Buchholz Football Hosts Oakleaf

Buchholz High is looking for its third straight win of the season when they host Oakleaf in their first in-conference game on Friday night.

The last time Buchholz and Oakleaf met was a year ago when the Bobcats upset the Knights, who at the time were ranked No. 2 in 7A. The Bobcats ended the night at Orange park with a 20-14 win.

Coming into Friday nights game, the Bobcats are fired up after big 27-23 win over Columbia for the first time since 2007. Buchholz head coach Mark Whittemore says he is proud of the way the team performed against Columbia but says they still had improvements to make before taking on Oakleaf.

Although the offense struggled and the win over  Columbia came down to a 10-yard pass from sophomore QB Camden Orth to senior Jared Graddy with 8.7 seconds to play. The Bobcats defense scored two of those touchdowns and held the Tigers scoreless in the second half.

Whittemore says the Bobcat defense is playing well and the game against Oakleaf will be a “pretty good slug fest” with two strong defenses. 

The Bobcats hope the momentum from the win over Columbia and the upset over Oakleaf last year will make up for the Knights’ desire to win its second district title in three years.

Oakleaf, under a first-year coach Steve Reynolds, has senior and four-year starter QB Jordan Johnson (442 yds., 5 TDs, 3 Ints.) and sophomore RB Keshawn King (271 yds., 1 TD) to handle the Bobcats’ defense.

Friday night’s game will be held at Citizens Field and kickoff is set for 7:30.