mid-season Collegiate honor for Sandalwood alum Chris Jones

Congrats to Sandalwood alum and current Nebraska safety Chris Jones makes Pro Football Focus' early season All American team with his stellar play so far this season. Story here

Avril Opens School in Haiti

More reasons to love Cliff Avril

from Seahawks.com

A day after raising more than $250,000 for juvenile diabetes awareness at his third-annual Dining to Make a Difference event, Seahawks defensive end {and Clay High alum} Cliff Avril saw his wife Danita board a plane with Seahawks Legend Marshawn Lynch and members of the Cliff Avril Family Foundation to Haiti, where on Thursday afternoon the group opened the first two classrooms at a school that Avril, Lynch, and other NFL players started rebuilding earlier this year. Rest of the story here on Seahawks.com

Steelers release Richardson

Sandalwood alum Daryl Richardson, who signed on this year with Pittsburgh, was released by the Steelers to make room for fellow running back La'Veon Bell. Richardson had only two carries for seven yards this year. He has previously played with the Rams ('12-'13) and Browns ('15) and was also on the Jets practice squad last year. He has nearly 700 yards rushing in his career.

Daryl Richardson's career stats

Spiller to the Seahawks

Here's the link to the story

FBS All-Stars

94 area players participated in FBS football last week, here are some of the offense highlights:

QB Nathan Peterman (Bartram Trail / Pitt) 14-18 for 140.RB  Aaron Duckworth (Oakleaf / Idaho) 90 yards rushing and a TD
RB Mike Boone (Baker Cty / Cincinnati) had 109 combined yards rushing/receiving
WR Isaiah Ford (Trinity / Va Tech) caught 4 for 117 and a TD
WR Kaleb Woods (Fletcher /FAU) 4 catches for 108 and TD
WR Kevin Stepherson (First Coast / Notre Dame) 3 catches 72 yards TD
TE Hayden Hurst (Bolles / South Carolina) 7 catches 84 yards

OL starters
David Sharpe (Providence / Florida)
Jon Heck (Bolles / North Carolina)
Lucas Crowley (Nease / North Carolina)
Will Holden (Clay / Vanderbilt)
Ramsey Meyers (Ridgeview / Kentucky)
Zack Baker (Clay / Duke)
Curtis Rainey (Lee / Georgia Southern)
Neal Mars (Fleming Island / FAU)Jordan Johnson (Ed White / UCF)


Defensive line stars include:
DeMarcus Walker (Sandalwood / Florida State); Marquis Haynes (University Christian / Ole Miss); Antonio Simmons (University Christian / Georgia Tech).

Linebackers Reggan Northrup (First Coast / Iowa State); Willie Harvey (Menedez / Iowa State); Andre Smith (Trinity / North Carolina);.

Defensive back standouts include Lamont Simmons (Raines / Georgia Tech); Step Durham (Atlantic Coast / Georgia Tech), Raekwon WIlliams (FIrst Coast / FAU) and Chris Jones (Sandalwood / Nebraska ).

NFL Week 3

Here's how our area players fared in week 3 of the NFL season

Barnidge led the DuvAlumni

Letroy Guion (Bradford / Green Bay) injured, did not play

Timmy Jernigan (Columbia / Baltimore)– in on two tackles with a sack

Nolan Carroll (Clay / Philadelphia) –started, in on 2 tackles, 4 pass defenses

Gary Barnidge (Middleburg / Cleveland) - 5 catches for 66 yards

Laremy Tunsil (Columbia / Miami)  – started

Cairo Santos (St. Josephs / Kansas City) – 1/1 FG 27 yard 

Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine / Philadelphia)  2/2 FG 38 yard long

Cliff Avril (Clay / Seattle)  in on 3 tackles

Darius Slay  (Brunswick / Detroit) – started, 4 tackles

Charles James (Mandarin / Houston) – played, no stats 

Derrick Henry (Yulee / Tennessee)   10 carries 45 yards

Ricardo Mathews (Parker / Pittsburgh) – played, no stats

Daryl Richardson (Sandalwood / Pittsburgh) – 1 carry 1 yard

John Theus (Bolles / San Francisco) – not active

Sam Barrington (Parker / Kansas City)  – dnp, injured

Tavaris Barnes (First Coast / Seattle) – injured/waived list
Tony Steward (Menendez / New Orleans)– IR

Javontee Herndon (Bolles / San Diego)– IR

Spiller possibly becoming a Packer

Union County grad CJ Spiller, recently released by the New Orleans Saints, visited Green Bay Tuesday. He could be a change of pace relief with bruising back Eddie Lacey. More here

NFL Week 2

Here's how our area players fared in week two of the NFL:

Letroy Guion (Bradford / Green Bay)  left game with injury

Timmy Jernigan (Columbia / Baltimore)– in on six tackles with a sack

Nolan Carroll (Clay / Philadelphia) –in on 5 tackles

Gary Barnidge (Middleburg / Cleveland) - 4 catches for 37 yards

Laremy Tunsil (Columbia / Miami)  – started

Cairo Santos (St. Josephs / Kansas City) – 4/4 FG 53 yard long

Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine / Philadelphia)  3/3 FG 53 yard long

Cliff Avril (Clay / Seattle)  1 tackle 

Darius Slay  (Brunswick / Detroit) – started, 3 tackles 1 pass defended

Charles James (Mandarin / Houston) – played special teams 

Derrick Henry (Yulee / Tennessee)   9 carries 40 yards; 1 receptions 9 yards

Ricardo Mathews (Parker / Pittsburgh) – played,in on one tackle

Daryl Richardson (Sandalwood / Pittsburgh) – 1 carry 6 yards

John Theus (Bolles / San Francisco) – not active

Sam Barrington (Parker / Kansas City)  – dnp, injured

Tavaris Barnes (First Coast / Seattle) – injured/waived list
Tony Steward (Menendez / New Orleans)– IR

Javontee Herndon (Bolles / San Diego)– IR

Minor League Baseball recap

24 area players finished the season in the minor leagues with six players finishing at AAA. Michael Kirkman spent two games in the majors before being sent down. Jake Dunning, who also has major league experience spent the season in AAA, while Patrick Leonard worked his way to AAA Durham from AA. Austin Slater and Austin Maddox both took leaps to AAA while Walker Lockett jumped from A+ ball to finish one step from the bigs. Here is, as best as I can gather, the complete minor leagues of area players. Once again, area players are players who played high school in the area. They do not include players from the local colleges who are from other areas. If I'm missing anyone, please let me know

Jake Dunning  (Clay)- AAA Sacramento (Giants)
Michael Kirkman (Columbia) AAA Colo. Sprgs (Brewers)
Patrick Leonard (Creeksd./Bartram) - AAA Durham (Rays)
Austin Slater (Bolles)  -  AAA Sacramento (Giants)
Austin Maddox (Eagles View) - AAA Pawtucket (Red Sox)
Walker Lockett (Providence ) - AAA El Paso (Padres)
Kyle Bird (Clay) AA Montgomery (Rays)
Drew Weeks (Clay) - A+ Modesto (Rockies)
Scott Sitz (Fletcher) - A+ Lakeland (Tigers)
Brian Navarreto (ACD) - A + Ft. Myers (Twins)
Avery Romero (Menendez) - A+ Jupiter (Marlins)
Connor Marabell (Bartram Trail) - A+ Lynchburg (Indians)
D.J. Stewart (Bolles) - A+ Frederick (Orioles)
Sean Reid-Foley (Sandalwood) - A+ Dunedin (Blue Jays)
Spencer Hermann (Mandarin) - A+ Bakersfield (Mariners)
David Reid-Foley (Paxon) - A+ Rancho Cuc. (Dodgers)
Justin Lawrence (First Coast) - A Boise (Rockies)
Juan Santos (ACD) - A  Quad Cities (Astros)
Dane Dunning (Clay) - A- Auburn (Nationals)
AJ Kubala (ACD) - RK AZL (A's)
Terry Bennett (Atl Coast) - RK  GCL (Marlins)
Skyler Arias (Oakleaf) - RK AZL (Indians)
Ryan Calloway (Ed White) - RK GCL (Rays)
Tim Holmes (ACD) - RK GBL (Yankees)

Spiller out in New Orleans

Over before it really started.just in

Spiller's career stats

FBS Best Of

90 area players participated in FBS football last week, here are some of the offense highlights:

QB Luke Del Rio (Episcopal / Florida) threw for 320 yards and 4tds
RB Mike Boone (Baker Cty / Cincinnati) had 100 combined yards rushing/receiving
RB Alex Gardner (Raines / FIU) ran for 109 yards with TD
WR Isaiah Ford (Trinity / Va Tech) caught 5 for 51
WR Kaleb Woods (Fletcher /FAU) 9 catches for 121
WR Kevin Stepherson (First Coast / Notre Dame) 3 catches
TE Hayden Hurst (Bolles / South Carolina) 8 catches 68 yards

OL starters
David Sharpe (Providence / Florida)
Tyler Jordan (Kenny / Florida)
Jon Heck (Bolles / North Carolina)
Lucas Crowley (Nease / North Carolina)
Will Holden (Clay / Vanderbilt)
Ramsey Meyers (Ridgeview / Kentucky)
Zack Baker (Clay / Duke)
Curtis Rainey (Lee / Georgia Southern)
Andrew Boselli (Episcopal / Florida State) saw his first action in college, filling in for injured starting center Alec Eberle.


Defensive line stars include:
DeMarcus Walker (Sandalwood / Florida State); Marquis Haynes (University Christian / Ole Miss); Kendrick Norton (Trinity / Miami); and Johnny Richardson (First Coast / Louisville).

Linebackers Reggan Northrup (First Coast / Iowa State); Andre Smith (Trinity / North Carolina who was in on 14 tackles; and Michael Pinckney (Raines / Miami) in on 9 tackles.

Defensive back standouts include Jasper Sasser (Wolfson / South Carolina) in on 8 tackles; Kevin Tolliver II (Trinity / LSU); Step Durham (Atlantic Coast / Georgia Tech) and Chris Jones (Sandalwood / Nebraska ) who had a pick for the Cornhuskers.

NFL 2016 Week One

Santos was perfect on Sunday

Area players in NFL week one

Letroy Guion (Bradford / Green Bay)  started, played 47 snaps, 2 tackle for loss

Timmy Jernigan (Columbia / Baltimore)– started 2 tfl including sack

Nolan Carroll (Clay / Philadelphia) – Started, had 3 tackles

Gary Barnidge (Middleburg / Cleveland) - Started, no stats

Laremy Tunsil (Columbia / Miami)  – started

Cairo Santos (St. Josephs / Kansas City) – 2/2 FG 3/3 xp

Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine / Philadelphia)  2/3 FG 3/3 xp

Cliff Avril (Clay / Seattle)  started, 1 tackle 1 QB hurry

Darius Slay  (Brunswick / Detroit) – started, 4 tackles

Charles James (Mandarin / Houston) – played special teams 2 tackles

Derrick Henry (Yulee / Tennessee)   5 carries 3 yards; 2 receptions 41 yards

Ricardo Mathews (Parker / Pittsburgh) – played, no stats

Daryl Richardson (Sandalwood / Pittsburgh) – played  no stats

John Theus (Bolles / San Francisco) – not active

CJ Spiller (Union County / New Orleans) – dnp

Sam Barrington (Parker / Kansas City)  – played, injured Hamstring

Tavaris Barnes (First Coast / Seattle) – injured/waived list
Tony Steward (Menendez / New Orleans)– IR

Javontee Herndon (Bolles / San Diego)– IR

Butler released by A's; signed by Yankees

Wolfson grad Billy Butler has been released by the Oakland A's with one year left on his contract. He suffered a concussion earlier this year after fighting with teammate Danny Valencia. All the rest here

UPDATE: Butler signs with Yankees

Billy Butler's career stats

All-area FBS All Stars and FCS Honor Roll

DeMarcus Walker 

From my unofficial count, there are 160 FBS players from the Jacksonville area. I've been tracking this since for years and this is without a doubt the largest number of players from this area in any year. Each week we present the all-area team from their play from the weekend. Understand, I haven't broken down film and these are more fantasy points-based than actual performance. Which means there may be some unsung linemen and db's who do their job well but do not show up in the stat book as stars.

QB - Luke Del Rio - Florida / Episcopal - Del Rio did not set the world on fire against lowly UMass, but he managed to compile 29/44 for 256 yards and two touchdowns.

RB - Aaron Duckworth - Idaho / Oakleaf - Duckworth ran for 108 yards and 2 tds.

WR - Isaiah Ford - Virginia Tech / Trinity - The ACC superstar started his season where he left off in 2015, with  11 catches for 117 yards and a td.

WR - Chris Black - Missouri / First Coast - Black transferred from Alabama seeking more playing time and found it in a starting role with the Tigers gathering 6 catches for 102 yards.

WR - Tristan Payton - UCF / First Coast - Payton caught 3 for 34 yards and also threw a touchdown pass for the Knights.

TE - Erich Schneider - Duke / Episcopal - Schneider hauled in 3 catches for 37 yards including a TD.

OL - Jon Heck - North Carolina / Bolles
OL - Lucas Crowley - North Carolina / Nease
OL - Zack Baker - Duke / Clay
OL - David Sharpe - Florida / Providence
OL - Curtis Rainey - Georgia Southern / Lee

DL - DeMarcus Walker - Florida State / Sandalwood. Walker came back for his senior year to have games like this; with 4 1/2 sack in the second half alone to help the Noles come back from their biggest deficit ever. Walker is officially on ESPNs Heisman Watch this week.

DL - Antonio Simmons - Georgia Tech / University Christian - Simmons played in Ireland against Boston College in on 5 tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble in the Yellow Jackets win.

DL - Marquis Haynes - Ole Miss / University Christian - Haynes wrecked FSU in the first half of their game, welcoming Deondre Francois to the big time with a sack and a few bone-jarring QB hits.

DL - Kingsley Opara - Maryland / Mandarin - Opara totalled 3 tackles for loss, half a sack and a forced fumble.

LB - Reggan Northrup - Iowa State/ First Coast. Northrup was in on 13 tackles for the Cyclones including a sack.

LB - Shaquille Quarterman - Miami / Oakleaf. Quarterman has a nice college debut, registering 5 tackles and 2 assists.

LB - Andre Smith - North Carolina / Trinity - In on 7 tackles including one tackle for loss.

DB - Trey Marshall - Florida State / Columbia - Marshall returned from last season's injury to being in on 7 tackles with a pass break-up.

DB  - Nick Washington - Florida / Trinity - solid play from Washington against UMass, in on 5 tackles.

DB - Javaris Davis - Auburn / Ed White - cracking the starting lineup as a redshirt-freshman, Davis had 4 tackles against Clemson.

DB - Step Durham - Georgia Tech / Atlantic Coast - Durham had a good trip to Dublin, Ireland for the BC game, chipping in with 2 pass break ups and solid DB play.

Kicker - Tommy Openshaw - Vanderbilt / Creekside - Openshaw was one of two in field goal attempts, hitting a 36 yarder.

Punter - Bailey Cate - Old Dominion / Orange Park - 5 punts 36.2 avg.

FCS Honor Roll - My unofficial count of area FCS players is over 110, adding to the amazing sum of FBS players from the area. Here are some of the FCS stars from last week.

O'Shay Ackerman-Carter - Tennessee State / Trinity. the former Trinity quarterback won national small college honors for this play Saturday, going 18-32 for 256 yards in his first start.

Jarrus Scott - Davidson / First Coast - Scott had 149 receiving yards for the Wildcats.

Jaleel Green - Wofford / Providence - DB Green was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week with his game-sealing interception and overall stellar play on Saturday.

Draeland James - Lafayette / Providence/ Green's former teammate starred in his defensive backfield as well, in on 6 tackles and an interception

Elijah Price - FAMU / Sandalwood. Price had 5 tackles and a sack in the Rattlers' loss to Miami.

Zane Cruz - Charleston Southern / Yulee - Cruz was seen around the country on the national telecast of the Charleston Southern's game with multi-defending FCS champion North Dakota State. The big stage fit him well, in on seven tackles with a pass break up and fumble recovery.

check out the complete list of FBS and FCS players on my website http://www.duvalumnisports.com

NFL Cut day - Current NFL rosters DuvAlumni

Sam Barrington, cut by the Pack, signed by the Chiefs

NFL teams have to cut down to 53 players and our area players are not immune to this tough day. The Duvalumni let go from training camps:

Sam Barrington (left)(Parker) - cut by the Packers; signed by Chiefs 9/4
Daniel Thomas (Hilliard) - cut by the Dolphins
Ryan Seymour (Brunswick) - cut by the Giants
Rashod Hill (White) - cut by Jaguars, signed to Jags practice squad
Shakeel Rashad (Episcopal) cut by Texans (signed to Houston practice squad)

Louis Nix (Raines) cut by Giants (signed to Washington practice squad)
Mario Butler (Nease) cut by Bills
Terrance Plummer (Orange Park) cut by Vikings

Currently, the area players on NFL Rosters:
Cliff Avril (Clay) - Seahawks
Gary Barnidge (Middleburg) - Browns
Ricardo Mathews (Parker) - Steelers
Letroy Guion (Bradford) - Packers
Sam Barrington (Parker) - Chiefs
CJ Spiller (Union Cty) - Saints
Nolan Carroll (Clay) - Eagles
Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine) - Eagles
Darius Slay (Brunswick) - Lions
Daryl Richardson (Sandalwood) - Steelers
Cairo Santos (St Joseph) - Chiefs
Timmy Jernigan (Columbia) - Ravens
Charles James (Mandarin) - Texans

Javontee Herndon (Bolles) - Chargers
Tony Steward (Menendez) - Saints
Tavaris Barnes (First Coast) - Seahawks
Derrick Henry (Yulee ) - Titans
John Theus (Bolles) - 49ers
Laremy Tunsil (Columbia) - Dolphins