Tate High’s Kennedy Turner Signs With Coastal Alabama South Softball
December 3, 2021
Tate High School’s Kennedy Turner has signed to play softball with the Coastal Alabama South Sun Chiefs. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate’s Aaliyah Jordan Signs To Play Softball At Coastal Alabama East
December 1, 2021
Tate High School senior Aaliyah Jordan has signed to play softball at Coastal Alabama East in Brewton. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
ECSD Teams With Company To Offer NCAA Assistance To Student Athletes
November 30, 2021
The Escambia County School District will be making the CoreCourseGPA.com program available to all high school campuses to help better prepare high school athletes for NCAA/NAIA academic eligibility.
The platform also provides a wealth of recruiting resources to assist families with the recruiting process. The program is designed to allow families to take ownership of this process, with assistance from CoreCourseGPA.com, according to the school district.
District athletic directors and counselors will be trained In upcoming workshops. A CoreCourseGPA.com representative will assist schools with setting up faculty accounts, and information will then be provided to students.
“As a former college coach, I was always very impressed with families that used CoreCourseGPA. The recruiting and academic information was organized exactly as a college or university needs it,” ECSD Director of Athletics Casey Thiele said. “This valuable resource will help Escambia County students and families navigate the complexity of NCAA and NAIA eligibility requirements. Because 33% of all NCAA required classes are offered during the freshman year, this tool will help our students get off to a great academic start.”
Bonus Photos: NWE Football Championships, Cheerleader Competitions
November 29, 2021
Northwest Escambia recently won three football championships, and the NWE cheerleaders placed in the Escambia River Conference.
NWE Freshmen 18, Neal 6
NWE Sophomores 26, Flomaton 0
Andalusia 7, NWE Juniors 0
NWE Seniors 8, Brewton 6
For a football action photo gallery, click here.
The NWE sophomore, juniors and senior cheerleaders all captured second place.
For a cheerleader competition photo gallery, click here.
Photos by Shawn Gomez for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Playoffs: Chipley Beats Baker In 1A; Pine Forest Wins In 6A
November 27, 2021
Here are Friday night high school playoff football finals of interest from Friday night.
1A Regional Finals
- Chipley 22, Baker 7
The Chipley Tigers beat the Baker Gators 22-7 Friday night in the 1A regional finals at Baker. Chipley advances to the state semifinal December 3 against top ranked Hawthorne Hornets.
6A Regionals Semifinals
- Pine Forest 49, Mosley 14
The top-ranked Pine Forest Eagles beat the second-ranked Mosley Dolphins 49-14 Friday night at Pine Forest. The Eagles will host Jones High School of Orlando next Friday night in the state semifinals.
Pictured: The Baker Gators. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Bonus Gallery: Northview Band, Fans And Cheerleaders At Baker
November 22, 2021
The Northview Chiefs football season came to an end with a tough 46-35 loss to defending station champion Baker Friday night in the Class 1A regional semifinals.
For a photo gallery with the band, fans and cheerleaders, click here.
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
For a game action story, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Photo Gallery: Northview Falls To Baker
November 21, 2021
The Northview Chiefs football season came to an end with a tough 46-35 loss to defending station champion Baker Friday night in the Class 1A regional semifinals.
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
For a game action story, click here.
For a photo gallery with the band, fans and cheerleaders, click here.
NorthEscmabia.com photos, click to enlarge.
UWF’s Season Ends In Heartbreaking 33-30 Overtime Loss in NCAA First Round
November 21, 2021
by Bill Vilona, UWF Argos Senior Writer
The stadium fell silent. The home crowd stared ahead in shock. The players fell to their knees, many fighting back tears.
A season of high expectations and cresting momentum for the No. 2-ranked University of West Florida football team came to a stunning, heart-breaking end Saturday, after unranked Newberry College pulled off a 33-30 overtime upset in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
“I’m sick for our whole team. I’m sick for Pensacola,” said UWF coach Pete Shinnick, following the first time UWF hosted a post-season game. “I thought it was a great day to host a home playoff game. This is a very, very difficult way to end the year.”
On this day, the script was flipped. The tables were turned.
The Argos (9-2) entered 9-0 in non-championship, playoff games. They were the defending national champions from 2019. They had just rung up a 19-point victory against the former No. 1-ranked team, then-unbeaten Valdosta State, on this field a week ago by scoring 61 points.
They had the confidence. But Saturday, the Argos’ two-touchdown lead evaporated in the fourth quarter by continued miscues. The Argos were then forced to kick a field goal with their overtime possession.
That was all Newberry (10-2) needed to reel off eight rushing plays from the 25 – the final being a 1-yard sweep run by Mario Anderson – for the walk-off win. It was Newberry’s third overtime game this season, which helped provide more resolve when it reached that point.
“I’m a little bit in awe of the outcome,” said Newberry coach Todd Knight, in his 14th season at the rural South Carolina school. “I know the young men played their hearts out today and I’m extremely proud of ‘em. We are extremely happy that we got lucky and came out on top.
“This is an unbelievable opportunity that we had, coming to an amazing place. We are from a small, southern town in South Carolina. We don’t have anything that compares to what West Florida has.”
The Wolves, playing in the first post-season game since 2016 and advancing past the first round for only the second time, pulled this off by starting fast, creating turnovers, and making UWF’s high-octane passing game get knocked off-rhythm.
With its offense, Newberry scored on the game’s second play and the final play.
The first sign of trouble for UWF arrived instantly after the opening kickoff. On the game’s second offensive snap, the Wolves turned a five-yard, sideline pass to Bryce Woodruff into a 66-yard touchdown, after he eluded the tackle and outraced UWF defenders.
“At Newberry we teach grit,” said Woodruff, who finished with 11 receptions for 131 yards. “From the start to the finish we always say we’re going to play 60 minutes, so there was never a doubt in my mind.
“There were ups and downs in the football game, but I thought we could win the whole time.”
The Wolves took a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the first quarter, after a fumbled kickoff return pinned UWF deep and the Argos three pass attempts were incomplete. With field position, Newberry used it to create more positive emotion and force UWF to climb from a two-touchdown deficit.
“We gave them life. We talk all the time, don’t give a team life,” Shinnick said. “They threw a five yard pass and we miss a tackle. We had a couple chances on offense where we just missed on a couple balls.
“In that first five minutes, I felt like we were just kind of running in mud. I don’t know why. It will be something for a very long time we will be thinking about.”
From that point, UWF’s defense rose up. It enabled UWF to trail just 14-10 at halftime, then take 27-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.
All seemed right again.
And then it wasn’t.
The Wolves’ Ke’Shoun Williams blocked a punt at the UWF 36 that he returned for a touchdown with 12:09 remaining. On the ensuing possession, after a long kickoff return by UWF’s Marcus Clayton, Argos’ sophomore quarterback Austin Reed threw his third interception on a deflected pass.
Newberry drove in for the tying touchdown. It was a struggling day for Reed, who completed just 11 of 35 passes for 134 yards – the least productive game in his great career at UWF.
“Obviously, I didn’t play well at all,” he said. “I put that on me.”
Time and again, the Argos normally potent passing game wasn’t clicking. Either with overthrown passes or dropped passes. Newberry had two veteran cornerbacks and their pass rush put UWF’s offensive line in a challenging position to help create problems.
“The only thing I can really say at this point is that I’m sorry,” said Reed, who led the Argos to their national title season in 2019 as a redshirt freshman. “I let a lot of seniors down. I let UWF fans down. I should have found a way in this game and I didn’t and I apologize.
“Coach Shinnick did a great job getting us ready, getting us right, and we didn’t perform as players. He shouldn’t take any of the blame whatsoever for this loss. It falls 100 percent on us.
“(Newberry) just had a good gameplan. They came out and executed really well. We’re up 27-14 at one point and really could have ended it. We just didn’t do what we needed to do to end a game.”
An interception by Reed near the goal-line right before halftime thwarted a chance to take the lead earlier.
But he guided the Argos offense into a pair of touchdowns and a field goal with possessions in the third quarter.
Until that blocked punt, everything was going in the right direction.
“(Reed) has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” Shinnick said. “(Saturday) was just an ugly day offensively. We knew (Newberry) would create some issuesand they probably created more than we anticipated.
“They disrupted what we do. We could not get any rhythm going.”
With time now a factor in the game, Newberry took a early fourth quarter chance with a certain formation UWF was in and sent punt blockers rushing up the middle. That special teams play helped change the game.
“Good tactic by them. Something we’ve been working on and just didn’t perform it the way we were practicing,” Shinnick said. “We knew it was one of the things they were going to do.
“That was the momentum swing that kept them in the game.”
Saturday’s stunning playoff loss occurred in UWF’s third postseason trip in its five-year history, which is a feat itself. And it followed two incredible playoff runs. The Argos reached the national title game in 2017 with four road wins, then won the title in 2019 with five road wins.
It created a special legacy for the Argos senior class, some of whom were involved in all three playoff trips.
“It is sickening that it ends this way,” Shinnick said.
Photo: Morgan Givens/UWF for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Falls To Baker 46-35 In Regional Semifinal
November 20, 2021
The Northview Chiefs football season came to an end with a tough 46-35 loss to defending station champion Baker Friday night in the Class 1A regional semifinals.
When they met during the regular season, the Gators won the 42-41 overtime thriller. Northview fans turned out in full force Friday night at Baker, cheering on their Chiefs as they fought hard to the very end.
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
For a photo gallery with the band, fans and cheerleaders, click here.
“It was just a fight for four quarters,” Northview head football coach Wes Summerford said. “I thought our kids played hard. There was several times that they could have gave it up, and we fought to get back in it to the end.”
Kayleb Wagner — the Gator standout that broke Derrick Henry’s Florida high school football single-game rushing record earlier this season– gave Baker an early 7-0 lead over Northview on an 88-yard touchdown run.
Northview’s Wyatt Scruggs intercepted a Gator pass on their own five and ran it in to make it 7-7 after a good Brandon Ferguson kick with 3:10 remaining in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, junior quarterback Kaden Odom found a wide open Luke Bridges, and he was in from 20 yards out to give the Chiefs a 14-7 lead with 11:44 remaining in the half. Baker answered with a 49-yard touchdown run with 9:12 in the half for a 14-14 tie.
The Chiefs regained the lead at 24-14 as Odom fought his way into the endzone on a short quarterback keeper with 5:54 remaining in the second quarter. Baker made it 21-20 with under a minute to go in the half and on their way to a playoff win.
“These guys fought hard. I thought we had some opportunities in the ballgame just to get it back even or maybe even stay on top,” Summerford said. “You’ve got to tip your hats to Baker. They are well coached, and good luck to the next round.”
The Baker Gators will host Chipley next Friday night. The Northview Chiefs season ended at 6-5.
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
For a photo gallery with the band, fans and cheerleaders, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Friday Night High School Playoff Scores – Seasons End For Local Teams Except Pine Forest
November 20, 2021
Here is tonight’s North Escambia area high school football playoff schedule:
FLORIDA
1A Regional Semifinal
- Baker 46, Northvew 35 [Story, photos...]
5A Regional Semifinal
- Baker County 13, West Florida 10
6A Regional Semifinal
- Pine Forest 32, Riverside 12
- Pine Forest will host Mosley next Friday night
ALABAMA
AHSAA 3A Quarterfinals
- Montgomery Academy 28, T.R. Miller 0
AISA Class AA State Championship
- Autauga 52, Escambia Academy 35
Pictured: Northview’s Jamarkus Jefferson gains yardage against Baker Friday night in Baker. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.