We tell you everything you need to know about the 2023 Yulee football team, including roster changes and what fans can expect from the Hornets this season.
2022 Stats
- Overall Record: 6-4
- Points Scored: 280
- Points Allowed: 166
Key Losses
Yulee must replace seven starters from last season’s offense, including starting QB Chris Turner, who is now at Valdosta State. Several of Turner’s favorite targets also have graduated and will play at the next level. That includes leading receiver Zach Drawdy, who had 2,297 receiving yards and 22 TDs, plus more than 500 yards combined as a punt/kick returner. He is now with the UConn Huskies, where he already made his presence felt, catching a TD in their spring game.
Two of Drawdy’s receiving mates, Josiah Evans and Jye Thompson, are moving on to play collegiately, with Evans signing with Webber University and Thompson joining Turner at Valdosta State. Evans had 55 career receptions for 647 yards and 7 TDs, while Thompson used his 6-foot, 4-inch frame to his advantage as a tight end, bringing down 33 receptions for 455 yards, and he too caught 7 TD passes.
Who’s Back
Leading the returnees from last year will be senior Rylan Hale. He has accomplished a rarity in high school football, earning All-State honors in 2021 as a sophomore as a tight end, then again last season as a linebacker.
“Rylan is very talented, and he’s an amazing young man,” said Yulee head coach Kyle Dougherty, who added that Hale also is training to be a pilot.
Another returning player who has made an impression is Braylon Hicks. The defensive lineman returned from major knee surgery last summer to become Yulee’s second-leading tackler, despite playing in just five games on the defensive front, according to Dougherty.
The Hornets’ top tackler in 2022 was junior LB Amauri Goff, who finished the season with 108 tackles, including 10 TFLs and 3 sacks. Also returning to the talent-laden defensive unit will be All-State safety LJ Jacobs, and he’ll see time on the offensive side this year as well. Dougherty said he will play Jacobs at RB in 2023.
Special teams gets a boost with the return of K/P Brysin Osgood, who averaged just over 37 yards per punt last season, and he successfully converted all of his PATs. Osgood was another All-State selection from Yulee last season.
What to Expect
They say defense wins championships, and while Yulee fans will gladly welcome a title, the Hornets are hoping their stellar defense can at least put them back in a position like last season when they made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. With the heavy offensive losses to graduation, Dougherty and his staff will lean on their defensive talent and experience to carry them through in 2023. Most of the starters from last year’s Top 5-ranked defense are back, and that is what could be the difference this season.
“Our defense was in the Top 5 in almost every defensive category in Northeast Florida last year, and almost all of them are back this season, so we will see,” Dougherty said.
The quarterback situation is one to keep an eye on, as freshman two-sport phenom Preston Matricardi could get a shot to start. He is already committed to Florida State University as a baseball player, but he has the football skills to match.
Prediction
Despite the offensive losses, look for another great year from Kyle Dougerty’s Yulee football team in 2023: 8-4 record.
Game to Watch
The Baker County game on October 13. It was Baker that ended the Yulee season last year, so the Hornets want this one.
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