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ALACHUA — Big plays were the name of the game Friday for the Gainesville High School football team in its 33-7 trouncing of Santa Fe.
The Hurricanes, who moved to 2-0 for the first time since 2012, had scores of 46, 64 and 90 yards that kept the Raider defenders on their toes all game.
Gainesville’s offense sent a message on its first play from scrimmage when junior wide receiver Aric Welch ripped off a long run to set his team up in the red zone. A few plays later, junior quarterback Jaishawn Sanford found senior wideout Calvin Thomas in the end zone for the game’s first points.
After Santa Fe opens the game with a 3-and-out, GHS gets inside Raider territory with a big run and QB Jaishawn Stanford finds WR Calvin Thomas for 6 on third down.
XP is blocked, 6-0 Gainesville with 7:27 left in the 1Q. pic.twitter.com/G0AY0sTg0G
— Paul Hof-Mahoney (@hofmahoney_p) August 30, 2024
The hot start for the Hurricanes was not matched by the home team (0-2), as the only first down the Raiders picked up across their three first-quarter drives came via a facemask penalty against Gainesville.
It never got much better for Santa Fe’s offense from there. Its only points of the game came from senior linebacker Joseph Hayes’s pick-six just before halftime. The results of the Raiders’ two lone red zone drives were a missed field goal and a lost fumble on the goal line.
The highlight play of the game came on the second half kickoff, when Welch muffed the kick, but was able to corral the bouncing ball and take off down the sideline. Ninety yards later he found paydirt, making up for an 85-yard punt return touchdown in the first half that was wiped off the board due to a block in the back.
Gainesville WR Aric Welch gets the second half going in style with a big kick return TD.
Gainesville leads 27-7 19 seconds into Q3. pic.twitter.com/YrMnGtqaQR
— Paul Hof-Mahoney (@hofmahoney_p) August 31, 2024
“Aric was electric all night,” GHS coach Ian Scott said. “He’s electric when we get the ball in his hands, and the more that we can do that is great. It gave all of our guys a spark, gave them some juice to go out and finish the game, and that was huge for us.”
Scott and offensive coordinator Earnest Graham, both former University of Florida standouts, once again rolled out a two-quarterback system with Sanford and junior Nelson Tambling and it paid dividends once again. Both signal-callers linked up with Thomas for touchdowns, with Tambling’s a 46-yard beauty down the sideline.
Senior running back Devin Johnson had another big day on the ground with two touchdowns, giving him four through the first two weeks of the season.
GHS WR/RB Devin Johnson finds the end zone for the second time on the night, showing some shiftiness for a 19-yard score.
33-7 Gainesville after a missed XP. 2:18 left in Q3. pic.twitter.com/5G7y6DSaTm
— Paul Hof-Mahoney (@hofmahoney_p) August 31, 2024
Up next
Gainesville will head to Tallahassee next Friday for a matchup with the Lions of Leon (0-3), while Santa Fe will look to break a losing streak that has been extended to 17 games on its trip to Union County (2-0).
