Raines freshmen Ameer Mabane, left and Nicholas Davis, right, celebrate the team's 14-0 season during a community parade. Jacksonville celebrated the Raines Vikings winning the FHSAA Class 3A state football championship with a community parade on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Raines freshmen Ameer Mabane, left and Nicholas Davis, right, celebrate the team's 14-0 season during a community parade. Jacksonville celebrated the Raines Vikings winning the FHSAA Class 3A state football championship with a community parade on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
PHOTO ESSAY | Raines football celebrated in Northwest Jacksonville
A few thousand people celebrated the Raines football program during a community parade on Saturday morning in Northwest Jacksonville.
The Vikings (14-0) beat Miami Northwestern (13-1) to clinch the FHSAA Class 3A state championship on Friday, Dec. 12 in Miami. Raines is the only 11-man football team that finished the regular season and postseason unbeaten.
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Johnny Randolph, seated right, is a 1974 Raines High graduate who played for the Vikings during their 1973 appearance in a FHSAA state final. He says he “loved every second” of this year’s team finishing 14-0 and winning a FHSAA state championship. Terrell Randolph, left, Dr. Courtney Edwards Randolph, seated left, and their nephew, Jaden, were among the thousands who attended a community parade to celebrate the 2025 Vikings on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
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The all-conquering Vikings marched down Moncrief Road with their hard-fought trophy.
Jacksonville celebrated the Raines Vikings winning the FHSAA Class 3A state football championship with a community parade on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Raines players and coaches said their victory was not solely for them, but for the entire community. That love was reciprocated on Saturday morning when seven other schools marched in the parade.
Donovan Masline is a Raines graduate who led the Vikings to a 14-0 season and a FHSAA state championship. Raines was the only 11-man football team that finished the regular season and postseason undefeated. Jacksonville celebrated the Raines Vikings winning the FHSAA Class 3A state football championship with a community parade on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
They were joined by multiple members of the Duval County School Board and Jacksonville City Council.
Jacksonville City Council member Reggie Gaffney Jr, left, and Duval County School Board member Reggie Blount, right, celebrated the Raines Vikings football program. Jacksonville celebrated the Raines Vikings winning the FHSAA Class 3A state football championship with a community parade on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
The William M. Raines Marching Vikings could be heard from nearly a half mile away down Moncrief Road. They were led by drum major Laila Haslem, the daughter of a former Marching Vikings drum major.
Laila Haslem, center, is a drum major for the William M. Raines Marching Vikings. Jacksonville celebrated the Raines Vikings winning the FHSAA Class 3A state football championship with a community parade on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
The marching bands at Ribault, Terry Parker, Ed White all performed. First Coast and Westside High had representatives. Ribault’s Royal Court strolled with distinction. Springfield Middle School, the 2025 Duval County middle school football champions, participated alongside its cheerleaders.
Springfield Middle School won the 2025 DCPS Middle School City Championship. The Comets were among the eight schools that celebrated the Raines Vikings football team. Jacksonville celebrated the Raines Vikings winning the FHSAA Class 3A state football championship with a community parade on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Cheerleaders from nearby Northwestern Legends Elementary School also joined in the celebration.
Cheerleaders from Northwestern Legends Elementary School were among the eight schools that helped celebrate the Raines Vikings football team during a Dec. 20, 2025 community parade along Moncrief Road in Northwest Jacksonville. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Raines alumni from across the generations were in attendance. Johnny Randolph, a 1974 graduate who was on the 1973 team that advanced to the program’s first FHSAA state final, watched alongside Moncrief Road with his family. Solomon Thomas is a 2025 graduate who was a captain of last year’s team.
Raheim Roberts had one of the most unique vantage points of this year’s postseason run. The senior says boredom spurred him to ask whether the football team needed a mascot.
Raheim Roberts, center, serves as the Raines High School mascot. He took hundreds of pictures with Raines supporters during a Dec. 20, 2025 community parade. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Roberts says Athletic Director Joacquina Waters-Jones found a outfit, and he has become a beloved part of the program.
“It’s fun being a part of it,” Roberts says. “I would be a spectator right now, so just being in everything with them is a good feeling. It’s historic. Whether you went here or not, you know about Raines and you’ve been a part of the culture. Whether you wear a Viking logo on your uniform, you’re a Viking. When we win, everybody wins.”
Raines senior linebacker Tony Williams, left, and junior linebacker Johdeem Jones, right, celebrate their 14-0 season during a community parade. Williams earned a football scholarship to the University of Illinois. Jones, who intercepted a pass in the state final, has the highest grade point average on the team with a 3.8. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Will BrownReporteremailWill Brown is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
Will Brown is a reporter and photographer focusing on issues related to race and inequality, as well as sports and photography. He originally joined Jacksonville Today as a Report for America corps member. Will previously reported for the Jacksonville Business Journal, The St. Augustine Record, Victoria (Texas) Advocate and the Tallahassee Democrat. His accolades over his nearly 20-year career include photography for the Health News Florida’s national Murrow Award-winning series “Committed: How and Why Children Became the Fastest Growing Group Under Florida’s Baker Act.” Brown is a graduate of Florida A&M University and has a master’s from the University of South Florida. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and soccer. He lives in Clay County with his wife and son.
