A high school football playoff game in Florida between Fernandina Beach and Bell took an unfortunate turn for the worst. A brawl led to Myles Garrett-like incident where a helmet was used as a weapon.
No further punishment has been announced at this point.
Unfortunately, this kind of behavior is becoming a something of a trend within high school football. Fortunately, these are just kids who have plenty of time to learn from their mistakes.
Fernandina Beach and Bell met in the first round of the Florida high school football playoffs.
Fernandina Beach High School is located in Fernandina Beach, Florida, near Amelia Beach, approximately 35 miles northeast of downtown Jacksonville. It enrolls 980 students in Grades 9-12.
Bell High School is located on the other side of the state in Bell, Florida, approximately 35 miles west of Gainesville. It enrolls around 700 students in Grades 6-12.
The latter traveled to the former on Friday night.
Both high school football programs compete in the Atlantic League state championship division of the Sunshine State Athletic Association. The Bulldogs finished the regular season at 5-4 as the No. 7-seed. The Pirates finished the regular season at 5-5 as the No. 2-seed.
Fernandina Beach dominated Bell from start to finish to win by a final score of 48-21.
However, the biggest story from the game had nothing to do with the result.
A violent brawl ensued.
The Bulldogs offense ran the ball to the outside with just a few seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter. As the final play of the game came to an end, two players went at it near the line of scrimmage.
It was entirely one-sided.
The Bell player, wearing No. 55, got tangled up with No. 23 from Fernandina Beach. The big offensive lineman grabbed on to the defender’s facemask and threw a punch.
And then, as he went to throw a second punch, the helmet came off of the freshman’s head. Instead of taking a pause to deescalate the situation, No. 55 swung No. 23’s helmet like a weapon and hit him in the jaw and/or upper chest with his own helmet. The Fernandina Beach sideline cleared onto the field but the coaches and officials did a good job of preventing further escalation. It could’ve been much worse.
— – (@Spicoli_____) November 5, 2025
As of this writing, neither school has released a statement regarding the incident. Nor has the Sunshine State Athletic Association. I also do not know whether No. 55 was allowed to continue in the contest or if he was penalized for his behavior. I would hope that he was ejected.
Either way, additional punishment could be announced for the Fernandina Beach players who left the bench. The Pirates will host the Paxon School For Advanced Studies for Round 2 on Friday.