Rutherford downs Port St. Joe 31-7
The Rutherford Rams earned their first win of the season Friday night, as they downed the Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks 31-7 in St. Joe.
The Rams, under the direction of Apalachicola High School graduate Albert Floyd, Jr., were able to keep the Tiger Sharks out of the end zone, despite solid offensive production.
The Tiger Sharks amassed 175 yards on the ground on 30 carries, led by 60 yards each for sophomore Donnell Hills, on 10 carries, and junior Jacob Hensley, on 11 carries.
Senior Aydan Davis gained 45 yards on seven carries, while junior Asher Peacock had 10 yards on two carries.
Hensley completed nine of 12 passes for 110 yards and one interception, and scored the lone touchdown. Sophomore Josiah Beach nailed his one extra point try.
Davis and senior Javan Hampton each caught three passes, the latter for 39 yards and the former for 12. Senior Daren Angelino caught two passes for 55 yards, and junior Blake Childress one for four yards.
Defensively, senior Ardarien Bryant led with 11 tackles, three of them solos, followed by 10 each for juniors Asher Peacock and Jacob Marshall, each with three solos. Sophomore Darion Cherry and senior King Waters each tallied seven tackles.
The field was graced with the #2, the number worn by Port St. Joe football star Chance Gainer, who died Sept. 6 due to health complications in a game at Liberty County. At halftime, Gainer’s father, Johnny “JJ” Gainer, was crowned homecoming king and immediately afterward, the Gainer family awarded runner-up senior Aydan Davis the crown to uphold the tradition of the former king returning to crown the future king. Senior Lyriq Larry was chosen homecoming queen.
With the defeat, Port St. Joe drops to 2-3 on the year. The Tiger Sharks travel to Bozeman to meet the Bucks in a non-league test on Thursday, Oct. 10. The Bucks, now 2-4, lost 24-21 to Destin Friday night.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.