Week 2 Football Roundup: Pine Forest, Jay remain perfect, West Florida, Tate earn first W of 2023

A roundup of Week 2 games involving Pensacola-area teams for Friday, Sept. 1

Pine Forest 40, Navarre 17

On paper, the Eagles and Raiders had all the makings of a competitive, early-season matchup. In reality on Friday night, it wasn’t very close.

Pine Forest managed to a 20-10 halftime lead, then ran roughshod over Navarre in the final two quarters for a convincing victory from Lon R. Wise Stadium.

Eagles head coach Tony Carter, an assistant with the Raiders last season, downplayed the matchup as just another game on the schedule. But to a man, and all those in the Eagle locker room, the victory meant much more.

Wet and Wild: Pensacola Catholic survive the pouring conditions, hang on for win at Escambia

What's next: Complete 2023 High School Football schedules and results for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties

“I expected a good game, and a touch matchup, because I know how well-coached Navarre is,” Carter said. “I was pleased with the way our guys played with the poise and discipline they showed. We battled through a little adversity with a slow start, but we came out in the second half and started getting it going right away. We played together as a team.”

It wasn’t necessarily a bittersweet win for coach, but his former Raider players will always be near and dear to his heart.

“I love those guys over there. … I want them to be successful at everything they do,” he said. “I knew what they were going to bring to the table because of how well they’re coached, but I love those guys to death. They’re still my guys. That’s why I coach.”

Feelings aside, there was still a football game to be played.

Pine Forest scored first, as Miequle Brock, Jr.  ran in from 31 yards out with 4 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first quarter. Tyrell Marshall blocked the PAT to keep it a 6-0 game. The Eagles closed out the first on a productive drive before senior quarterback James Clark connected with Philip Defelice on a touchdown pass on third-and-goal from the Raiders 6-yard line.

After Navarre got on the board on with a 27-yard field goal by Tyler Daniell to complete a lengthy drive, Brock answered again in a big way for the Eagles.

He took the ensuing kickoff 86 yards to paydirt to make it a 20-3 Pine Forest advantage with just over four minutes left until halftime.

The Raiders responded with their strong passing game, capping off a five-play, 53-yard possession with a 7-yard strike from Hunter Pfiester to Nate Hanson to pull within two scores.

The Eagles looked to end the half on a good note, but the Raider defense had other plans. Andre Spence intercepted an errant pass at the Navarre 18. But the visitors gave the ball right back as C.J. Hill intercepted the very next pass attempt.

The win — and interception — was extremely gratifying for Hill, who like his head coach, also came over from Navarre.

“We knew we were going to have to be ready from the beginning,” Hill said. “I played with those guys before, so I already know they’re going to try to come out in the second half and do something. They’re not in our district, but I definitely wanted this for sure. We had a good overall effort. Our offense can’t be stopped.”

PNJ Football Leaderboard: Escambia, Santa Rosa County stats after Week 1 of 2023 season

Power Poll: Following Week 1, see where your favorite team lands in the area power rankings

It didn’t take long for the Eagles to attack in the second half.

Brock scored on a 15-yard run set up by a Marcel Thomas interception to start the third.

“We played good on both sides of the ball, and min the kicking game,” Brock said. “It feels great to start the year off 2-0. Coach made some great adjustments at halftime.”

The senior running back then got his trifecta on the ground with a 28-yard touchdown run to make it 33-10 Eagles.

Clark tossed a foreword pitch to Ja’len Rawls to put the game out of reach at 40-10 with 11:08 remaining in the game.

“We came together as a team tonight” Clark said. “I’m proud of my coach for taking the reins and taking command. We missed a lot of things, and left a lot of points on the board, but we’ll work on those. It was still a good win.”

— Mac Knefely

West Florida 30, Booker T. Washington 14

The Jaguars took the first punch in their matchup with the Wildcats, who marched the length of the field in their opening possession to go ahead.

But from there, West Florida snatched control in front of its home fans at Marlon L. Bullock Field. The defense only allowed seven more points the rest of the way to lift the Jags to their first win of the season.

“(The Wildcats) just came out and hit us in the mouth.” West Florida head coach Harry Lees said. “Our kids regrouped and started playing with some confidence.

“Hopefully, we won’t dig ourselves a hole anymore, but at least we had enough about us to fight through it.”

Lees credited the play of Trevon Knott, L.J. Aples and Jailen Wadley in stopping the Booker T. train rolling following its initial success.

Offensively, Marquez Jones continued his hot start to 2023. The senior running back added three more touchdowns to his total. He has scored 10 times between two regular season games and the Kickoff Classic. Elsewhere, Josh Spears reached the end zone on a pass from John Nicholas.

“I thought John (Nicholas) had a good night distributing the ball,” Lees said. “We had a bunch of different people touching the ball, and at the end of the day, we got the ball to the guy who knows how to score once he gets it. Even though it was sloppy at times, we found a way to get it done. I’m real proud of them.”

Falling to 1-1 this season, Booker T. Washington plays at 7 p.m. Friday in a home opener against Milton. At the same time, West Florida aims to get above .500 as it plays host to Pace.

— Patrick Bernadeau

Escambia County (Ala.) 26, Northview 14

Northview head coach Wes Summerford likened his team to a train on Friday: slow to start, but once it got moving, things went OK.

The problem was, every time the Chiefs started to gain some momentum, things ended in a turnover instead of a touchdown. Northview went down 14-0 after the first quarter, and played with “decent field position” against Escambia County, but just couldn’t convert.

Northview fell victim to turnovers, Summerford said, which plagued the Chiefs.

That led to the 26-14 loss.

“After the 14-0 (score), we played great defense the rest of the game. But we let them get those two touchdowns early, and could never just get the lead back,” Summerford said. “Every time it seemed like we had a drive going, we turned the ball over. … We’ve got to eliminate the turnovers for sure.”

With rain throughout the Florida Panhandle, Summerford mentioned the weather conditions didn’t play into the contest. Escambia County either “jarred the ball loose” or “just hit” Northview players.

“Some of that was, we were forced to pass the ball at a certain point in the game and we had some turnovers there too,” Summerford said.

Devin Kelly scored on a 28-yard rushing touchdown and Wyatt Scruggs added a 34-yard rushing touchdown to cut into the deficit, but the Chiefs just couldn’t find an answer late in the contest.

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

PNJ Super Seniors: Introducing this year's football class

“We probably, at the end of the day, got our yards on offense. It just ended up ending in a turnover instead of a touchdown,” Summerford said.

With a short turnaround coming this week – the Chiefs travel to Tate on Thursday – the mindset is getting the mindset to start games faster but also working on “the little things.”

“I just remember the games that were in successful in, we always started fast. That’s something that we’ve got to get this group to do,” Summerford said. “But we’ve got to right the ship.”

— Ben Grieco

Crestview 35, Gulf Breeze 21

If there was one game where the rain got involved, it was at Crestview with Gulf Breeze visiting.

Heading into halftime and entering the third quarter, Gulf Breeze head coach Jeff Gierke described it as a “torrential downpour.” It was tied 14-14 going into halftime, but the Dolphins “couldn’t make plays in the rain.”

Gierke mentioned a fumble at the 2-yard line, a bad snap at the 9-yard line that Crestview recovered and a dropped pass in the endzone. All the while, Crestview “rain it right at” Gulf Breeze, eating the clock away.

“Before you know it, the third quarter was over,” Gierke said. “But they had turnovers, too. We didn’t make enough plays in key situations. … You’ve got to give (Crestview) credit. They had a good gameplan to try and confuse us up front.”

Gierke added it was a tough game for Battle Alberson, who was “running for his life” most of the game with the Crestview defense putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback.

“We were throwing a wet ball basically the whole second half, so it’s hard to do our thing when he’s running for his life and the ball is soaking wet,” Gierke said. “We’ve got to find a way to protect our quarterback, or we’re never going to be as good as we could be. … We’ve got guys who are open, guys who can make plays. But they can’t even get the ball because the quarterback is running for his life.”

Gierke also highlighted the play of Jake Frazetta, who slotted in at quarterback so the Dolphins could institute a few more run plays. Frazetta gave Gulf Breeze “a spark,” Gierke noted and gained a good chunk of yards on a few plays. Bryson Rouillier and Alberson – despite the pressure – both had good games, Gierke said.

Heading into Week 3, now it’s focusing on getting the players into “game-shape,” Gierke noted. After not playing since the Kickoff Classic, plus the rain and humidity that struck on Friday, it’s “a lot of little things that you clean up the longer you get into the season.”

But first, it’s about hydration.

“I can’t look over and have five starters on the track because they’re cramping. We’ve got to fix that part of it. They’ve got to get more hydrated during the week – that’s the big thing,” Gierke said. “I give (Crestview) credit. They hung around and started making plays.”

— Ben Grieco

Jay 20, Freeport 14

The excitement continues for Jay football in the beginning stages of the 2023 football season.

After a 20-14 win at Freeport, the Royals are 2-0 for the first time in at least 10 seasons.

Jay struck first in the second quarter with a short run from Hayden Morris to give the Royals a 7-0 advantage going into halftime. While Freeport responded in the third frame, the fourth quarter is where the Royals started to “get physical” with their opposition, scoring on back-to-back drives to take a 20-6 lead with a couple minutes left.

Both touchdowns came from Brock Stout – a 39-yard rushing touchdown and a 6-yard rushing touchdown. He finished the game with 160 yards on the ground.

“I felt we controlled the ball,” Jay head coach Brian Watson said.

Then it came down to just holding Freeport off. The Bulldogs, immediately after the Royals’ last drive, got it to within the 10-yard line just a couple plays in and eventually scored. But, Jay recovered the ensuing onside kick.

“I’m just proud of our kids. … We made plays when we had to make plays,” Watson said.

Watson also noted the play of receiver Grayson Shehan, who had a couple “long receptions” and finished the night with 52 receiving yards. Morris threw for a total of 124 yards for the Royals.

Jay hosts Franklin County at 7 p.m. on Friday.

“We’re very excited. It’s been awhile since we’ve been 2-0,” Watson said. “We’re starting to believe in ourselves, and believe in our systems. There’s a little bit of excitement in the room for sure.”

— Ben Grieco

Niceville 42, Milton 7

The road schedule continues for Milton, but this time brought a 42-7 loss at Niceville on Friday. It was the third consecutive game away from home – including the Kickoff Classic at Pensacola – for the Panthers.

And in an environment like Niceville’s, where it’s “a tough place to play,” starting off a little slow didn’t do Milton any favors, head coach Kelly Gillis noted.

“Turned it over deep in their territory. Gave up a few big third downs on the first few drives that wound up changing the side of the field for us,” Gillis said. “We wound up playing some really young guys in the back end.”

Gillis said Milton did play better in the second half – which included a rushing touchdown from Ethan Diamond late in the fourth quarter. The Panthers improved on defense early in the second half as well, but “let up a long play” pretty fast after.

“We’re just playing a ton of guys that have not had a ton of varsity experience. There’s two seniors on offense, and three – four at times – on defense. You’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t played a lot of varsity football,” Gillis said. “They’ve got a chance to be good, and this is a growing pain for them: adjusting to the speed of the game, especially against a team like Niceville.”

With another road game on the docket, Gillis said the Panthers need to find “more energy” as Milton heads to Booker T. Washington on Friday.

“I don’t mind playing a tough schedule, and I don’t mind playing on the road,” Gillis said. “We’ve got to find a better way of having some pop and energy early on. … We need to have it on the onset.”

— Ben Grieco

Tate 54, Pensacola 0

Aggies head coach Rhett Summerford believes his team was served a cold dish of “humble pie” during its season-opening loss to Pine Forest.

Tate only trailed 20-14 at halftime before allowing 28 straight-points in the second half.

So how would Summerford’s squad respond following its 48-21 loss to the Eagles?

How about by putting up the most points a Tate team has scored in six years. The Aggies produced their highest scoring output since a 57-13 rout over Smiths Station (Ala.) on Nov. 3, 2017.

Tate enjoyed a 40-0 halftime cushion and continued its impressive play during a second half for a home win from Carl Madison Field.

“Our m.o. last year was finishing games. We thought we were ready to compete with the best in the city and Pine Forest showed out,” Summerford said. “So our seniors and our football team had to go back to work. We actually had a really good week of practice, got our mind right and approached the game like that. I’m proud of our team. Facing adversity that early in the season when you play in a big game and you don’t meet the expectations, you can go one of two ways. I thought that we stepped up.”

Senior running back Andre Colston led Tate (1-1) with three touchdowns. Christian Neptune and Carson Secchiari each added scores.

Defensively, the Aggies (1-1) created several negative plays to produce the program’s first shutout since 2021, which was also against the Tigers (0-2).

“When we played Pine Forest, they kind of got loose on us. “I really challenged our defense, challenged our defensive coordinator and he worked really hard putting in this game plan and getting our players ready for PHS,” Summerford said. “We tackled better, we kept the ball inside and I think we coached better.”

Tate concludes a three-game home stretch at 7 p.m. Thursday against Northview. Scoreless through two games this season, Pensacola plays Pine Forest at 7 p.m. Friday from Jim Scoggins Field.

— Patrick Bernadeau

Lincoln 21, Pace 7

The Patriots exploded onto the 2023 scene with a 41-point effort in a Week 1 victory over Choctaw.

Yet, much can change in a span of seven days. Pace was grounded, putting together only seven points in a home defeat against the Trojans. Stats were unavailable.

Dropping their record to 1-1, the Patriots face their first road game of the season when they play at 7 p.m. Friday at West Florida.

— Patrick Bernadeau

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: Pine Forest, Jay stay perfect in '23, West Florida, Tate win, too