Mark Blumenthal

JACKSONVILLE – The physicality was ramped up Tuesday morning at Jacksonville Jaguars camp as the team hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a dual scrimmage. Four skirmishes, but nothing explosive as the Cowboys-Saints blowup a couple of weeks ago where both teams got leveled $500,000 for their actions. This, though, was what Travon Walker liked against the Buccaneers and their […]

The opening game of the season is over and done with for the Palatka Junior-Senior High School football team. Without a preseason game to find out much about themselves, the Panthers were expectedly wiped out by powerful rival St. Augustine, 49-0, last Friday, the 13th straight time and 22nd time in the last 23 games the Yellow Jackets have won […]

When asked about the feeling that training camp was over, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence looked at the assembled reporters in front of him and deadpanned his answer. “Is it today? Is today the last day of camp? I guess that’s what it is,” Lawrence joked. Wednesday marked the final day of training camp as the team goes through a […]

Minutes before the start of last Thursday’s boys golf match, Palatka first-year head coach Kyle Coleman and fifth-year Flagler Palm Coast mentor Dale Cook weren’t waiting for the last of their boys to tee off on the Palatka Municipal Golf Club’s first hole. They both knew their young golfers would arrive on time. They both didn’t know what was going […]

LAKE BUTLER — Ever since he became the head coach last year, Lantz Lowery has been looking for solid physical play from his Palatka Junior-Senior High School football players. On Friday night, he more than got that from his Panthers as they stopped Union County in its tracks and scored a 28-15 victory to even its record at 1-1. “We […]

After a memorable season that saw a 17-game match winning streak end the season, how does the Palatka Junior-Senior High School boys golf team follow that up? That’s up to those returning and new coach Kyle Coleman to decide. “It’s really been fun so far,” Coleman said. “From top to bottom, I have a really good group of players. They […]

Five years ago, I wrote about the lives of two coaches at Crescent City Junior-Senior High School, current athletic director Tim Ross and the legendary Holly Pickens, on the 20th anniversary of the horrors that took place on Sept. 11, 2001. You can always look that column up in the Daily News archives if you have access. The date is […]

Clay High School’s offensive line put on a master class Friday night on how to open holes and to keep an aggressive defense in check. The Blue Devils recorded 386 yards of offense, including 264 on the ground in dominating Palatka, 35-0, at Bennett-Cooper Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in a game played during an endless rain storm that was […]

Lantz Lowery saw the disparity in the number of plays his offense ran last Friday night at home against Clay High School. Palatka’s football team ran 32 plays. Clay ran 69 plays. Clay had the ball for 32 minutes. Palatka had it for 16. You can do all kinds of fancy math – and Lowery invites you to do the […]

Opening practice at training camp was over on July 29. Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen was going through reporter’s questions on that first day. Then he was reminded of the fact that throughout the 21st century, the Jaguars have followed up great seasons – 2007, 2017 and 2022 – with mediocre or terrible follow-up years. He was also reminded […]