At Raines and at Mandarin, the streaks are going strong — for now.
But one of those historic runs will be buried at the Graveyard in about a week's time.
White didn't make it easy, but by forcing five turnovers in the Vikings' 21-12 victory on Sept. 4, Raines extended its high school footballwinning streak against Duval County public schools to nearly four years.
The Vikings last lost to a Gateway Conference opponent on Oct. 27, 2022, a loss to Jackson by the same 21-12 scoreline.That's 1,414 days ago. Since then, Raines has downed its last 21 foes in the conference. Friday's result ended White's own county streak at 16 wins and 1,064 days, since no Gateway opponent had beaten White since Fletcher on Oct. 6, 2023.
But Raines' run isn't even Jacksonville's
longest streak active. Mandarin's unbeaten streak against the county's public schools stretches even further, going back to their 30-0 loss to Sandalwood on Nov. 4, 2021, a span of 1,771 days. The Mustangs have raced past 20 Gateway opponents in that span, most recently Atlantic Coast on Aug. 28.
While 1,771 days might sound like a record, the Mustangs aren't there yet.
Oddly enough, the ends of the county's longest streaks have coincided with major national news events. Beginning on Nov. 24, 1955, a 19-13 loss to Jackson in the long-traditional Thanksgiving Day game, Lee (now Riverside) went 2,920 days without a loss to a Duval County public school. The Generals tied their season opener 12-12 against duPont, then beat their next 34 county opponents before losing 20-14 to Parker. That date was Nov. 22, 1963, a game that kicked off hours after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Also long was another Lee streak two decades prior. After losing 12-0 to Landon on Oct. 16, 1936, Lee compiled a run of 1,876 days and 11 games before its next Duval County loss. In an era when Lee's only county rivals were Jackson and Landon, that streak ended against Landon (14-0) on Dec. 5, 1941, fewer than 48 hours before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II.
Today's Raines squad still has some distance to surpass the school record. The Vikings lost 35-0 to Sandalwood on Sept. 18, 1987, then defeated 38 consecutive Duval public school opponents (six in 1987, seven in 1988, nine each in 1989 and 1990 and seven in 1991) before losing 3-0 to Mandarin on Sept. 11, 1992, ending their streak at 1,820 days.
Raines also went more than four years without an on-field county loss in the early 1970s. They went down 14-12 to Fletcher on Oct. 23, 1970, then rolled off a 23-game Duval County winning streak through the end of 1972. After a forfeit for use of a player ruled ineligible against Paxon to begin 1973, Raines then went 16-0-1 against county opponents before an upset 7-0 loss to Stanton on Nov. 28, 1974.
In more recent times, First Coast went exactly 1,400 days without a Duval defeat between Nov. 13, 2009, a 31-23 loss to Raines, and Sept. 13, 2013, an 18-10 loss against Raines. In between, the Buccaneers finished 21-0 against Gateway Conference opponents.
Other significant Duval County public school winning streaks include Jackson from Nov. 11, 1932 to Nov. 6, 1936 (seven wins, 1,456 days), Lee from Nov. 13, 1982 to Sept. 12, 1986 (17 wins, 1,399 days), Lee/Riverside from Oct. 3, 2019 to Sept. 9, 2022 (11 wins, 1,072 days) and Parker from Oct. 17, 1991 to Sept. 2, 1994 (21 wins, 1,051 days).
Hunt, Barracudas still perfect
Add Beachside quarterback Bennett Hunt to the early list of two-minute drills of the year in Northeast Florida.
Taking over after a defensive stand with about two minutes left and 68 yards to go, Hunt led the Barracudas upfield before his 15-yard struke found Aden Buckler at the edge of the end zone to defeat Tocoi Creek 28-24 in the storm-delayed Surf 'N' Turf Bowl on Sept. 7.
The senior quarterback, who had thrown touchdown passes to Kayden Simpson and Ethan Manley earlier in the game, converted two fourth downs to keep the Barracudas (2-0) alive.
Beachside rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter hole against the Toros (0-3), who had grabbed the lead with two touchdown passes from former Barracuda quarterback Charlie Bowler.
Beachside has now won the last three meetings in the series of St. Johns County's newest high schools, and they next face another county rival against Ponte Vedra on Friday night. The Sharks knocked Beachside out of the playoffs last November, 38-3.
Conner, Timmon terrific on Labor Day weekend
When the dust settled and the stats tallied up from Labor Day weekend, Oakleaf receiver Mike Conner and Yulee running back Jayden Timmon had completed football performances to remember.
Conner finished with three touchdowns and 263 all-purpose yards (seven receptions for 170 yards, plus another 93 yards on returns) as Oakleaf downed Fleming Island 47-15 to tighten the Knights' grip on top spot in Clay County.
Timmon, meanwhile, returned from an early-season injury to break out with 310 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in the Hornets' 39-19 win over Fernandina Beach. That surpassed his former career high of 177, set in August 2025 against Clay.
Locals among Horse Park contenders
Keep the equine competitors on the sideline for this one. For one weekend, the Florida Horse Park in Ocala belonged to Florida's best in high school cross-country.
Top honors in the massive meet — 66 teams and 544 finishers in the boys race, 49 teams and 399 finishers in the girls event — went to state-tested stars Marcelo Mantecon of Belen Jesuit (15:22.1) and Natalia Gaona-Zelaya of Wiregrass Ranch (18:03.8).
The Belen Jesuit boys and Bishop Moore girls earned the top spots overall, but Creekside, Ponte Vedra and Episcopal came in second, third and fourth on the girls side with the Knights' Eva Delaney (sixth) and Emma Godfrey (eighth) and the Eagles' Stella Krueger (10th) all in the top ten.
On the boys side, Bolles placed third, with Brantley Rigdon and Aidan Chandler inside the top 20. Ponte Vedra's Luke Ross, at 16:02.8, notched the area's top individual finish in 11th.
Events on Sept. 12 include the Bobcat Classic at Gainesville's Santa Fe College, with Buchholz as host, and the Coach Hope Memorial Invitational at Fernandina Beach.
Byron Plapp, Florida Catholic meets next
After weeks of try-outs, intrasquad competitions and smaller dual meets, high school swimming and diving season is ready to start splashing at full speed ahead.
The Byron Plapp Invitational returns to the Bolles School's Uible Pool on Sept. 12, bringing together dozens of top swimmers from across the region. Bolles topped both the boys and girls standings a year ago, with 744 1/2 and 807 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Bishop Kenny will travel down the state for Saturday's 35th Florida Catholic Invitational, held this year at Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training in Ocala. The Crusaders won the 2025 event on both the boys and girls sides.
Coming a week later, the Frank Holleman Invitational will welcome Northeast Florida's best from St. Johns County and beyond to Ponte Vedra for a full day in the pool on Sept. 19.
Fan polls select preseason winners
The results are complete from the Times-Union's preseason fan polls for high school sports. Here are the first-place finishers:
Volleyball: Lily Keeley, Ponte Vedra (individual); Wolfson (team)
Boys cross country: Ethan Reid, Bishop Kenny (individual); Bartram Trail (team)
Girls cross country: Camila Giles, Bishop Kenny (individual); Bartram Trail (team)
Boys swimming: Merrick Vanscoy, Fletcher (individual); Nease (team)
Girls swimming: Lily Ewer, Ponte Vedra (individual); Ponte Vedra (team)
In the Times-Union's district-by-district fan polls for football, fans' predicted first-place teams were Creekside (1-6A), Nease (2-5A), Buchholz (3-5A), White (3-4A), Middleburg (4-4A), Baker County (2-3A), Raines (3-3A), Palatka (4-3A), Bolles (3-2A) and Trinity Christian (5-1A)
Around the area
Columbia pitcher Nolan Slaymaker committed to Florida baseball. … Fleming Island catcher Jolee Rich committed to FSCJ softball, and infielder Emily Williams committed to Florida National softball. … Ponte Vedra pitcher Max Hakel committed to Loyola (New Orleans) baseball. … Yulee setter Kate Brown committed to Santa Fe College volleyball. … Sandalwood named Lakesha Burton head girls basketball coach. … Atlantic Coast named Tyler Sneed-Johnson head beach volleyball coach. … Ridgeview named Eric Pike head girls soccer coach. … Prep Dig rated Beachside outside hitter Nina Simanic as the No. 1 volleyball prospect in Florida for the class of 2030, following her 98 kills in the season's first three weeks. … Fletcher's FHSAA champion beach volleyball team received its championship rings in an on-field presentation on Sept. 4. … Fleming Island's Lauren Brosky reached 500 career kills. … USA Swimming selected Fleming Island's Noah Stotler to the junior national team. … Bolles senior Joaquin Martinez won six gold medals, including all-around for the men's 16-18 age division, at the Colombia National Artistic Gymnastics Championships. … University of North Florida forward Paige McSwigan, formerly at Creekside, was named ASUN women's soccer player of the week after netting a hat trick against Jacksonville State. … The season's first men's soccer River City Rumble went to UNF, 2-1 over Jacksonville University, on goals from Emir Trto (Mandarin) and Mark Romano (Ponte Vedra). … Inside Lacrosse named Ponte Vedra defenseman Vincent Riccio to its top 100 nationwide boys recruits for the 2028 class.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Raines' Gateway football streak is historic. Is it city's longest?
