Tiger Sharks thrash Aucilla Christian, advance to Region 2 championship
After earning a first-round bye in the Florida Class 1 Rural Region 2 playoffs, the second-seeded Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks were on the hunt for a postseason win in front of a raucous hometown crowd, as they welcomed the third-seeded Aucilla Christian Warriors to Shark Field for a Friday night gridiron showdown.
Kickstarted by junior wide receiver Chance Gainer’s three-touchdown explosion to open the first quarter, Port St. Joe (7-4) kept the pedal to the floor on both sides of the football, and the pressure unrelenting, en route to a 49-14 regional semifinal victory over Aucilla Christian (9-2).
Heading into what would be the final game of the season for either Port St. Joe or Aucilla, a virtually identical team scoring average of 28 points per game and only a 19-point difference between the teams in total points on the season set up a matchup that had all the ingredients for a potential instant classic.
Having their work cut out for them, the Tiger Sharks entered the contest needing four quarters of offensive consistency against a Warriors defense allowing an average of just 9.3 points per game across their 2023 schedule.
On the flip side of the field, Aucilla was heading into undoubtedly one of their toughest battles of the season, considering that aside from Port St. Joe, the Warriors had only faced one team this year with a winning record in the form of still-undefeated Flint River Academy.
Falling 31-7 to the Wildcats for their only loss, Aucilla’s nine victories came at the expense of opponents with a combined record of 17-65, or .262 winning percentage.
Electing to kick to begin the game, the Tiger Sharks defense wasted no time in setting a dominant tone, forcing the Warriors into a four-and-out punting scenario on their first drive after several strong tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage by their bullish defensive front.
Riding a burst of momentum, the Tiger Sharks offense rewarded their defense’s efforts with a 25-yard TD reception by Gainer from senior Devin Cuttino at the 9:30 mark to put the first points of the night on the board and giving Port St. Joe an early 7-0 advantage.
Staying hot on their second offensive possession of the evening, Gainer managed to break free down the right sideline and haul in his second touchdown in four minutes on a 60-yard TD bomb courtesy of Cuttino to extend the Tiger Sharks’ lead to 14-0.
Not content with scoring solely by receptions, Gainer once again found paydirt just three minutes later when he turned a punt return into seven more Port St. Joe points to swell his team’s lead in three possessions at 21-0.
Finishing out the first quarter with a bang, the Tiger Sharks offense cranked the pressure up another notch when senior running back Marcus Clayton rumbled 16 yards for a fourth Port St. Joe touchdown to take a 28-point edge into the remaining 36 minutes of action.
Picking up where they left off in the first quarter, a toss from Cuttino to sophomore running back Corban Butts on a QB option at the 8:26 mark prolonged the Tiger Sharks’ scoring barrage to take their lead to 35-0.
Yet, refusing to surrender, Aucilla senior Tucker Wiles took a 25-yard interception to the Port St. Joe goal line to give the Warriors their best scoring opportunity of the contest with six minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Eventually finishing what he started on defense, Wiles managed to punch the ball into the endzone for Aucilla from one yard out to end the Tiger Sharks shutout and bring the score to 35-7.
Riding a wave of their own momentum, a blocked punt and subsequent recovery by the Warriors at the 2:56 mark breathed life into the Aucilla fanbase before another stout defensive stand by Port St. Joe squelched the potential scoring drive.
Despite less than two minutes remaining in the quarter, it was just enough time for the Tiger Sharks to rack up seven more points on a QB keeper up the gut by Cuttino for a 51-yard rushing TD to balloon the Port St. Joe lead to 42-7 heading into halftime.
Following a points extravaganza to begin their playoff battle, the second half of action saw each team piece together just one successful scoring drive, a stark opposite to the scoring showcase of the first two quarters.
Port St. Joe junior running back Donnell Hills collected a rushing TD at the start of the third quarter, while Wiles rushed for his second touchdown of the night at the beginning of the fourth quarter for the Warriors in what concluded as a decisive 49-14 statement victory for the Tiger Sharks.
The loss brought the Aucilla Warriors’ 2023 campaign to an end as they finished with an overall record of 9-2.
For Port St. Joe, the win marks the 100th of head coach Tanner Jones’ career and punches their ticket to play at top-seeded Blountstown, which defeated Sneads 7-8 Friday night, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24 for the Region 2 championship.
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.