GREEN COVE SPRINGS – For Clay High football, senior Jaylan Jenkins has been the go-to guy in more than one way and Friday night’s “highlight-reel” performance will not be soon forgotten despite the 52-42 loss to Ponte Vedra that occurred Friday night in the Class 5A state semifinal game at Clay High School.

“It was ironic that we went undefeated at home during the regular season and couldn’t find a way on Friday night to ever take the lead.” said Clay coach Joshua Hoekstra. “This loss will stay with me for a very long time and drive me to find a way to improve and get better every day.”

Clay High’s entire football senior class; Jenkins, Colin Wilson, Marcus Jones, Angel Valdes, Marquez Delafield, Derek Smith, Rico Schnitzler, Evan Martin, Tobiah Griffin, Darius Smith, Matt Adams, Nathan Fitzgerald, William Cornwell, Devon Vatick, Jarrod Leeds, Maxwell Moore, George Wilder and Antwan Coleman, finishes an amazing four-year span of high school football with three Final Four berths, three region titles, three district titles and four straight region playoff berths; one region semifinal loss.

“Jaylan made a lot of plays when we needed him to,” said Hoekstra.

Jenkins, as a kick returner, rolled to a 73 yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to pull the Blue Devils’ to a 38-35 deficit to the Sharks with 5:23 left in the game.

Jenkins, again as a kickoff returner, smoothly finished off a 44 yard return to midfield in the third period to set up one of three touchdowns from senior running back Colin Wilson and a 24-21 game score.

Jenkins, as a member of the Clay backfield, took a sweep play 60 yards to the Ponte Vedra 15 yard line in the first quarter to ignite a Blue Devil sideline that thought a 14-7 deficit may become a tie. Unfortunately, with Jenkins taking a swing pass for seven yards to the Shark seven, Wilson was stopped short of the end zone.

In the first quarter, Jenkins goes Wildcat twice for 23 yards, then catches a pass that has a roughing the passer flag tagged on to the Shark 15 yard line. Wilson would later score off the effort from four yards out to tie the game at 7-7.

All that being said, Clay High’s playoff run did not end on a sour note of a blowout by an undefeated team, but finished with a flurry that looked alot like a 74-73 playoff win a few year ago that propelled Hoekstra into football folklore.

In 2016, a burly Ponte Vedra High senior quarterback, Nick Tronti, became the gnat in the face that never goes away as the Shark offense slyly took advantage of the Blue Devil pass rush with Tronti putting up 552 yards of offense and six touchdowns with an effective read option and also a green-lighted pass-to-run option out of the pocket.

“We tried everything on D to stop Tronti, we blitzed, we put a spy on him, we tried everything,” said Hoekstra. “He had a performance that was similar to Bilal vs North Marion and John Wolford vs Clay in 2013.”

Ponte Vedra opened the scoring in the first quarter with Tronti showing off his strategy of read-options with running back Hal Swan pounding in from 34 yards out.

Clay answered with Wilson scoring from four yards out off a 13 play drive.

After a pooch kickoff from Clay kicker Liz Fogarty that caused a 22-man scramble at the 35 yard line, Ponte Vedra took over with Tronti directing a 16-play scoring drive that included a fourth and five scramble with Clay defensive tackle Angelo Dorsaingvil in chase that finished with a first down at the Clay 17. Clay’s defense stiffened a bit with William Cornwell forcing a hurried pass by Tronti that went incomplete and linebacker Rico Schnitzler nailing Swan in the backfield. Tronti again went to a read-option and defensive tackler Tobiah Griffin sniffed it out, but was a step behind Tronti as he finished in the end zone.

Ponte Vedra tried their own pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff and created the same mess as Fogarty’s with Clay recovering at their own 25. Jenkins went down the Shark sideline for his 60-yarder that woke up the Blue Devil fan base, but Clay failed to score.

Taking over at their own six yard line, Ponte Vedra struck quickly with Swan breaking for 29 yards with cornerback Marquez Delafield making a touchdown-saving ankle tackle at the 39 yard line.

Again, Clay’s defense stiffened with Griffin and linebacker Evan Martin thwarting Tronti efforts just off the line of scrimmage, but Tronti escaped from the Clay 31 to the 12 to set up a scoring pass a play later and a 21-7 lead with 4:09 in the half.

With 4:04 to the half, Clay seemed intent on issuing a final statement before the break and Jenkins went twice from the backfield at the 45 yard line with the second carry going 20 yards, but coupled with a face mask, put Clay at the Shark 15 yard line. Two plays later, wideout Ajay Belanger caught his patented slant pass touchdown from quarterback Caleb Eason to score the game 21-14 with 1:35 still in the half.

On the Fogarty kickoff, coverman Dakari Augustin crushed the Shark returnman at the 20 to put Tronti and his friends 80 yards from a half-ending score. Two quick out passes netted a first down at the 50 with Tronti methodically moving the Sharks offense, but linebacker Zach Alvarado upset the pass-party with a sack at the Clay 15 yard line stalling the momentum at a first down play. A third and eight situation put Tronti in pass mode, but cornerback Christian Swilley swatted an end zone pass to give Ponte Vedra coach Matt Toblin a choice of a fourth down field goal or an offensive play against a Clay defense rising to the occasion. Toblin chose field goal, but missed wide left to the eruption of the Blue Devil faithful who sensed a shift on the field as both teams left for the locker rooms sensing yet another finishing flurry by Clay football.

The cooling air in the Clay High football field felt a lot like something big was about to happen and Wilson sliced behind the right side of the Clay offensive line behind Jarrod Leeds and Devon Vatick to crush a 36 yard opening salvo to kick off the second half.

An incompletion to wideout Derek Smith was reversed with a defensive holding flag and Clay took over at the Shark 37. A Wilson handoff and an 11 yard pass to Belanger put Clay at the Shark 23 where Wilson pounded three shots into the heart of the Shark defense to the 16. On a fourth and four, with the entire stadium thinking Wilson behind Leeds was coming, Eason rolled left to pass and spied a wide open Smith near the Shark five yard line. Eason, who has been razor-sharp for his playoff run behind center, blooped a short pass that fell to the turf five yards behind Smith. Drive ends. Stadium stunned.

Ponte Vedra’s first play from the 16 went quickly and decisively to midfield with Tronti finding wideout Rafe Stenwall tied up with Clay cornerback Jordan Copeland at the 45 yard line. Tronti wanted another throw on the next down, but a strong pass rush forced Tronti to throw out of bounds.

Martin would catch Tronti on the next play, a quarterback draw, and Ponte Vedra would get hit with a delay flag to the 41 yard line. Clay would get pass defense from Swilley and another Martin tackle plus a hold flag to force Ponte Vedra to take a 15 yard field goal and a 24-14 lead at 5:35 of the third.

Jenkins’ 44 yard kickoff return put Clay in prime position at midfield and Eason started to loosen up his throwing arm, but two drops came as hiccups on the drive before Belanger snatched a crossing pattern to the 17 yard line. Passes to Jenkins and Smith put Clay at the 11 where two Wilson rushes; one on fourth and inches, set up the Blue Devils with a Wilson touchdown bash with less than two minutes in the stanza.

With the score a tickly 24-21 and momentum shifting back and forth, Ponte Vedra, breathtakingly? scored off a 50 yard post pattern pass play to cause a collective deep breath on the Clay sideline. Copeland was the victim of the long pass, but defensive coordinator John Stilianou was quick to shift the Blue Devil thought-process back to the task at hand; stopping the Sharks.

Clay went right to work after the energy-sucking bomb from the Sharks and went to Eason wheeling and dealing with Wilson rushes and Belanger pass catches to move the Blue Devil offense down the field efficiently and quickly. A 13 yard pass to Jenkins put Clay at the Shark 26, two rushes by Wilson got seven yards and a Smith out pass catch put Clay on the nine yard line. Three shots into the Shark defensive line ended with Wilson pounding right side to paydirt to score the game 31-28 at 7:12 to go.

Ponte Vedra took advantage of a near-miss onsides kick with midfield starting position and scored five plays later off a Tronti run.

Ponte Vedra tried their own pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Jenkins was not having hit land and bounce around as he grabbed the kick on the fly and zipped 73 yards to paydirt to put Clay again within three points at 38-35 with 5:23 to go and a miracle imminently expected.

“Our plan was to tie the game in the third and win it in the fourth” said Hoekstra. “We didn’t make enough plays.”

With the ball at the Shark 26 after the kickoff, Tronti broke right on a carry with Martin in high pursuit, but instead of taking the final step out of bounds, stomped his right foot to the turf and rocketed 75 yards to the end zone to put Ponte Vedra up 45-35 just 14 seconds after Jenkins long run.

A squib kickoff kick put Clay at their own 34 with a sense of urgency and Wilson pounded 16 yards to midfield before Eason found Jenkins for 20 more to the 30. From there, Eason found Belanger in the end zone and another three-point deficit at 45-42 with 4:43 STILL on the clock.

“To get so close each of the last two years will drive us to improve and to find ways to get better” said Hoekstra. “I was very impressed and proud of our kids to keep answering and the offense had over 550 yards and scored 42 points.”

A near-perfect onsides kick from Fogarty with the expected big bounce near the hashmark nearly gave Copeland his shot at redemption with a recovery, but the scramble went to Ponte Vedra. Tronti took four plays before cashing in from 31 yards out with 2:46 left on the clock to put the Sharks up 52-42.

Starting at the Clay 44, Hoekstra and offensive coach Ryan Wolfe had their hand forced to try and move quickly downfield, and three successful passes; to Smith, Marcus Jones and Belanger put the ball at the Ponte Vedra 14. Two plays later, Ponte Vedra safety Andrew O’Dare dared Eason and intercepted to end the effort.

“I thought our coaching staff did a great job this year and we are the only public school to win 10 games each of the last four years,” said Hoekstra.