The Ponte Vedra Sharks played host to conference foe Wolfson last Friday evening and treated their guests with little respect in posting a 44-0 win. It was a game that was over before the first half ended.
The Sharks scored 41 points in the first 24 minutes, then used the second half to give playing time to a multitude of backups.
Just how outclassed the Wolfpack was became clear immediately after the Sharks won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. Five plays after the kickoff, Ponte Vedra scored the first of five touchdowns. Long completions by Nick Tronti to Marshall Few and Jake Maguire put the Sharks inside the Wolfpack red zone immediately. The touchdown came on a 13-yard pass to Few who was wide open over the middle.
The Wolfson offense was no threat to the Sharks, as evidenced by a three and out possession in their opening series. A poor, partially blocked punt put Tronti back in business on the visitors’ 30-yard line, where he handed off four straight times to Hal Swan to cover the distance to touchdown number two.
The Sharks were called for a roughing the punter penalty but even that didn’t help the visitors make a first down. After Tronti and JD Piris teamed up for a 25-yard gain, the Sharks settled for a 26-yard Chris Howard field goal.
Minutes later, Jarrett Stepp’s punt return to the Wolfpack 20 set up the Sharks’ third TD. It came on a Tronti to Piris pass and gave Ponte Vedra a 24-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Sharks score three times – one on a short 7-yard burst by Swan, a 48-yard Howard field goal, and a swing pass from Tronti to Swan covering 52 exciting yards.
Save for a 35-yard field goal by Ponte Vedra’s backup kicker, Mitchell Levine, the second half turned out to be a scoreless standoff between the Wolfson subs and the Shark backups as both coaches emptied their benches. Levine took maximum advantage of his playing opportunity when he kicked off following his field goal, then recovered the ensuing Wolfson fumble.
Tronti had another impressive game. In one half of action, the North Carolina Charlotte commit finished with 12 completions in 15 attempts good for 208 yards and three touchdowns. He threw to four different receivers, targeting Piris four times for 48 yards and one touchdown, Few five times for 37 yards and a score, Maguire three times for 67 yards and Swan three times for 58 yards and one TD.
In three wins thus far this season, the Shark offense has scored seven touchdowns passing and five rushing. Tronti boasts a record of 40 completions on 66 attempts good for 637 yards and seven touchdowns. The Sharks have four receivers—Few, Maguire, Swan and Piris – with more than 100 yards receiving. Swan leads the Sharks rushing with 243 yards on 42 carries for four touchdowns.
Ponte Vedra plays Menendez (1-3) in a non-conference game Sept. 23 at home at 7 p.m. and look to avenge last year’s defeat at the hands of the Falcons.
