Gadsden County Jaguars lose home opener to Florida High

The Gadsden County varsity football team lost their home opener game against Florida State University High School on Friday, September 3 in a one-sided blowout with a final score of 28-0.

Gadsden could not get much going as they went scoreless in all four quarters.

It was a rough night for junior quarterback Shawnterris Thomas, producing just 86 yards of total offense. Thomas played the full game and finished the night throwing for 79 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. Dual-threat senior running back Johntarrious Thomas ripped an 11-yard run and a 35-yard reception off a quick screen in the early minutes of the third quarter, however that was not enough to get the young Jaguars’ offense rolling.

Florida State University High School Seminole veteran quarterback Drew Faurot faced pressure throughout the game. The Jaguars’ defense made several big plays to include an early interception in the second quarter by junior defensive back Quantayvion Butler.

The Jaguar defense forced three turnovers and held the Seminoles scoreless at the half...but the Seminoles would go on to score 28 unanswered points in the second half, producing 237 yards of total offense.

Jaguars Defensive Back Coach Mark Liles praised the effort of his teams, but viewed the game as an opportunity to teach and expand.

“I feel like we did our best,” said Liles. “It was 0-0 at halftime and we made stops. They wore us down physically and that prevented us from making plays to make it a game.”

Jaguars Head Coach Corey Fuller felt improvements and adjustments must be made on the offensive and defensive sides of his team.

“I have to fix the little things...trust me I’ll get it fixed,” said Fuller. “Defense can play well; it’s been two games in a row that we just keep running out of gas and overall, we have to play better for the entire game.”

Fuller, a former Florida State and National Football League athlete was officially named the head coach of the Gadsden County football team back in 2019 after a stint at Godby High School.

Fuller led the Jaguars to a 6-2 record last year.