Week 7 Roundup: Defensive stops propel Navarre past Mosley, Pine Forest can't close comeback

A roundup of Week 7 games involving Pensacola-area teams from Friday, Oct. 6.

Navarre 35, Mosley 31

It seemed like every drive resulted in some points.

Navarre and Mosley were trading touchdowns during the first half and early stages of the second half. Offenses reigned supreme. The Dolphins appeared to have another touchdown in its arsenal with less than 10 minutes to go.

That was until the Raiders stopped Mosley’s Ethan Kellum near the goal line, and Kellum coughed up a fumble to put Navarre back on offense. The Raiders were forced to put, and Mosley started at its own 43, quickly driving down the field again with minutes left in the game.

Then – on the Navarre 13-yard line – the Raiders were clutch again, stopping quarterback Sammy Freitas on a fourth-and-2, propelling Navarre to a crucial win on Friday at Bennett C. Russell Stadium.

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“Our defense stopped them when it mattered,” Navarre head coach Jay Walls said.

Mosley already had 11 conversions on third and fourth downs throughout the contest. Its last was on a fourth-and-1 situation on Navarre’s 11-yard line. Freitas dove on a quarterback sneak for three yards

The following play? The fumble recovery from the Raiders.

Mosley was stacked against it again on its final drive of the game, this time in a fourth-and-2 on Navarre’s 13. Freitas had gone on a designed run to push the Dolphins up a yard. Then, both teams utilized a timeout before the next play.

“In my mind, I feel like timeout’s really put the offense under pressure more than the defense,” Navarre’s Vinny Villanova said. “Since we got more time to rest, I felt more confident.”

Villanova should’ve already felt confident, getting two big tackles on Freitas to limit the damage. Mosley, on first-and-15 at the Navarre 26, saw Freitas complete a 12-yard screen pass to Kellum. Then Villanova recorded back-to-back tackles on short outside runs from Freitas.

A gang of Raider defenders stopped Freitas for the third, and final, time.

“In practice, we always work those situations. … We work better under pressure when we’re in clutch situations. We just did our job. It worked out right,” Villanova said. “Those huge stops are what is going to win the ball game. Those big plays, like that fumble, that’s what’s going to win a ball game.”

Navarre’s offense got right to work in the beginning of the game, when Connor Mathews – on the first play of the game – ran the ball up the middle of the field. What should’ve been in his way was the Mosley defense.

Instead, the he dragged all 11 players with him, breaking through the entire defensive unit from the Dolphins, and ran in for a 51-yard touchdown just 26 seconds into the game.

“It’s no surprise, because (Mathews), in practice, every play, he is running hard. I mean, all out,” Walls said. “He does it in the game naturally.”

“I was fired up. I was ready to go. Scoring was on my mind. I got the ball, saw the holes, and I felt everybody on me,” Mathews said. “I just kept running hard, and it paid off.”

Navarre scored one more time with a 19-yard run from Hunter Pfiester before Mosley racked up back-to-back touchdowns to tie things up. After that was when the touchdown trades began, until Mosley kicked a field goal to end the first half.

Trading resumed in the second half before the late fumble.

“This game, it was another shootout, and our kids didn’t quit. Defensively, we could’ve … folded when they’re were driving and driving,” Walls said. “A lot of things (were) going bad. But they didn’t quit. Not at all.”

Navarre (4-2, 1-0 District 1-4S), now on a four-game win streak, returns to district play on Friday. The Raiders travel to Milton to begin a three-game stretch of district games, two of which are on the road.

“That’s going to be tough,” Walls said of the upcoming schedule. “I told the kids that our job is to win the game. And we did it. I’m really proud of our kids for a great effort against a good team.”

—Ben Grieco

Niceville 31, Pine Forest 28

Visitors on the scoreboard, Pine Forest roared back from an early deficit to tie the final moments

However, the team's comeback effort was thwarted when a 22-yard field-goal attempt split the uprights in the game's final minute to lift Niceville to a slim win from Eagle Stadium.

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The away team trailed 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and as much as 21-6 late in the third before making a game out of late.

"We came out with a slow start again, but the kids battled through the adversity that we had," Pine Forest head coach Tony Carter said. "I thought we played tougher in the second half of the ball game. I think that if we can start out the way that we finished, it would be a totally different outcome. ... We just got to put four quarters of football together."

Senior running back Miequle Brock had three touchdowns (two special teams, one rushing) to lead the road Eagles. His last score and a two-point conversion tied the game at 28-28 with just more than five minutes remaining. The visitors' other touchdown came on a long pass from Deveon Wilson to Zion Legree.

Pine Forest (4-3) next heads south as it plays IMG Academy at 6:30 p.m. CST Friday from Bradenton.

—Patrick Bernadeau

Godby 43, Booker T. Washington 6

The Wildcats suffered their fourth consecutive loss of the season following a homecoming defeat to the Cougars at Sherman L. Robinson Stadium.

It’s a sharp contrast to last season’s contest between Godby and Booker T. Washington when the two teams combined for 100 points – and the Wildcats came on the positive end of that game with 66 points.

Stats were unavailable

Booker T. (1-4, 0-1 District 1-3S) hits the road for a district matchup at 7 p.m. Friday at Fort Walton Beach. Last year, the Wildcats shutout the Vikings 42-0 at home.

—Ben Grieco

Northview 28, Baker 0

Northview pitched its second shutout of the season at a critical time in the season.

The Chiefs returned to region play at Baker in a rivalry "that’s been going on forever,” said Northview head coach Wes Summerford, who believes both factors led to some extra motivation for the players.

After some tough losses earlier in the year, the Chiefs returned to the win column thanks to some staunch defense that excelled “right out of the gate.” Northview’s team “kind of fed off of that from there,” the head coach remarked.

“We had some great defensive line pressure,” Summerford added. “Any time you play Baker, you know you’ve got to win that battle up front. I thought our guys did that tonight. D.J. Lyons, Jacob Spence, those guys up front, did a tremendous job.”

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Northview’s run game was strong, with Joe Wright scoring twice on the ground and Wyatt Scruggs also scoring a rushing touchdown. Devin Kelly rounded out the Chiefs’ scoring in the shutout.

Northview (2-4, 1-0 Region 1-1R) has another rivalry matchup on tap next week against Jay. The game will kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday from Tommy Weaver Memorial Football Stadium. In last year’s meeting between the cross-county rivals, Northview – in the middle of a state-championship-game run – won 49-13.

“This sets up the game with Jay really well. We needed a win under our belt going into that game, and we got it tonight,” Summerford said. “Also it helps with that playoff picture a little bit more.”

—Ben Grieco

Holmes County 55, Jay 13

Following a spectacular start to the 2023 campaign, the Royals, and more specifically, their defense came crashing back down to earth.

The team suffered their second straight defeat after being routed by the Blue Devils from Merle V. North Stadium.

"I just didn't have the team ready to play," Jay head coach Brian Watson said. "We were flat and we got our tails whooped."

The Royals dug themselves a hole by committing turnovers on three consecutive possessions in the second quarter. Holmes County, the top-ranked team in Region 1-1R, pulled away from there.

One week after missing Jay's last game at Destin, junior quarterback Hayden Morris accounted for both of the team's touchdowns. He hit connected with Tucker Nowling for a 10-yard scoring reception in the second quarter before crossing the goal line on a 10-yard rush in the fourth.

—Patrick Bernadeau

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.

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.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Football Roundup: Navarre Raiders, Northview Chiefs earn Week 7 victories