Admiral Farragut Sinks Braden River in Spring Football Game

The math worked out for the visiting Admiral Farragut Academy football team on Friday night.

With eight days of practice under their belts, the Blue Jackets overcame a 40-mile bus ride from St. Petersburg and four turnovers to record a 7-0 victory over at Pirate Field. Although the win came in a spring game that featured no attempts to rush kickers or punters, it was still quite the coup and building block for Chris Miller’s program.

“It’s absolutely incredible,” Miller said. “These guys are an absolute pleasure to work with. They come out and they work hard every day. I could not be more proud of every one of them. A total team effort tonight and just a great win for us.”

Miller’s guys appeared to be an outnumbered and undersized bunch when compared to Braden River, which will be classified as a Class 7A program next fall because the school’s enrollment is between 1,926-2,300 students. Admiral Farragut, which went 9-2 last season with both losses coming to eventual Class 1B state champion Lakeland Victory Christian, is a boarding school with an enrollment between 47-280, classifying it as a Class 2A (Urban) school in August.

Despite the Blue Jackets being at a perceived disadvantage, they still had enough athletes to effectively run the ball and limit the Pirates’ opportunities. Braden River, which marched into Admiral Farragut territory three times in its first four drives, ran only 10 offensive plays in the second half.

Using five plays and a 15-yard penalty, the Pirates moved to the Admiral Farragut 26 before their first drive of the game stalled. A fumble recovery by Marcus Balliette put Braden River 49 yards away from the end zone with 7:36 left in the first half, but wide receiver Troy Gatling fumbled two plays later to give the Blue Jackets the football.

Admiral Farragut used a 35-yard run by Cortavious Givens and a 19-yard run on a lateral to Alvin Cunningham to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Givens with 10:41 left before halftime. A couple pass plays from Braden River quarterback Steven Ross to Ryan Fischer and Gatling, which totaled 44 yards, and a pass interference penalty were not enough to help the Pirates on the ensuing drive.

Having forced an incomplete pass on a 4th-and-13 from their own 22, the Blue Jackets took six minutes and six seconds off the clock before quarterback Rayshawn Jenkins threw an interception to Fischer with 1:18 left before halftime. Nathan Kirkman intercepted another Jenkins pass with 5:02 left in the third quarter, and Tyler Linde recovered a fumble nearly four minutes later, but Braden River could not capitalize.

“I was very disappointed that we were not able to turn turnovers into points,” said second-year Braden River head coach Don Purvis. “We had opportunities, and we didn’t get it done. That is an area we’re going to have to address.”

A 30-yard field goal attempt by the Blue Jackets’ Louis Bobelis went wide right with 5:18 left in the game. Once again, Braden River ended up turning the ball over on downs, and Admiral Farragut eventually ran out the clock.

“(The game) was really to establish starters,” Purvis said. “We had an open competition. We played some younger guys and we played some freshmen. We sat three starters (on Friday). Evaluating talent is the key because you’re not going to get to evaluate it again until one game before the season starts. By then, it might be too late.”

While the game concluded Admiral Farragut’s spring workouts, Braden River will have another week of practice before heading to Raymond James Stadium next Saturday morning for an intrasquad scrimmage.