The War on I-75: Buchholz Football Too Much for Santa Fe

ALACHUA — For six years, the War on I-75 was missing from the area high school  football schedule. On Thursday night, it returned with a packed stadium, a helicopter-delivered game ball and two teams ready for a rivalry game.

Santa Fe and Buchholz came in undefeated, with the Bobcats ranked No. 8 in the state.

By the end of the night, the Bobcats showed why.

Buchholz (7-0) used explosive passes, a physical rushing attack and a defense that repeatedly shut down Santa Fe (5-1)  to pull away for a 35-10 victory in the return of the War on I-75, which produced a trophy for the winning team.

Still, Santa Fe coach Earnest Graham came away proud of his team’s fight.

“I thought our guys fought hard,” Graham said. “I thought we fought together. I thought we belonged.”

The game opened with a flurry.

Junior quarterback Andrew Whittemore found senior wide receiver Dominick Harvey for a 72-yard touchdown for Buchholz’s first  score. Harvey broke a tackle and raced to the end zone to put the Bobcats ahead 7-0.

Santa Fe answered with a long drive capped by quarterback Gavin Peterson’s 25-yard touchdown run to knot the game at 7.

Harvey quickly took over again.

Whittemore found him on an 11-yard wide receiver screen in the second quarter, and Harvey broke multiple tackles for his second touchdown. Later in the quarter, Harvey caught a pass down the sideline, spun away from a defender and raced 46 yards for his third score.

His first three catches were all touchdowns.

“We got to stop explosives,” Graham said.

Santa Fe managed to cut into the deficit before halftime. Peterson moved the Raiders into the red zone with help from key catches by senior receivers Kayoni Briggs and Jadathun Bryant, but the drive stalled and senior kicker Mayer Steen converted a field goal to make it 21-10.

The Raiders then got a major defensive stop.

With 38 seconds left in the half, sophomore linebacker Marzavious Ross intercepted Whittemore in the end zone. Santa Fe couldn’t turn the takeaway into points before halftime, but it kept the Raiders within striking distance.

Buchholz took control again in the third quarter.

Junior running back Joshua Menefee and Whittemore repeatedly found room on the ground before Menefee scored on a 4-yard run, extending the lead to 28-10.

Santa Fe continued to battle. Briggs made a contested catch, and senior linebacker/defensive end Cole Chong-you recovered a forced fumble to give the Raiders another opportunity. Bryant then made a big catch to move Santa Fe into the red zone, but the drive ended on downs.

Menefee added his second touchdown later in the game to make it 35-10.

Briggs provided one final spark, returning the ensuing kickoff to the Buchholz 36-yard line, but the Raiders again couldn’t convert. Buchholz took over and entered victory formation.

Graham said Buchholz’s ability to run the ball was a major difference.

“Run fits are a big deal,” Graham said. “So I feel like if we get our run fits in order we’ll turn on film and evaluate ourselves, and we’ll just get better.”

Graham saw plenty to build on. Santa Fe ran the ball effectively at times, made big plays and moved the ball through the air better than it had in previous games. Defensively, the Raiders also settled in after Buchholz’s early barrage of explosive plays.

“They got a lot of explosives early,” Graham said. “I feel like we came back and then we pretty much stopped them in the second half with the exception of a few plays.”

And while Buchholz’s offense  proved too much, Graham said the game showed his players they could compete with one of the state’s premier programs.

“We’re talking about one of the teams that are going to go deep into the playoffs every single year, and I felt like we belonged on the field,” Graham said.

There won’t be much time to dwell on the result.

Santa Fe travels to Citizens Field next Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. 3A-District 5 matchup against Eastside. Graham wants his team focused immediately on the next opportunity.

“This game is in the past,” Graham said. “This is a district game. This is the most important game that we have.”

Category: Buchholz High School, High School Sports, Santa Fe High School