JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A deceptive calm blankets Raines High School on a sunny Tuesday morning.
While their classmates enjoy a Veterans Day break, the Vikings’ football players split into offensive and defensive units, working in measured silence.
But the peace doesn’t last long.
As the units merge for full-team drills, The Graveyard erupts.
Coaches bark out formations. Players shout defensive reads. Trash talk slices across the line of scrimmage.
Then comes the crack of pads meeting pads – a sound that pierces through the chilled November air.
The Vikings aren’t just preparing for playoffs; they’re unleashing a new level of intensity as they eye a state championship run.
“Regular season, we were going 110% and now it’s we’re going 210%,” offensive lineman McKinley Alexander IV said. “Got to bring way more intensity.”
The Vikings are set to face the Baker County Wildcats in their first-round playoff matchup, but their preparation extends beyond this initial challenge. Each practice has transformed into a fierce battle between offense and defense, with both units driving each other to new limits.
“It’s very intense,” linebacker Travis Williams said. “There might not even be a word. Very competitive.”
On Tuesday, players and coaches admitted that the defense got the best of the offense.
Running back Tisean Haynes experienced that defensive intensity firsthand.
“They got the best of us today,” Haynes admitted. “We got the best defense in the city, and they came with that pain today. They weren’t playing no games.”
Yet they wouldn’t have it any other way.
The heightened practice intensity serves a purpose beyond team rivalry. The coaching staff holds players to exacting standards, demanding excellence in every detail.
Defensive back Shareef Jackson explains that even plays that result in stops and turnovers face scrutiny if they’re not executed flawlessly.
“The main thing they preach with us is discipline,” Jackson said. “We might have a big play, but if something didn’t hit right that coaches know should’ve hit ... it’s a bad play”
The playoff preparation walks a razor’s edge between conflict and competition. In the art of athletics, what happens in the rectangle stays in the rectangle.
At day’s end, both sides unite with a singular mission.
“I play offense, they play defense,” Alexander said. “I’m counting on them to keep the other team from scoring so we can go put up some points. I count on them. They count on me.”
This unity of purpose has the Vikings believing they’re prepared for a deep playoff run. The playoffs represent more than just a tournament – it’s an opportunity to showcase what they believe to be state championship talent.
As Williams puts it simply: “We want it, and we’re coming for it.”
The Vikings’ playoff journey begins with Baker County on Friday at 6:30 p.m.