North Florida Christian too much for First Academy

First Academy (10-2) is definitely growing, but Friday night it saw it still has a ways to go before it can hang with perennial powerhouse North Florida Christian (8-2) as it fell 33-7 in the Class 1A Region 2 Final.

"They had kids that outweighed us by 50 or 60 pounds at some positions," said Royals Coach Leroy Kinard.

"I expect them to win the state this year," Kinard added about the Eagles, who have made the state finals the past two years and have won five titles.

This is the second year in a row the Royals have been knocked out of the playoffs by the Eagles but Kinard still tried to stress some positives to his downtrodden team afterwards.

"This is the most wins we’ve had in school history and the first time we’ve ever won our district in back-to-back years," said Kinard.

Midway through the second quarter the game’s pace picked up. Starting at the Royals 35, the Eagles only needed six plays to get on the board as quarterback Clint Trickett pushed his way in from the 1 for a touchdown.

A fumble on the first play following the score gave the Eagles the ball at the Royals 31. Trickett, whose father is the offensive line coach at FSU, then hit Trey Norris across the middle for a 24 yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-2.

Cody Ledford also scored two touchdowns, and the first — a 2-yard dive — seemed to suck the energy out of the Royals home crowd.

North Florida Christian 33, First Academy 7

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SECOND — NFC: Trickett 1 run (Powell kick); NFC: Norris 24 pass from Trickett (kick failed); TFA: Richardson 86 kickoff return (Chambers kick); NFC: Ledford 2 run (Powell kick). THIRD — NFC: Ledford 4 run (run failed); NFC: Hart 29 run (Powell kick).