BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Cherish Bing caught two touchdown passes from Ar’Nayshia Griffin, while the defense never allowed visiting Santa Fe to put itself into any goal-to-go opportunities in the Bradford High School football team’s 14-0 win in the District 4-1A tournament championship game on April 17.
It was the third consecutive district championship for the Tornadoes (12-2), who will play a Region 1 quarterfinal game on Wednesday, April 23. Matchups and locations will be announced Friday, April 18, by the Florida High School Athletic Association. You can watch the FHSAA selection show, which begins at 2 p.m., via the association’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@fhsaavideos.
Bradford, which was seeded number one in the District 4 tournament, scored on the game’s opening series against second seed Santa Fe (10-2). A 7-yard reception by Rhianna Davis resulted in a first down. It was the first of four straight completions for Griffin, who hooked up with Davis again for an 8-yard gain before completing an 11-yard pass to Bing for a first down at the Santa Fe 36. Another pass to Davis was good for
a 6-yard gain.
A sack by the Raiders’ Nat Williams and a penalty backed the Tornadoes up 10 yards. Davis, who finished with four receptions for 28 yards, caught a pass for a 10-yard gain, setting up a fourth-and-10 play. Bing caught a pass over the middle of the field and took it into the end zone to give Bradford a 6-0 lead. The conversion attempt failed.
Santa Fe’s offense went three-and-out on its first drive, which consisted of two incomplete passes and one completed pass for only a 2-yard gain, thanks to a flag pull by Davis.
The Raiders failed to gain a first down again after running three plays on their next series. This time, they elected to go for it on fourth down, with the result being an incomplete pass and a turnover on downs.
That set the Bradford offense up 3 yards past midfield. Griffin completed passes to Bing and Nichelle Brown to help set up fourth-and-7. The Tornadoes went for it, with Griffin picking up the first on a 7-yard run. The drive stalled, with Santa Fe’s Williams bringing heavy pressure against Griffin as Bradford had four straight incomplete passes.
The Tornadoes’ defense again kept Santa Fe to minimal gains, with a Brown tackle limiting the Raiders to a 4-yard gain on a pass play and a Davis tackle holding them to 3 yards on a run play. After three plays, Santa Fe punted.
When the Raiders got the ball back toward the end of the first half, they again ran just three plays before punting.
Santa Fe gained just 14 yards in the first half on 13 plays.
Bradford’s offense started a drive at its own 39 with 22 seconds remaining in the second quarter. A 17-yard pass play from Griffin to Brown picked up a first down at the Suwannee 24. After Griffin was held to no gain on a run attempt, she completed a pass to Bing in the end zone for a touchdown with six seconds on the clock. The Tornadoes elected to go for two on the conversion attempt and got it, with Brown catching a short pass and eluding two to three defenders as she made it into the end zone to make the score 14-0.
Bing finished five receptions for 72 yards, while Griffin completed 19 of 36 passes for 178 yards.
The Raiders found some success offensively to start the second half. Brooke Zeller completed four straight passes for a total gain of 34 yards as Santa Fe advanced to the Bradford 26-yard line. A fifth pass attempt, though, resulted in an interception by Griffin at the 15-yard line. She returned the ball 16 yards to set the Tornadoes up at their own 31.
Brown caught two passes for 20 yards to help Bradford move inside the Santa Fe 30. The Tornadoes converted a fourth-and-6 play when Kaylee Devore (two receptions for 19 yards) caught a pass for a 9-yard gain, making it first-and-goal 17 yards away from the end zone. The drive, though, stalled at the 13-yard line after a failed fourth-down play.
On the first play following the turnover on downs, the Tornadoes got an interception from Davis, which gave Bradford first-and-goal at the 18. Brown, who finished with eight receptions for 59 yards, caught a 9-yard pass to put the Tornadoes inside the 10-yard line. A Griffin run left the Tornadoes 4 yards shy of the goal line. On a fourth-down play, the Raiders’ Williams stepped in front of Brown in the end zone and picked off a pass.
Santa Fe had the ball at its own 3-yard line, but a penalty on Bradford would move the Raiders out of the shadow of their own end zone and give them a first down at the 16. Zeller completed a 6-yard pass and had a 10-yard run to move Santa Fe to the 32-yard line, but penalties for illegal procedure and unsportsmanlike conduct backed the Raiders up to the 13, setting up second-and-27. Zeller had a run of 7 yards before completing a 15-yard pass to Ranilah Smith. Santa Fe went for it on fourth-and-5, with Bing intercepting a tipped ball by Brown.
The Raiders’ offense got the ball one last time, starting a drive at the Bradford 35 with less than two minutes to play. Two pass completions set up a fourth-and-3 play, but an incompletion led to a turnover on downs, which allowed the Tornadoes’ Griffin to take a couple of kneel downs to end the game.
