How Good Are the Ponte Vedra Sharks – Niceville Football’s 2nd Round Playoff Matchup?

Christopher Saul
November 19, 2024
10:05 pm
Niceville, Schools and Education, Sports

In Brief:

•🦅 Who: Niceville Eagles vs. Ponte Vedra Sharks

•🏈 What: High school football playoff showdown

•🕖 When: Friday night at 7 p.m.

•📍 Where: The Eagles’ Nest, Niceville, FL

•❓ Why: A chance to advance deeper into the playoffs in a battle of strengths: Niceville’s offense vs. Ponte Vedra’s defense.

The Niceville Eagles steamrolled the Middleburg Broncos in a shellacking at the Eagles’ Nest this past Friday in a 49-13 contest that was never really close. But they shouldn’t expect to walk over their next playoff opponent – fourth-seeded Ponte Vedra High School.

The Sharks also played Middleburg – a regional game in the regular season – and put the hurt on the Broncos. They would beat Middleburg 52-21.

By the transitive property – you might think Niceville is five points better – but the game looks to be an excellent matchup between a team that has excelled on the offensive side of the ball when running (Niceville) and a team that has caught offenses up in its web of intricate and effective pass rushers (Ponte Vedra).

Here are the three things you need to know before you go to Friday Night (at 7 PM)’s contest between the Niceville Eagles and the Ponte Vedra Sharks.

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This is a Rare Matchup

When Ponte Vedra comes to Niceville – it will be the first time the sharks have visited Niceville since at least 2008. The streak may go back longer – I can’t find any info that far back.

Ponte Vedra has a much better record than Middleburg (0%) against teams with a winning record. Ponte Vedra is 5-2 against teams that are above .500.

Offensively – Ponte Vedra has decent starters.

Niceville’s defense had it easy last week against a subpar offensive unit from Middleburg. That won’t be the case this week, but we should note that Ponte Vedra’s offense is probably a middle-of-the-road unit for a playoff team.

They boast a 56% pass completion rate from their quarterback, Drew Price. While Eagle’s QB Kane Lafortune gets more passes into receivers’ hands – Price has a 17:8 Touchdown-to-interception ratio (LaFortune is 7:5). Price and the Sharks average about 1.6 touchdown passes and about 170 yards in four quarters of play. Niceville will have an advantage of Price’s to exploit, though. The quarterback needs to protect the ball better. He has fumbled ten times in eleven games and lost seven of those loose balls. Price is a mobile quarterback – which means Niceville will have plenty of opportunities to knock the ball loose and recover it.

It doesn’t help that the offensive line tends to underperform against elite teams.

Ponte Vedra’s playmaker isn’t under center, though. Those numbers arrive on the stat sheet courtesy of senior Brian Case. The tailback has 148 of the team’s 370 all-purpose yards per game – most on the ground. If the Eagles want to win, they will need to limit Case’s ability to run. Luckily for the Eagles, that is where they perform best on the defensive side of the ball, together with Case – the run game tallies more than 200 yards per contest.

…But Ponte Vedra is most fearsome on the defensive side of the ball

Ponte Vedra has played lights-out defense to make up for bad situations in which their offensive mishaps have placed them this season. Defensive standouts Talin Babin, who leads the Sharks with 6.1 tackles per game, and Nose Guard Ryker Kemp, who has 1.4 sacks per game, have given up a miserly 16 points to opposing offenses on average.

You’ll know who Kemp is when he trots onto the field. The 6’6 defensive lineman tips the scales at 240 pounds.

The secondary team may not have more than the average team this season in interceptions, but they play excellent pass-defense nonetheless. The shark’s secondary has 85 passes batted down this season. Compare that to the average football team in the US – which has knocked down 20 in the same time frame.