Week 1 Roundup: Booker T. Washington blanks Pensacola, claims third-straight Mayor's Bowl

A roundup of Week 1 games involving Pensacola-area teams from Friday, Aug. 26.

Mayor's Bowl

Booker T. Washington 39, Pensacola 0

Booker T. Washington maintained its vice grip on the Mayor’s Bowl.

The Wildcats defense made sure of it.

Dav’eyon Stallworth scored on a stripped fumble in the game’s first play, setting a tone of takeaways, takedowns and assorted big play stops, as visiting Washington rolled to a 39-0 victory Friday against Pensacola High in the season-opening football game between Pensacola’s two city high school teams.

The Wildcats got first-half points on the fumble, a short run, a field goal and a safety, then blew open the game in the fourth quarter off two other turnovers to trigger a running clock.

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“Any time you get points defensively, it definitely sets you up for success,” said Washington coach Ryan Onkka, whose team won last year’s game 51-43. “We struggled a little bit offensively. We had some good moments, but sustainability and first-game jitters kinda played a factor.”

Pensacola mayor D.C. Reeves, who participated in the opening coin flip, flanked by past mayors, stayed through the game and congratulated Onkka, as the players celebrated with the gold-plated trophy.

It’s the third year for the Mayor’s Bowl, an idea created by former mayor Grover Robinson.

“The plan is to never give (trophy) it up as long as I’m here and that’s what I have challenged the kids to… go four years in a row, then let’s keep the streak alive,” said Onkka, who was part of Washington’s past success as a player. “Any time you play for a trophy and stuff like that, it’s fun. It gets the kids more juiced, more stuff to play for. Winning is great.”

After PHS worked through its preseason with adversity from injuries and other issues, more heartbreak ensued. Jamarcus Fountain, a wide receiver and cornerback, who converted to quarterback due to injuries, sustained a knee injury trying to hurdle a defender less than 90 seconds into the game.

Following the Wildcats’ first-play score and the ensuing kickoff, Fountain took off on a play to his left toward the sideline. He leaped a defender and landed with his knee and leg buckling.

After a lengthy delay, he was carefully lifted onto a stretcher by a team of medical personnel and taken to a nearby hospital in an ambulance.

“He’s probably one of the best athletes we have in the school,” said PHS coach Cantrell Tyson. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s football. It’s tough.

“The injury now puts us down to our fifth-string quarterback,” said Tyson, in his second year at PHS. “That’s tough. But here’s the thing -- there are still nine more games to play. We got to suck it up, find a way, take care of the football and maybe we can win some down the road like that.

“There’s no excuses coming from me, I can tell you that. We are going to work (Saturday), we will work Sunday as a staff and we’ll work the rest of the week. There’s no excuses coming out of this locker room, I guarantee you that.”

The Tigers defense kept the game within arm’s length the first half until Washington’s defense created more scoring chances with stops and fumble recoveries that the Wildcats offense cashed in.

“I thought in our running game we did some stuff in spurts,” Onkka said. “We just couldn’t sustain it. We had a few penalties here and there. Our screen passing game on the edge was good.”

Washington quarterback Jack Minard scored the game’s first touchdown on a 1-yard sneak that following a short punt and a pass interference penalty on the Tigers. That was the only first-half offensive TD.

Placekicker Ricky Bucco had a 36-yard field goal for a 16-0 lead before the safety provided the 18-0 halftime lead and points for the Wildcats in four different ways.

In the second half Jordan Robinson scored on a 15-yard run, then later developed cramp muscle issues and didn’t return Junior Kyle Battle had a pair of Wildcat touchdowns that followed big defensive plays.

Opening dramatics

Much of the crowd at PHS’ Jim Scoggins Stadium was still filing into the stands when Washington had a lead.

On the first play from scrimmage, Fountain connected with De’andre Barr on a short route near the 25 yard-line.

Washington sophomore linebacker Kolby Saladino made the hit, then stripped the ball free. Stallworth, a senior defensive back, was right there to scoop and score. The play took nine seconds and it was 6-0.

What followed was more big plays, include an end zone sack by Dacaris Brown for a safety. A blocked punt by sophomore noseguard Messiah Dennis, an active night by senior defensive end Aveon Riley and other standout performers.

“Coach Onkka and his staff does a really good job with his kids,” PHS’ Tyson said. “I really have a lot of respect for Coach Onkka. Their defense is going to give them chances to win a lot of games.”

Said Onkka: “Any time you can keep a team to zero points, you’ve done something. Obviously, the defense did a great job.”

Pomp and circumstance

The idea behind the Mayor’s Bowl was to begin the prep football season with a special attraction for two schools separated by only a few miles and exits off I-110.

The opening coin toss Friday included first-year mayor D.C. Reeves, plus former mayors Grover Robinson IV, Ashton Hayward and Mike Wiggins, along with Escambia County commissioners Lumon May and Robert Bender.

Reeves’ young daughter, Caroline, had honors of the opening coin flip.

Following the game, the Wildcats players took a team photo with Onkka in the background holding the trophy.

“Any time you get a little hardware, get a little picture with something… winning is great,” Onkka said. “You hope it motivates the kids and gets the tweener kids to buy in fully to what you are preaching and teaching. You hope to build off it and continue to build confidence week after week.”

Plethora of penalties

The officiating crew working Friday’s game stayed busy trying to keep order with both teams.

They whistled double-digit penalties on both sides and ejected one player from each team after a brief altercation during a second-half play.

Illegal blocks occurred on kick returns and interceptions. One of those cost Washington a touchdown when Tamyron Thomas had a 53-yard punt return for a touchdown nullified by a blocking penalty. PHS had an interception return pushed back due to a bad block on the return.

The excessive penalties, some of which were first-game type, extended the length of the game and disrupted the flow.

It’s an issue moving forward that players from both teams will have to improve upon.

“A lot of it was normal first-game stuff, but that doesn’t excuse it,” Onkka said. “It’s stuff you got to fix and change. But it’s all correctable stuff.

— Bill Vilona

Pace 41, Choctaw 17

It was a tale of two halves to start the season for host Pace and rival Choctaw on Friday night.

Early on, it was the visiting Indians who played the cleaner game, especially on special teams, to take a 10-point lead during in the second quarter. But the home team cleaned up its act at halftime.

Patriots junior quarterback Nick Simmons turned on the jets while the defense stymied Choctaw’s potent ground game en route to a convincing 41-17 victory.

“I thought it was a good effort. I knew it was going to come down to who was in the best condition,” Pace head coach Kent Smith said. “They all really did a great job after halftime, and the defense did a great job all night. It was a great way to start the season. I was really worried about Choctaw, they’ve always got a good team. It was a great atmosphere tonight. We’re proud of these kids, proud of this school and proud of this community.”

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Choctaw had momentum early, with Samuel King hitting a 41-yard field goal after a previous kick was blocked. Simmons put Pace ahead on a 12-yard keeper early in the second quarter, but the Patriot cushion was short-lived as Jesse Winslette found an open Isaiah Johnson for a 25-yard touchdown. A blocked punt by Jonathan Boyd turned into another score by the Indians to take a 17-7 lead.

But Pace answered late in the half, as Simmons connected with Joseph Skipworth for a 12-yard score.

The final 24 minutes were all Pace.

The Patriots got out of the chutes quickly, when Zakery Wiedner took the ensuing second-half kickoff 95 yards untouched to put the home team up for good at 21-17.

After stopping Choctaw on downs, Pace capped a long drive with a 3-yard run by Simmons with 5 minutes, 29 seconds left in the quarter.

Then on third-and-20 at their own 32, Simmons rumbled all the way down to the Choctaw 37-yard line. The signal caller later hit Logan Hancharik in stride for a 36-yard touchdown pass at the start of the fourth. An interception by Jaquavian Moore soon led to another 10-yard scoring pass to Skipworth to put the game out of reach with 6:12 left.

“After the first half, it was a whole different mindset. It was whole new, clean slate,” Moore said. “We did in the second half what we should’ve done in the first, not letting them have easy plays and shutting down the run. This gives us that sense that we can go far, and we can build on this and do bigger and better things.”

Simmons, who accounted for five scores — three by air and two on the ground — agreed his teammates played encouraging football when it counted most down the stretch.

“I feel like we’re a second-half team,” he said. “We’re a hard-working team. I feel like our conditioning in summer workouts showed up tonight. We just don’t like to give up and I love that about our team. Choctaw’s a good team, and us having a good win like that really sets the tone and teams are going to respect us now.”

— Mac Knefely

Milton 7, Orange Beach (Ala.) 0

Senior running back Malik Cobb scored Milton’s lone touchdown on an “inside zone play to the left,” and the Panthers defeated Orange Beach (Ala.), 7-0, on Friday at Orange Beach.

But it easily could’ve been a lopsided score, Milton head coach Kelly Gillis said. With long touchdown runs – 75 yards, 40 yards and 30 yards – that got called back, it was a much closer game.

“But hey, a win’s a win,” Gillis said. “We had three (touchdowns) called back in the second half.”

One of the scores was pulled back for holding, while the other two were called for blocks in the back against the Panthers. Two of the runs – the 30-yarder and 40-yarder – were back-to-back, the head coach mentioned.

What stood out to Gillis was the defense. With undisciplined play on offense leading to several penalties, the Panthers were forced to punt from deep in their own territory. Orange Beach crept into Milton’s half of the field multiple times, but the defense kept the Makos “at bay,” Gillis said.

Milton forced a pair of turnovers plus did “a great job of gang-tackling.”

Gillis said it was “hard right now without looking at the film to call out one person” who stood out. “We really all just ran to the football. We did an outstanding job on defense.”

With another road game next at 7 p.m. Friday at Niceville, the focus of this week in practice is going to be avoiding those costly penalties – especially on the offensive side of the ball. Gillis said the Panthers didn’t commit any defensive penalties, “which was good because (they’ve) always been good for one or two personal fouls or something like that.”

“What can we do at practice to drive the point home that we cannot stop ourselves, and we’ve got to get out of our own way? We’re going to figure something out to drive that point home, and to get a little more discipline on that side of the ball,” Gillis remarked. “Those (offensive penalties) are drive-stoppers, got us behind the chains – and our red zone offense wasn’t very good. Those are things we are going to have to address.”

— Ben Grieco

Flomaton (Ala.) 35, Northview 14

The Chiefs' 13-game regular season winning streak came to a halt following a disappointing second-half effort against the Hurricanes from Hurricanes Field.

Northview held a 14-13 advantage entering the final 12 minutes, but the team was outscored 22-0 the rest of the way.

Although the fourth quarter was where the separation was created, Chiefs head coach Wes Summerford pointed to a myriad of third-quarter issues as the reason for the defeat. The team immediately turned the ball over to begin the quarter before heat cramps from key players forced the visitors out of their rhythm.

"I felt really good about where we were sitting at the start of the second half, but the third quarter was just our nemesis today. ... We just made some mistakes that you can't make against a well-coached team that plays hard," Summerford said.

The Chiefs actually won the 7-6, but the head coach sensed the game shifting once Flomaton got on the board.

"The tide started turning and I'm not sure our kids were ready for that," Summerford said. "I didn't like the way we handled it. And that's on us and on me as a head coach. We'll get that fixed this next week."

Wyatt Scruggs and Devin Kelly each scored rushing touchdowns for Northview, who plays 7 p.m. Friday at Escambia County (Ala.).

— Patrick Bernadeau

Jay 20, Vernon 13

For the first time in a decade, the Royals have opened a season at 1-0.

Jay rode the legs of Grayson Shehan and Brock Stout to a one-score victory over the Yellowjackets from Merle V. North Stadium.

Shehan finished with four catches for 117 yards and a touchdown while Stout racked up 164 rushing yards on 29 carries and a score.

"It feels good, our kids are happy. It's been a while since we've had an opening-season win. The kids are excited," Royals head coach Brian Watson said. "It was sloppy with true first-game struggles with the heat and attrition, but all-in-all it was good and our depth proved to be difference in the fourth quarter.

Stout's 5-yard touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion put Jay ahead 14-7 in the third quarter. The visitors answered later in the period, but their point-after kid was blocked.

The home team extended its lead in the fourth when quarterback Hayden Morris connected with Shehan on a 62-yard touchdown pass. The duo each produced an interception while Nicholas Baxley had a sack to help the Royals keep Vernon off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

"I'm proud of our defense," Watson said. "They only really gave up one touchdown and that was on a short field following a kickoff return. They shut them out in the fourth quarter and the whole first half."

— Patrick Bernadeau

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

Mac Knefely is a sports contributor for the Pensacola News Journal

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Football Roundup: Booker T. Washington, Pace, Milton, Jay start season 1-0