring game loss against Columbia. Fort White managed just 22 yards of total offense on the night while the defense allowed 375, split nearly evenly on the ground and through the air for the Tigers.
FWHS coach Demetric Jackson said spring practices the last three weeks have gone well, leading to Saturday’s surprising turn of events.
“They took it to us,” Jackson said. “Both sides of the ball, they controlled the line of scrimmage. They played harder, they played more physically. Hats off to (CHS coach) Brian (Allen) and his staff for having those guys well prepared.
“This was a shocker to me because of how we practiced for three weeks. We’ve had great practice, we’ve had physical practice. We just thought that we were going to come out and play a lot better than what we did.”
Gardner’s 3-yard rush turned out to be one of the few positive plays for Fort White. He immediately lost three yards on the next carry before starting quarterback Ethan Caines threw the first of the interceptions while in the grasp of several CHS defensive linemen. Julian De La Cruz took that interception back for a 20-yard pick-6 to open the scoring.
Jackson said with Caines still in middle school, the rising eighth-grader is still learning the speed of the high school game.
“I think the game may be a little too big for Ethan,” Jackson said. “He’s just going into the eighth grade. He’s going to be a good one, but a lot of the calls we were trying to make, he’s got to say the play three or four times in the huddle, which caused us to use timeouts… I think the moment was a little too big for him.”
Jayden Jackson wasn’t a whole lot better in what little pocket his line could give him. The rising senior, who figures to see the vast bulk of playing time behind center, finished 0 for 3 passing with a pair of interceptions, including one throwing off his back foot while under heavy pressure to Tacori Allen. Jackson also finished with seven yards on four carries.
“Jayden didn’t play great at all,” Demetric Jackson said of his night. “He had some bad reads. The first time we ran a little zone play, he didn’t give it. He had two ill-advised throws, both those interceptions. He just wasn’t his usual self.”
Jackson’s second interception of the night came with time winding down in the first half, with De La Cruz picking it off before an unsportsmanlike penalty pushed the Tigers back to their own 14. But CHS quarterback Xavier Collins wasted no time in marching the Tigers down for a score, with Collins connecting with receiver Kaidrin Jackson for a 15-yard score with about a minute left.
While the Fort White defense gave up numerous chunk plays to the Columbia offense, the Indians did come away with a few big plays of their own. Rising senior Matthew Pitts, who took last year off from football to focus on baseball, broke on a fourth-down pass from Collins, picking it off before taking it back down the far sideline for a 30-yard return.
Pitts also made some plays on the offensive side, running for 26 yards on five carries. Fellow rising senior Jonathan Bessent came away with Fort White’s other defensive takeaway, picking off a pass late in the fourth quarter with a running clock.
“I saw some great things, particularly Matthew,” Demetric Jackson said of Pitts. “…He’s just one of those athletes that’s on our campus that we had to try to find a way to get him on the field. He hasn’t played defense all spring, and we put him on defense. We had to put someone out here to make plays, and sure enough, he’s a gamer.”
While the result of the spring game was disappointing, Jackson said facing a defense as tough as Columbia’s should work out to Fort White’s benefit down the line.
“We’ve got to figure it out, because this is the type of teams you’re going to face in the playoffs,” Jackson said. “We’re going to face some teams that are good, that’s going to play hard-nosed, they’re going to play physical.”