High School Football Scoreboard
November 3, 2023
Here are a high schoool football scores from around the North Escambia area.
FLORIDA
- West Florida 35, Gulf Breeze 32
- Tate 45, Washington 0
- Nicevile 63, Navarrre 34
- Walton 54, Northview 14
- Escambia 47, Pensacola 7
- Pace 35, Lafayette 7
- Catholic 34, JP 13
- Jay 41, Blacksher 20,
- Godby at Milton
- St. John Paul II at Pensacola Catholic
- BYE: Pine Forest
ALABAMA
- Flomaton 63 Marengo 0
- T.R. Miller 36, W.S. Neal 8
- Chambers Academy 55, Escambia Acacdemy 18
Tate Aggies End Best Season in Years with 44-0 First City Bowl Win At At Wahoos Stadium
November 3, 2023
The Tate Aggies claimed the title 44-0 over Washington Friday night in the inaugural First City Bowl game at Wahoos Stadium, the first-ever regular season high school football game at the waterfront venue.
The Tate Aggies finished with their first winning season since 2017. The Aggies had won just one game in each of the previous four seasons.
Washington had won its season-opener, but since lost their other seven games.
““It’s huge,” Coach Rhett Summerford said before the game. “I am so glad we are playing there (at Blue Wahoos Stadium). Because it gives our kids some excitement. “We need some excitement now. Our guys are still playing their tails off, but we’re just not doing some of the things we were doing earlier this year. “We are playing in a phenomenal venue. It’s a great way to send our seniors out. We are going to prepare and play as hard as we can to play our best.”
High School Football Scoreboard
November 2, 2023
Here are a high schoool football scores from around the North Escambia area.
FLORIDA
- West Florida 35, Gulf Breeze 32
- Tate 44, Washington 0
- Nicevile 63, Navarrre 34
- Walton 54, Northview 14
- Escambia 47, Pensacola 7
- Pace 35, Lafayette 7
- Catholic 34, JP 13
- Jay 41, Blacksher 20,
- Godby at Milton
- St. John Paul II at Pensacola Catholic
- BYE: Pine Forest
ALABAMA
- Flomaton 63 Marengo 0
- T.R. Miller 36, W.S. Neal 8
- Chambers Academy 55, Escambia Acacdemy 18
Tate, Washington Face Off Friday Night In First City Bowl At Wahoos Stadium
November 2, 2023
written by Bill Vilona
The Blue Wahoos have always tried to seek ways to be innovative with special
events at their stadium outside of baseball season.
The inaugural First City Bowl game, presented by Cox Communications on Friday at 7 p.m. represents the latest one.
With its unique backdrop and configuration, the event is more than just a season-finale, high school football game between the Tate Aggies and the Washington Wildcats.
It’s the first time that Blue Wahoos Stadium has staged a regular-season, prep football game, utilizing both schools’ bands and other components to provide a different kind of experience. “I think this really meets our mission, which includes creating a community type of event like this game,” said Blue Wahoos president Jonathan Griffith, whose idea it was a year ago to bring two area high school teams for a game with a special name. “We thought it would be fun to name it the First City Bowl and get people excited about it and hopefully we will have many more of these games. “What you want is all these kids playing Friday to one day bring their own kids out to the stadium and say, ‘I played on this field.’ It’s another way to create those memories for life.”
The admission price, online ticketing, game operations matches the way all high school games are played in this area. The stadium will utilize all of its concession stands. The video board will have the game action. Cox Communications is providing a televised broadcast available on its YurView channel for Cox subscribers. With it being Washington’s home game, the Wildcats will be in the Blue Wahoos clubhouse and their band will perform pregame, along with both school bands performing at halftime. Tate will be in
the visiting team clubhouse at the stadium. “It’s been fun for me to see how open these two schools have been to this event,” said Shannon Hannah, the Blue Wahoos events manager. “They seem to be happy for the partnership. “Since we first announced in
ugust this game being played here and calling it the First City Bowl, the schools have been super responsive, excited and enthusiastic about to play the game here. “It’s a community experience,” said Hannah, who worked with both schools to handle logistic challenges. “We have never done this before and I think the kids are going to be excited to play here and have the experience of playing here.”
For both teams, the game represents a positive way to end the season. Washington won its season-opener, but has since lost the other seven games. “I think it was an easy trade (when proposal to was made months ago) on moving our home game to a professional baseball stadium that is one of the best in the country,” said Wildcats coach Ryan Onkka. “This will be our senior night moved to a new place. That will be a unique experience and a great first- time experience for these kids. “To us, it’s like our Super Bowl. That is how we will view it to build off and welcome it.”
Tate (4-5) will have a chance to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2017. The Aggies have already made significant strides under head coach Rhett Summerford, working his second season at Tate. The Aggies had won just one game in each of the previous four seasons. “It’s huge,” Summerford said, after his team dropped its third consecutive game in a loss at Escambia. “I am so glad we are playing there (at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Because it gives our kids some excitement. “We need some excitement now. Our guys are still playing their tails off, but we’re just not doing some of the things we were doing earlier this year. “We are playing in a phenomenal venue. It’s a great way to send our seniors out. We are going to prepare and play as hard as we can to play our best.”
WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
ADMISSION: $7.
TICKETS: Available online at www.bluewahoos.com/tickets. Or stadium box
office.
INFORMATION: www.bluewahoos.com/firstcitybowl.
PROMOTION: Early-arriving fans will receive special light-up bracelets,
courtesy of Cox Communications. There is a limited number.
GAME INFO: Seating is general admission, no reserved seating. Both teams’
bands will perform at halftime. Other special activities will occur.
Ice Flyers Towering Goaltender Makes Memorable Debut In Team’s OT Win
October 29, 2023
By Bill Vilona
Ice Flyers Correspondent
Earlier this month, Ice Flyers fans were informed about the likelihood of a 6-foot-8 goaltender making his debut at the Pensacola Bay Center.
Well, Stephen Mundinger’s first professional win Saturday certainly became memorable.
Mundinger, who waited last season for an opportunity that never happened, stopped all five shots in overtime as the Ice Flyers won a crowd-thrilling 3-2 win against the Huntsville Havoc and gaining a split of the teams’ home-and-home dual games this weekend.
“It was awesome,” said Mundinger, who played at the University of Maine, one of the nation’s top collegiate hockey programs. “Definitely has been a long time coming. I was happy to do it in front of these awesome fans here. And my teammates were great in front of me to make it very easy.
“They were dominating, so it was nice to have a shootout be the first one (win).”
Mundinger, 26, a Smithtown, New York native, actually celebrated twice Saturday. After stoning the Havoc’s fourth shooter, Doug Elgstram, who produced a hat trick in Friday’s 5-2 Huntsville win and the first goal Saturday, Mundinger reacted as if he had won the game.
So did the Ice Flyers teammates and the game announcer, causing a brief celebration as fans began exit.
Oops, hold on. Overtime shootouts are five shooters. So, the Ice Flyers, fifth shooter, Dante Zapata took his turn and was stopped. Then the Havoc’s Carter Cowlthorp was thwarted by Mundinger who this time was embraced in victory.
“It was a roller-coaster of emotions there,” said Mundinger, laughing. “I definitely got all hyped up there. But I had to focus back in. And what’s better than two (celebrations)?”
The Ice Flyers Brett Mecrones, who made his pro debut a week earlier in the Ice Flyers’ season-opening win, was the only goal-scorer in the shooter. He got a wrist shot past Huntsville’s Brian Wilson before all the drama ensued.
The win was gratifying for the Ice Flyers on a number of elements. They again fell behind 2-0 in their building in a quick set of second-period goals. They tied the game in the same period.
In the third period, they had a pair of power play chances and couldn’t get go-ahead goal. In the final 22 seconds of regulation play, three different Ice Flyers players had good shots that got stopped.
“It was exciting,” said Ice Flyers coach Gary Graham, whose team is now 2-1 after its first back-to-back games with travel involved. “Last week we got down 2-0 in our big home opener and showed resiliency and again you see it from the group (Saturday).
“The guys just stuck with it.”
After a scoreless first period, the teams combined on a four-goal flurry within an eight-minute span in the second period.
The Havoc took a 2-0 lead on goals only 63 seconds apart. The first was on a breakaway against Mundinger when Elgstram made a deke move and slipped a shot under a sprawling Mundinger. The second one came on a 2-on-1 and perfect pass that Brandon Osmundson buried.
“Boy is that an opportunistic Huntsville team,” Graham said. “I mean, we weren’t giving them much of anything and then, boom-boom!, all of sudden you are down 2-0. It was like were scratching and clawing and doing so much good stuff and before you know it, you’re blinking.”
The Ice Flyers then got the crowd energized when Ivan Bondarenko poked in a shot amid a scramble in the crease area with 12:14 left in the period.
Five minutes later, the Ice Flyers crashed the net with several players. The puck came lose and Dallas Comeau flicked it off his stick into the net, tying the game.
“We knew the only way you’re going to beat Huntsville is you got to win in the trenches,” Graham said. “You have to get in ugly, dirty areas, because those guys are so good defensively and they’ve shown that in the first three games they won.
“We talked about it, saying it can’t be about pretty plays, it can’t be about the perimeter, we got to get the nuts and bolts areas and we did a good job of it.”
Mundinger played four seasons for the Maine Bears, a 50-year history that includes two NCAA Division I national titles and eight appearances in the “Frozen Four” the major college hockey version of the Final Four.
His goaltender teammate was Jeremy Swayman, now in his fourth year with the Boston Bruins. Mundinger a year ago was in two ECHL camps and hoping for an opportunity, but it didn’t happen, so he sat out the entire season.
“He’s one of those rare gems,” Graham said. “He went to Cincinnati’s camp last year, didn’t make the team, decided not to go to an SPHL team. He thought he would be an ECHL goalie – he’s got a real good goalie coach– and that happens to a lot of guys coming out of college.
“So he chose to work with his goalie coach in Long Island and waiting for an ECHL team to call and never got a phone call.”
Earlier this month, Mundinger was back in Cincinnati’s camp, plays an exhibition game and he comes to us to develop and that’s what he is here to do.”
“So that was his first pro win (Saturday). He’s going to remember that one.”
For sure.
The game also included the Ice Flyers promotion as the “Small Dog Fright Night” with races between each period.
There was also post-game trick-or-treating with costumed fans on the upper concourse and autographs with Ice Flyers players.
Late TD Gives No. 24 Valdosta State 31-28 Win Over No. 18 UWF
October 29, 2023
Never was the old axiom about winning everywhere but on the scoreboard more apparent than in No. 18 UWF’s heartbreaking 31-28 loss to Gulf South Conference rival No. 24 Valdosta State Saturday night.
By most measures, the Argos (6-3, 4-2 GSC) outperformed the Blazers (8-1, 5-1 GSC). Yet, in the final tally, both on the scoreboard and in the GSC standings, Valdosta State came out on top.
UWF held the Blazers to minus-3 yards rushing and 272 yards of total offense while racking up 444 yards of offense (248 rushing and 196 passing), but a series of miscues – a fumble inside their own 5, a pair of missed kicks, a handful of passes that were ever so slightly out of rhythm, a key missed fourth-down conversion, and a few defensive hiccups – added up to three points too few.
“We’ve got to clean up mistakes,” head coach Kaleb Nobles said. “I’m looking at the stats and we won a lot of stats and did some good things, but there are no moral victories. Our guys have got to know. We’ve got to execute on third downs better. We’ve got to get them off the field better. On defense, we can’t give up drive-extending plays, and we’ve got to be better on special teams.”
Early in the contest, the Argos seemed poised to run away with the game. They quickly went ahead with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Peewee Jarrett to John Jiles on UWF’s first drive and followed with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Jamontez Woods 1-yard run and a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
It was the first of two rushing touchdowns on the night for UWF as three players – Jarrett (120 yards), Woods (51), and CJ Wilson (70) – paced a strong ground attack.
Unfortunately, a second-quarter fumble on the UWF 3 resulted in a scoop-and-score for the Blazers and turned the game’s momentum.
“Those guys did a great job,” Nobles said. “I told the guys earlier in the week I wanted to run the football. We had good chances to run the ball. Peewee’s one of our best guys running the football. I gave him a lot of carries and he wants to do that. Best quarterback in the country in my opinion. He’s going to throw the ball well. He’s going to run the ball well.”
Nobles added, “I know everybody is going to focus on the fumble that flipped the momentum, but we are not in that game without CJ, Jamontez, Peewee, Jalen Bussey, those guys.”
In reality, the Argos shook off the fumble reasonably well. Indeed, after Valdosta State tied the game at 14, Jarrett connected with Jiles on a 33-yard pass to push to put UWF up 21-14.
The game would enter the break tied, though, after Blazers quarterback Sammy Edwards scored on a 6-yard run to cap a late-second-quarter drive that covered 77 yards.
Valdosta State didn’t hold a lead in the game until the 0:36 mark in the fourth quarter when Edwards connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass with Ted Hurst.
Jarrett guided the Argos to within field goal range with 1 second to play, but a 51-yard attempt by Griffin Cerra went wide right.
“Unfortunately, kicking is the toughest job on the team … because everybody’s watching you and everybody knows when you mess up,” Nobles said. “You can get covered up at other positions. Griff is going to know, because I am going to tell him enough this week, ‘Hey, it doesn’t change anything. You are our guy. You are the guy I trust, and you are the person we are going to put out there to go make plays … We trust Griff and we know he’s going to help us win games down the stretch.”
POSITIVE TAKEAWAYS NOT HARD TO FIND
Despite the disappointing outcome, there were plenty of positives for the Argos.
The defense, under first-year coordinator Kavell Conner, continued to impress, holding the Blazers to abysmal rushing numbers while keeping Edwards under duress most of the contest.
All told, the Argos sacked Edwards five times and registered seven quarterback hurries.
Junior defensive end Byron Puryear was a constant presence in the VSU backfield and ended the game with two-and-a-half sacks and four hurries to go along with six tackles.
“Get to the quarterback, that’s my job,” Puryear said. “Especially on third down. They brought me here to pass rush and that’s what I was trying to do.”
Senior linebacker Gael Laurent was the team leader in tackles with eight. Defensive tackles John McMullen (1½ sacks) Collin Shaw (1) accounted for the other tackles-for-loss on the Blazer quarterback.
Offensively, Jiles continued to rack up yards and touchdowns. His five receptions for 92 yards and two scores was a team-best and bumped his season tally to 49 catches for 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver Caden Leggett was again solid, hauling in three passes for 50 yards.
STILL MUCH TO PLAY FOR
After the game, Argos players and coaches expressed a mixture of emotions – frustration about a game that slipped away, but also optimism for a season in which a postseason berth is still within reach, although no longer a given.
“We literally don’t know what the future holds for the playoffs, so the best thing you can really do is win out,” Jarrett said. “If you win out, you put the ball in the NCAA’s hands.”
Puryear added, “We’ve still got to play two games for the rest of the season. Nobody is going to quit on each other. We are just going to try to win out and see what it holds.”
For UWF, whatever the future holds will be decided on what the Argos do on the road next week against Mississippi College, where a 2 p.m. Saturday showdown with the 3-5 Choctaws awaits.
Although he said he wanted his team to let the loss “sting”, Nobles stressed that the team putting the Blazers in their rearview mirror quickly would be key as would maintaining the strong character they’ve displayed all season.
“Coaching in the good moments is easy, but coaching in these moments is when you really find out who you are as coaches and as men,” Nobles said. “I told those guys, don’t lose your belief. Don’t lose the heart that you’ve got. Don’t change who you are just because we lose a game. We’ve still got a chance.”
UWF returns home on Nov. 11 for the regular-season finale, a Senior Day contest against Chowan.
by UWF/photo Emily Miller/UWF
Friday Night Football Scoreboard
October 27, 2023
Here are Friday night football scores from across the North Escambia area:
FLORIDA
- Escambia 52, Tate 19
- Pine Forest 42, Washington 6
- Walton 46, Pensacola 0
- Jay 35, Wewahitchka 22
- Gulf Breeze at Navarre
- Pace 27, Milton 7
- Pensacola Catholic 56,West Florida 35
- Baker 32, Pike Liberal Ars 24
- BYE: Northvew
—
- Flomaton 41, Monroe County 28
- Fort Dale Academy35, Escambia Academy 22
- Escambia County 28, at Orange Beach 15
- T.R. Miller 47, St. Michael Catholic 44
- Excel 39, W.S. Neal 46
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Friday Night Football Schedule
October 26, 2023
Here is the schedule of high school football games from around the North Escambia area Friday night.
FLORIDA
- Tate at Escambia
- Pine Forest at Washington
- Walton at Pensacola,
- Jay at Wewahitchka
- Gulf Breeze at Navarre
- Milton at Pace
- West Florida at Pensacola Catholic
- BYE: Northvew
—
- Monroe County at Flomaton
- Fort Dale Academy at Escambia Academy
- Escambia County (Atmore) at Orange Beach
- T.R. Miller at St. Michael Catholic
- Excel at W.S. Neal
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Northview Boys Golf Advances To Regionals
October 24, 2023
The Northview High School Boys golf team placed third out of 15 teams at districts to advance to regionals. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Molino Lady Bugs Win 8U Monster Bash Tourney
October 24, 2023
Coach Jonathan Weaver’s Molino Lady Bugs won the two-day 8U Monster Bash Tournament in Robertsdale, AL last weekend. The tournament consisted of 19 teams in the 8U Division alone.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
