‘One More Week’: Oak Hall Sets Tone for Title Defense in Spring Game Blowout
Oak Hall coach RJ Fuhr tells his Eagles three words: “One more week.”
Defending state champions Oak Hall wasted no time reminding the rest of the SSAA what they’re chasing, blanking First Coast Christian 40-0 in a spring exhibition Friday.
Jacksonville’s First Coast Christian returned to action after being eliminated in the semifinals of the 2025 SSAA 8-man 1A state championship by the eventual champion, All Saints Academy.
Oak Hall opened up the scoring early, and by the end of the first quarter, led 20-0 behind two Darius Medley touchdowns.
The second and third quarters saw the Eagles’ defence continue to dominate, suppressing all of First Coast’s attempts to move the chains. On the opposite side of the ball, Oak Hall’s offense kept its foot on the gas, putting up 40 total points by the end of the game.
It has been almost six months to the date since Oak Hall won the program’s first SSAA 11-man 3A state championship, where they defeated Tampa Cambridge Christian 27-10.
Having their first game back after the offseason – plus losing key players like Aaron Akins, a standout senior quarterback who delivered the semifinal-winning touchdown drive against Christ’s Church in their 2025 title run – it was on Fuhr to maintain that championship-level intensity from the prior season.
Fuhr had previously held the title of head coach at Oak Hall for six years, accumulating a 42-13 record, before stepping down in 2023 to become assistant coach at Union County in Lake Butler. Amid Fuhr’s absence from Oak Hall, Randy Brower stepped in as interim head coach for 2024. The 2024 season was the Eagles’ first losing season in 10 years. Fuhr returned to Oak Hall for the 2025 season and immediately led the program to its first state title.
“I missed being the head coach at Oak Hall … the 3A championship was really just remarkable,” Fuhr said.
Now in year two of his return, spring football is the first real look at how Fuhr rebuilds Oak Hall’s identity with the prestige of ‘defending champs’ lingering in the locker room.
Despite the score, Oak Hall started and finished the game with intensity. On both sides of the ball, the Eagles commanded a strong running game and held First Coast to minimal yards per carry.
Fuhr remained vocal with his players throughout the entire game. He pulled them aside for one-on-one conversation about a prior play and helped them stay focused for the next. From the outside looking in, this Oak Hall roster with Fuhr at the helm has developed an incredible team culture.
“It’s a testament to the kids,” Fuhr said. “We’re a small school, but we’ve developed a winning football program.”
Fuhr has been the backbone to this program’s success for several years. It is success that is reflected by their consistent winning record under his direction, but also by the level of respect that his players provide to Fuhr and their respective teammates.
“These guys are excellent, they know how to run the ball, they know how to block, they know how to do whatever they have to do to win a game,” Oak Hall linebacker and running back coach Tyler Peera said. “In the future, these guys are going to be beasts.”
All of these elements are pivotal to the success Fuhr and his squad hope to continue.
“You don’t want to be stuck in the past, it’s a new season. We have to come in with some new expectations,” Johnson said. “We just have to be ourselves and move forward.”
Winning Friday’s spring matchup further justified that Oak Hall is confident in grabbing the state chip in back-to-back years.
The big picture? Being defending champions has not made the Oak Hall locker room complacent. It is a circumstance that both the coaching staff and players have acknowledged. They use it as fuel rather than the finish line.
“Since 2015 we’ve only had one losing season, so I think the days of us sneaking up on people is over,” said Fuhr.
For Fuhr and the Eagles, the math is simple.
One more week.
Category: Feature Sports News, Oak Hall High School
