SPORTS

To quote Agatha Christie, “And then, there were two.” The Gainesville area playoff field dwindled down to two Friday night as the area’s highest-ranked team, Buchholz (13-1), suffered a heart-breaking 21-20 loss to Lakeland (11-3), The defeat ended the Bobcats' season in the state semifinals for the third year in a row. ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - The Hawthorne, Bradford and Trinity Catholic football teams are on to state title games, while two other North Central Florida teams had their seasons come to an end on Friday night in state semifinal play. NCFL Football: State Semifinals. Class 1 - Rural. Hawthorne (12-0) def....

GAINESVILLE — It wasn't a perfect game and there weren't quite the offensive fireworks of a week ago, but all that matters to Lakeland is the final score. A missed extra point proved to be the difference as Lakeland prevailed over previously undefeated Buchholz, 21-20, on Friday night in a thrilling Class 4S state semifinal at Citizens Field.Lakeland (11-3) will play Venice in the state finals on Dec. 9 in Tallahassee in a rematch of last...

The further you make it in the postseason the smaller the margin for error. Buchholz found out the hard way on Friday night as a missed extra point in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in a 21-20 loss to defending state champion Lakeland in the FHSAA Class 4S state semifinals at Citizens Field.

HAWTHORNE, Fla. (WCJB) - The Hawthorne football team is once again headed to the Class 1-R state championship game. The Hornet’s won the state semifinal in dominate fashion beating the Tigers 49-0. In the first quarter, Hawthorne got off to a great start. Quarterback CJ Ingram threw to USF commit Alvon Isaac for 22-yard touchdown, giving the Hornets an early 7-0 lead with 9:48 left in the first. Hawthorne’s defense came out strong too. They got a quick stop; Blountstown could not get the ball past their 19-yard line.

With Gators stardom on the sidelines and a packed house behind them, Hawthorne played its best game of 2023 with a thrashing of Blountstown in the 1R state semifinals Thursday night at home. Gainesville Sun. Sometimes, a story can be told with just a look. The grin, spread from ear...

With the Class 1R state championship game now scheduled for next Thursday, Dec. 7, Hawthorne’s state semifinal at home against Blountstown has been moved to Thursday night. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. The game will be video streamed via the NFHS Network. “This allows for a full week...

Never before have two Alachua County football teams played for a state title in the same year. That could change tonight. Last night the Hawthorne football team advanced to its fourth straight state championship game with a dominating 49-0 win against Blountstown in a Class 1R state semifinal. Tonight, at...

Winner advances to the 4S state championship game on Dec. 9

Dan Mullen takes issue with the Dr. Pepper halftime challenges -- not because of what they give away but because of their lacking rules. The post Dan Mullen zings Dr. Pepper over halftime challenge appeared first on Larry Brown Sports.

A family member of a former Clemson star has entered his name out into the college football world. Florida running back Trevor Etienne, brother of Tigers national champion and now Jacksonville Jaguar Travis (...)

One of Florida’s wide receivers is planning to enter the transfer portal. Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman, a 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is moving on from the Gators and heading to another program. Chiaokhiao-Bowman took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce his decision to leave the program. Chiaokhiao-Bowman committed...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The City of Gainesville Pop Warner Cheer and Football carried through with their season despite budget restrictions. This cheer season had a few firsts, indeed. The City of Gainesville welcomed their first, ever, Pom dance team with seven Tiny Mites athletes. Tiny Mites are aged 5-6 years old. Due to budget cuts, the program relied on donations from other community programs to meet their needs.

Buchholz’s football team has rolled through the competition this season. But that success hasn’t carried over to the Gainesville Sun’s Athlete of the Week poll, where a Bobcat football player has yet to claim the award thus far. Until now, and of course, it’s the squad’s two-way...

• The Florida Gators volleyball team lost to Georgia Tech in a five-set thriller in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 match. The deciding final fifth set ended with a score of 16-14 in favor of Georgia Tech.

All three Gainesville area state semifinalists last season, but only one, Hawthorne, advanced to the state final. Can Buchholz and Bradford join them? Here are five bold predictions for the week. Gainesville Sun. High school football into December is something most players only dream of. But, for three Gainesville area...

Florida State's quarterback situation is reportedly up in the air entering the contest against Louisville.

One of the plays that will haunt Billy Napier and the rest of Florida football this offseason was the choice to run a double reverse flea flicker while up 12-0 against FSU with a chance to put the clamps on the game. Florida took an intentional grounding penalty on the play, FSU scored a touchdown on the next drive, and the rest is history.

With decisions being made across the country at the moment from quarterbacks as to where they will play in 2024, the Florida Gators and head coach Billy Napier received some big news Thursday afternoon, as redshirt junior Graham Mertz announced his return to Gainesville for next year. When looking at...

The Gainesville area’s three remaining football teams – Bradford, Buchholz and Hawthorne – all achieved the unthinkable after a long and arduous football season. They each earned return spots in the state semifinals. It is the Tornadoes' second straight trip, the Bobcats third and the Hornets fourth. ...