How did Jaguars' win, and Lil Duval, boost Raines football? Find out

How did a fourth-down tackle from Jacksonville Jaguars safety Rayuan Lane III on Oct. 4, fewer than 1,000 feet from the Ohio River and the Kentucky-Ohio state line, get the ball rolling toward new gear for Raines athletics?

It's a story made in Duval.

As it turns out, comedian and rapper Lil Duval and former NFL wide receiver Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson had a $5,000 wager riding on Sunday's Jaguars game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Johnson's former team. And whenLane's open-field tackle downed Cincinnati's Chase Brown in the final moments and wrapped up the Jaguars' 22-17 victory, it was time for Johnson to pay up.

Lil Duval, a Jacksonville native who attended Raines for a time before completing his high school at First Coast, announced on social

media that he would donate the winnings to the Raines athletic program for new equipment.

It's not the first time that Lil Duval, whose real name is Roland Powell, has been involved with Raines athletics. He's previously appeared at Raines pep rally events and announced in 2024 that he would contribute funds to send the Raines band to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A football championship game in Miami.

.800 is magic number for Raines' Masline

Raines' 20-17 triumph over undefeated Venice not only issued a statewide statement, but also marked a rare statistical milestone for Vikings head coach Donovan Masline.

Victory over Venice lifted Masline's career winning percentage to .800, with 64 wins and 16 losses (nearly half of those setbacks in his first campaign, the coronavirus-disrupted 2020 season). That's a winning percentage attained by only a small number of coaches in Northeast Florida history, including names like Corky Rogers at Lee and Bolles, Robby Pruitt at University Christian and Union County and Joey Wiles at St. Augustine.

Further records could be on the way. Raines has now won its last 20 games, and will be favored in each of their remaining regular-season contests against Bishop Kenny (2-3), Riverside (2-4), former power Cocoa (1-4) and Northwest Classic rival Ribault (5-1).

Given the chaotic MaxPreps ranking formula, which now places Raines 11th in Florida and 10th among FHSAA members, it's not yet certain whether a 10-0 record would earn the Vikings a spot in the inaugural Open Division. Depending on how postseason unfolds, though, Raines has a serious chance to match or surpass the longest-ever winning streak for a school from Jacksonville city limits.

That record stands at 27. After losing 24-14 to Monsignor Pace on Sept. 13, 2002, Trinity Christian rolled up 27 consecutive victories and two state championships before their next loss. Trinity's run only ended with a 37-17 defeat on Sept. 24, 2004, also to Monsignor Pace.

Donovan Masline year-by-year record

2020: 4-7 (playoff first round)

2021: 8-3 (playoff second round)

2022: 9-3 (playoff third round)

2023: 10-2 (playoff second round)

2024: 13-1 (state final)

2025: 14-0 (state champions)

2026: 6-0

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Bolles swimmers first at FSPA Meet

Some things just don't change, like Bolles at the top of Florida's swimming scene.

The Bulldogs topped the overall boys and girls team standings with 756 and 695 points, respectively, at the Florida Swimming Pool Association meet on Oct. 3 at Florida Aquatic Swimming and Training in Ocala.

Montverde Academy placed second, with Miami Columbus as the third-place boys team and Beachside third in the girls standings.

Bolles, who has swept boys and girls championships at every FHSAA state meet since 1991, won the boys 200-yard medley relay and the boys 400 freestyle relay and brought home both diving titles with Ben Goodman and Gianna Vasto.

Bolles also celebrated individual victories for Camp Hartman (boys 200 free, 1:40.92), Charlie Russell (boys 100 breast, 57.33), Thomas Smith (boys 100 butterfly, 50.97), Domenic Sotomayor (boys 500 free, 4:34.65), Kealan Tupper (boys 200 individual medley, 1:54.09), Noah Walker (boys 100 backstroke, 51.92) and Allison Kelly (girls 100 free in 51.52 and 200 free in 1:49.98).

This week's aquatic schedule includes the Diocese of St. Augustine championship, held at the University of North Florida on Oct. 7 with Bishop Kenny designated as the host school.

Sandy success for Graves, Hutton

Running 5 kilometers on any surface on a Florida afternoon in September might not seem like a breeze.

But on sand? That's turning up the difficulty, and the preparation, a little higher.

"For me, running on the sand hurts my calves more than anything," Mandarin sophomore Dillon Graves said. "So I've been looking for what I can do to help my calves, working out a lot in the gym."

More than 300 high school runners from Jacksonville-area schools took on the Nor'Eastern Classic cross-country challenge, racing 2 1/2 kilometers southward from Jacksonville Beach's SeaWalk Pavilion and returning to finish at the same site. Except for about 100 yards before the finish, the entire race was on sand.

The fatigue didn't deter Graves, who pulled ahead of Jackson's Dominique Ghee in the final 250 yards to placefirst in 18:25. He helped the Mustangs to a first-place 26 points, followed by Fletcher and Jackson.

"On that one hill where it's really like coarse sand and it's hard to go up, I knew the other guy was just gassed and he wasn't going to catch me," said Graves, also a state finalist last year with Mandarin's soccer team. "I just knew I had it in the bag."

The girls race ended in a dominant one-two finish for Fletcher with Eliza Hutton (22:14) and Madison Heck (22:44) leading the pack. The Senators scored 24 points, well ahead of Stanton and Jackson, to tune up for the Gateway Conference meet set for Oct. 22 at Cecil Field.

"It's really fun being at home, getting to race with my team and work together," Hutton said.

Sharks runners win on home turf

Ponte Vedra's speediest wrapped up another home-course victory in both the boys and girls standings at the Craig Speziale Invitational cross-country meet, held Oct. 3 at the St. Johns County school's campus.

Luke Ross took first place in 15:59, joined by Aiden Killoran, Colin Bovee and Cooper Hunt in the top seven, to lead the Ponte Vedra boys to 26 points and a tight victory over Ocala Vanguard with 29.

The girls race turned into another Ponte Vedra-Vanguard battle: Vanguard's Lyla Hallick ran 18:40 for the individual top honors, but top-five marks by Piper Ross (19:23) and Olivia Kaminsky (20:28) helped the Sharks finish with 30 points to Vanguard's 46.

St. Johns Country Day took both the boys and girls titles at the Indian Invite in Melrose, with Kate Staten winning the girls race in 20:38. Newberry's Watson Dunham charged to the boys individual victory in 17:21.

In out-of-state action, Nease's boys came in seventh at the Great American XC Festival in Cary, N.C. Matthew Ishee (15:35) and Rishi Chopra (15:52) placed 37th and 62nd for the Panthers, while Providence's Sean Cunningham (15:50) also made the top 60. Episcopal finished 17th in the girls team standings, headed by Stella Krueger in 82nd at 19:13.

Bishop Kenny's girls placed 16th at the Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., led by Camila Giles at 18:37.10. The Bishop Kenny boys came in 41st, with Ethan Reid leading the Crusaders at 16:27.90.

On this week's agenda will be the Putnam County Championships at Interlachen on Oct. 8, the JAC Invitational at Sheffield Regional Park on Oct. 10 and the FSU Invitational in Tallahassee on Oct. 10.

BK's Crawley selects College of Charleston

State champion Kathleen Crawley is planning her basketball future in South Carolina.

The Bishop Kenny senior guard committed to College of Charleston basketball, announcing her decision in a social media post. The Cougars went 27-6 last year, winning the Coastal Athletic Association tournament and reaching the NCAA field before losing to Duke.

Crawley, the Times-Union's All-First Coast girls basketball player of the year last year, selected the Cougars after visits that also included Chattanooga, Quinnipiac and Vermont.

She averaged 16.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals last year as a seasoned leader on a young Bishop Kenny squad that won the FHSAA Class 3A championship, the team's first since 1992.

Up to 1,140 points through three seasons, she has converted 204 3-pointers to date while connecting from 43 percent from behind the arc.

Gateway schedule picks up speed

Monday's opening round of Gateway Conference volleyball tipped off the fall tournament blitz for Duval County public schools, and it isn't slowing down during the coming week.

Gateway aquatics finals take place over two days at Cecil Field, with diving on Oct. 8 followed by swimming on Oct. 12. Fletcher has won the last three boys swimming championships and the last seven on the girls side.

Coming on Oct. 14 will be the Gateway bowling competition at Batt Family Fun Center, where Stanton will be aiming for a third consecutive trophy.

Aces wild for First Coast Christian

In time for volleyball's postseason, First Coast Christian's Kaitlyn Shott came through with super service.

She nearly achieved a new Florida record by scoring 23 aces in a sweep of Cedar Creek Christian on Sept. 29. That's only two off the state's highest mark in the record book of the National Federation of State High School Associations, the 25 aces achieved by Allison Yao of Miami Shores Doctors Charter against Hialeah Educational Academy on Sept. 9, 2013.

Maura Kelly of Caldwell (N.J.) holds the record of 36 aces against Newark West Side on Sept. 19, 2003.

Scoreboard scorcher in South Georgia

The scoreboard barely got a moment's rest on Oct. 2 in Hinesville, Ga., when Brunswick and host Bradwell Institute combined for 106 points in a chaotic football festival of offense.

Brunswick running back Nigel Gardner set the Pirates' single-game record with 362 yards rushing and four touchdowns, Josiah Gibbons ran for 129 yards and three more scores and Samir Dobbins caught five passes for 131 yards.

But that wasn't enough. Bradwell Institute quarterback Jahbarri Felix passed for 355 yards and rushed for 123, accounting for seven total touchdowns, while receiver Jacobi Pasley gained 206 yards as the Tigers topped Brunswick 57-49.

Around the area

University Christian tight end Connor Winn announced that he has de-committed from Florida State football. … Atlantic Coast pitcher Morgan Brown committed to Jacksonville University softball. … Beachside pitcher Gavin Nickel committed to FSCJ baseball. … Christ's Church right side Alexandra Stowell committed to Cairn volleyball. … Fernandina Beach senior Rileigh Revere committed to Delta State women's swimming. … Fleming Island setter Moe'ono'ono Aseta committed to College of San Mateo volleyball. … Mandarin pitcher Hunter Simpson committed to Pensacola State College baseball. … Tocoi Creek libero Melanie Carey committed to UNC Pembroke volleyball. … Wolfson junior Emma Mae Abernathy reached 500 career digs. … Sandalwood swimmers Harper Perrin, Micah Sudduth, Sarah Wilkinson and Kayla Dobson combined for a girls relay school record. … St. Augustine named Sherri Lagasse-Randall head girls basketball coach. … Trinity Christian coach Emma Roberson earned her 100th victory in charge of Conquerors volleyball on Oct. 5 against Tocoi Creek. … The FHSAA begins high school soccer practice Oct. 12 across Northeast Florida.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: How did Jaguars' win, and Lil Duval, boost Raines football? Find out

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