3 takeaways from St. Augustine's 4A region final win over Choctawhatchee

The Yellow Jackets leaned on their defense to book a spot in next week's state semifinals

St. Augustine's Locklan Hewlett (11) scrambles to the end zone for a touchdown during third quarter action. The Choctawhatchee Indians traveled to Saint Augustine High School to take on the Yellow Jackets in the FHSAA Region 1-3A High School Football Finals Friday, November 24, 2023. The Yellow Jackets led 21 to 17 at the half and came away with a 35 to 26 victory. / Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA- In a rematch from last year's Class 3S, Region 1 final, Choctawhatchee traveled across the state to take on St. Augustine, but this time on Black Friday.

With rain drizzling down throughout the first half, both teams struggled to find any consistency offensively, but it would be St. Augustine's defense coming up huge at the end.

The Yellow Jackets would hold the Indians to two field goals and pull off a 13-6 victory in a Class 4A, Region 1 final at Joey Wiles-Walt Slater Field.

High School On SI was on hand for the game and provides you with three takeaways from the contest:

1. St. Augustine's defense kept Von Keller in check

St. Augustine's Kyon Wilcox (41) celebrates after making the tackle on Choctawhatchee Indians' quarterback Jesse Winslette (7) late in the fourth quarter. The Choctawhatchee Indians traveled to Saint Augustine High School to take on the Yellow Jackets in the FHSAA Region 1-3A High School Football Finals Friday, November 24, 2023. The Yellow Jackets led 21 to 17 at the half and came away with a 35 to 26 victory. / Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

One aspect of the game that St. Augustine's staff knew they would need to keep in check was the ground attack of Choctawhatchee's. In short, stop or slow down Indians' running back Von Keller. The Yellow Jackets' defense did just that throughout the contest, as they held Keller to 105 yards on 23 carries. Though the tailback still broke the 100-yard mark for the night, Keller entered the contest averaging nearly 140 yards per game. Being the feature piece of the offense and minimalizing Keller's big plays was something St. Augustine did very well and led to the Yellow Jackets returning to the state semifinals for the second straight year.

2. Choctawhatchee certainly had their chances to tie the game multiple times

St. Augustine linebacker Matteo Bernardi (34) tackles Choctawhatchee running back Von Keller (33) in an FHSAA Region 1-4A high school football final on November 29, 2024. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union] / Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Where do we start for Choctawhatchee? Not only did the Indians create some chances for themselves down the stretch of the game, but St. Augustine nearly gift wrapped some opportunities as well for Frank Beasley's crew. The Indians blocked a punt, intercepted a pass and had multiple possessions in the second half that gave them advantageous field position to start. Nonetheless, Choctawhatchee just couldn't muster up anything offensively in order to find the endzone. The Indians finished the night with 211 total yards of offense and still managed to have a chance at the end. Choctaw got the ball back with just under a minute to go, but would be twarted when St. Augustine defensive back Jimmie Wheeler picked off Tamen Zabetkis to effectively end the game.

3. Yellow Jackets' offense stalled after a hot start

St. Augustine's Locklan Hewlett (11) looks for a receiver on a first quarter play. The Choctawhatchee Indians traveled to Saint Augustine High School to take on the Yellow Jackets in the FHSAA Region 1-3A High School Football Finals Friday, November 24, 2023. The Yellow Jackets led 21 to 17 at the half. / Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

It looked like from the early going that Choctaw's defense could be in for a long night if you based everything off the first few passes from St. Augustine quarterback Locklan Hewlett. The USF commitment completed five of his first six passes for 139 yards. Hewlett would simmer down immensely the rest of the way, with the senior completing seven of his next 16 for 57 yards and an interception. The two-back committee of Christian Coleman and Trendell Anderson carryong the load for the offense, with both backs scoring touchdowns on the night. Other than that, Carl Jenkins was held without a catch and the offense looked stagnant throughout the evening. Now with the tall task of facing a red-hot Plantation American Heritage crew on the road, the Yellow Jackets will need to find ways to ignite their offense if they want to return to the state championship game.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolsi