Florida Sports Wire

JACKSONVILLE ( www.jaxsportsday.com )  - North Florida men's soccer (2-3-4) played an eventful River City Rumble match on the road with a 1-1 draw against Jacksonville (2-5-2) on Saturday evening. After 72 minutes of play, the Ospreys were the ones to break the scoreless tie with Joaquin Acuna dishing a perfect pass to Luc Granitur for the score on the run.  Just 10 minutes afterwards, JU's Mason Duval (Andres Perez de Gracia)  responded with a goal with a header on a free kick placed in the top right corner of the frame to force a draw. The Ospreys head back to their home stadium for another weekend of conference play against FGCU on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. The Dolphins will continue conference play and head to DeLand, Florida, on Saturday, September 30, to take on Stetson. The match will begin at 7 PM.

(Photo courtesy Dallas Cowboys) By Mike Bonts, Florida Sports Wire DALLAS – What may be a preview of things to come, an aggressive Jacksonville Jaguars offense took control in the first half and scored twice late for a 28-23 NFL preseason win over the Cowboys in Dallas Saturday night. Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw nine yards to Christian Kirk on a fourth and three to put the Black and Teal on the scoreboard first. The Jaguars went for two. Zay Jones caught a pass across the back of the end zone. “We have a lot of depth. Since I’ve been here, it’s definitely the deepest we’ve been. I would argue at every position, but definitely at receiver. We have a lot of good players. It’s going to be tough when it comes down to the end on who’s getting those last spots. We’ve got a lot of really good players," Lawrence said after the game. Jacksonville third string QB Nathan Rourke ran and threw for two fourth quarter touchdowns. The CFL product finished 9 of 17 passing for 153 y...

By Mike Bonts JACKSONVILLE ( www.sportsdayjax.com ) --  The Jacksonville Icemen announced that the team has agreed to terms with forward Brendan Harris and defenseman Jacob Panetta for the 2023-24 season.     Harris, 27, returns for his third season with the Icemen where he recorded career highs in points (49), goals (15) and assists (34) in 56 games played last season.    The 5-9, 175-pound forward was acquired by the Icemen from the Wheeling Nailers during the 2021-22 season and went on to post 30 points (12g, 18a) in 39 regular games, and led the Icemen in playoff scoring that spring posting eight points in eight appearances.     Harris registered seven points in 19 games with the Nailers near the end of the 2020-21 season.   Prior to beginning his professional career, the Henderson, Nevada resident finished second in scoring with 23 points during his senior season at Bemidji State University in 2020-21.  He completed his fo...

NASHVILLE (www.sportsdayjax.com)  –  After taking a three-run lead in the second the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp offense fell silent as the Nashville Sounds plated five unanswered runs in a 5-3 win Wednesday night at First Horizon Park.   The Sounds (49-41, 9-7) tied the game in the third after falling behind 3-0 in the second.  Abraham Toro  started the inning with a double and went to third on a single from  Keston Hiura .  Skye Bolt  walked, loading the bases and  Alex Jackson  singled off Jacksonville (41-50, 9-8) starter  Ronald Bolaños  but an errant throw to first allowed two runs to score to cut the deficit 3-2. Bolt went to third on the error and he scored on a sac fly from  Patrick Dorrian , tying the game at three.   Nashville took the lead in the bottom of the sixth.  Monte Harrison  and  Luis Urias  worked consecutive walks and a double-steal put runners on second and third. Harrison sco...

  TALLAHASSEE  – Florida State defensive end Jared Verse was among 42 collegiate defenders named candidates for the 2023 Lott IMPACT Trophy on Thursday. Verse, a redshirt junior from Dayton, Ohio, led FSU with 17.0 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks in 2022 on his way to being named a first-team All-American and the leading vote-getter on the All-ACC defensive team. FSU’s Defensive MVP, Verse added three quarterback hurries during the season, one fumble recovery at Miami and one blocked field goal against LSU.   Last season, Verse was the only player in the ACC and one of just two in the Power 5 with four games of at least 2.5 tackles for loss. He led the ACC in sacks per game and was second in tackles for loss per game; of the 11 games he finished, he had at least 0.5 TFL in each.   In the Cheez-It Bowl against Oklahoma, Verse registered a season-high seven tackles, with 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sack. He teamed with Dennis Briggs Jr. for a sack on the final play of the game...

File Sportsday Photo by Jim Brady, Florida Sports Wire JACKSONVILLE (www.sportsdayjax.com) -   Jeff Lindgren worked six scoreless innings and Charles Leblanc hit a grand slam to help lift the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 8-1 in front of 5,598 fans from 121 Financial Ballpark. Jacksonville (12-12)  put up a pair of runs in the opening frame against Lehigh Valley (12-13) starter T.J. Zeuch (1-2)  to take an early 2-0 lead. Xavier Edwards and Brian Miller notched back-to-back base hits. Then, a double steal, throwing error and a ground out brought home Edwards and Miller for the game’s first runs.   In the fifth inning, Peyton Burdick walked, swiped second and then moved up to third on a throwing error. Jerar Encarnacion sliced a line drive single to bring in Burdick, extending the Jumbo Shrimp lead to 3-0.    Jacksonville blew the game wide open with a five-spot in t...

(SportsDay photo by Nancy DeLander Beecher) JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) - After falling behind early, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp rallied from three different deficits Wednesday in their 10-9 10-inning win over the Nashville Sounds at 121 Financial Ballpark. Jacksonville (9-7) entered the bottom of the 10th trailing 9-7. Santiago Chavez started the inning at second and CJ Hinojosa grounded out, allowing Chavez to advance to third.  With two outs, Jordan Groshans walked and Peyton Burdick singled, scoring Chavez to cut the deficit to 9-8. Groshans advanced to third on Burdick’s single and with runners at the corners,  Jerar Encarnacion knocked a single off Nashville (8-9) reliever Alex Claudio (0-1), plating Groshans to tie the game, and on the same play, Burdick scored the winning run on a bobbled relay throw. Jumbo Shrimp starter Sean Nolin yielded a trio of runs in the opening frame, giving the Sounds their first lead of the series.  Nolin found himself in an ...

ORLANDO (Florida Sports Wire ) – The XFL announced that quarterback Quinton Flowers has signed with the Orlando Guardians.  Flowers, 28, joins the XFL after playing in the Fan Controlled Football in 2021. He played for the Tampa Bay Vipers in the 2020 version of the XFL, where he was 8-of-15 passing for 106 yards, while rushing for 4.9 yards per carry with a touchdown.  Flowers was a three-year starter at the University of South Florida, where he owns 42 career, season or single-game records. He passed for 8,124 yards and 71 touchdowns in his career with the Bulls. He holds the USF and American Athletic Conference records for career total offense (11,802 yards). Flowers was just the fourth player in FBS history to post 8,000 passing and 3,500 rushing yards in a collegiate career. Flowers was the AAC Offensive Player of the Year and earned First Team All-AAC honors in 2016. He was a Second Team All-AAC performer in 2017. Flowers is a native of Miami and a graduate of Jackson Hi...

(SportsDay FILE photo by Nancy DeLander Beecher) By Mike Bonts CHARLESTON (Florida SportsDay) - The South Carolina Stingrays (28-14-4-1) dropped a Saturday night matchup at the North Charleston Coliseum to the Jacksonville Icemen (32-15-2-0) by a final score of 3-2. Craig Martin scored two goals and Brendan Harris finished with three points.  The Icemen remain atop the South Division with the win.  Jacksonville gained the first lead of the night on Martin’s 11th goal of the season. Martin crashed the net and flicked a quick shot past the blocker of Tyler Wall for the 1-0 lead with 2:50 remaining in the second period. Martin doubled the lead on his second goal of the contest 1:41 later with a snapshot off a faceoff win from Harris. Martin lined up on the inside of the left circle and flung a shot over the shoulder of Wall for the 2-0 advantage to close out the middle stanza. Lawton Courtnall cut the lead back to one goal as he buried a shot from the right circle that beat the ...