“To be clear…” was the title of the post from official “SAHS Jacket Athletics” social media accounts on Tuesday, after they say Palatka High School gave “slightly misleading” reasons for why they will be canceling future rivalry games.
Palatka High School’s official statement was that the two schools mutually agreed to stop playing regular season games against each other. A letter endorsed by Athletic Director Quinterrance Cooper, and Head Football Coach Brian Braddock, says SAHS didn’t want to discontinue the rivalry.
“Due to recent reports involving our football program, we feel it is time to comment on St. Augustine High School and Palatka not being scheduled to play football in the 2022 regular season. It is and always has been, without question, our preference to play a regular season game against Palatka. The initial conversation to not play in regular season was not initiated by SAHS. Before and during the 2021 season, we heard from several different sources that there was a possibility of Palatka wanting out of the state’s longest running rivalry game. At the conclusion of our game on November 5, 2021, we were informed by Palatka that they wish to no longer play us in the regular season. To say, “we both mutually agreed to stop playing in the regular season,” is slightly misleading. We cannot force anyone to play a regular season game, and we have agreed to play in our 2022 kickoff classic in attempt to preserve some of the Palatka vs St. Augustine tradition. Our respect for Palatka high school football goes back several generations, including the years they had large runs of success against us. It is out of that same respect that we have chosen to work with them regarding this current situation. We would like to reiterate; we did not want to lose this annual rivalry and absolutely hope they will re-join us and we can meet up again in the regular season, 2024.
Go Jackets!“
-Jacket Athletics letter
