Baker School's football team has plenty to be proud about after the Gators beat Graceville 21-7 Friday for their first playoff win since 2001.

However, the work is only starting if Baker is to make a run for its first state championship since 1993. But as Gator Coach Matt Brunson said after the win over the Tigers, “You have to win the first one before you can get on a roll in the playoffs.”

Any team that wins the Class 1A state championship will earn it. The eight teams left in the Class 1A playoffs have a combined record of 65-13.

Four teams — Baker, Vernon, Trenton and Dixie County — have won 10 games.

Trenton is the defending Class 1A state champion and Blountstown, the 2013 runner up, is still in the hunt after beating Liberty County last week.

The Gators will be tested Friday when they travel to Vernon to take on a red hot Yellow Jacket team that has won 10 straight games. Vernon has averaged 44.2 points a game while holding its opponents to 9.2 points a game, during the winning streak.

That’s not to say the Yellow Jackets can’t be beaten. They lost their season opener 27-16 to a Chipley team that finished the year with a 3-9 record.

And it’s not always wise to look at how many points a team has scored. Some coaches don’t mind pouring it on the opposition, but Brunson is one of the quickest coaches I’ve seen to take his foot off the accelerator when a game is well in hand.

One of my favorite sayings from the old television Western, "The Big Valley," comes from Heath Barkley. Heath once said, “There ain’t a horse that can’t be rode and there ain’t a man that can’t be throwed.”

Heath Barkley might not have been grammatically correct, but his point is pertinent when it comes to things like high school football playoffs. Another way to put it is expect the unexpected on any given Friday night.

Brunson has done a tremendous job in his four years at Baker. In his 42 games as the Gator head coach the team is 33-9 and has back-to-back District 1-1A championships and10-win seasons.

Brunson was an assistant coach under Jeff Webb in 1993 when the Gators won their last state championship. I recently saw Webb, who is retired and living in DeFuniak Springs, at the Baker-South Walton game. Webb told me he thinks this year Brunson has done his best job of coaching a group of kids and getting the most out of them.

Brunson will need to do another great coaching job Friday night if the Gators are to advance to the semifinals. At this point in the season every game is worth fighting for and anything is possible.

Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Anything possible in playoffs

Last Friday night, most of Crestview High School's senior football players played their final game of sanctioned tackle football. And some time in the next few weeks, most of Baker School's seniors will play their final game.

A few players probably have a chance to play college football at some level, but the rest must reconcile themselves to the pickup game on a side lot somewhere or intramural flag football.

For years, the University of Tennessee celebrated seniors' final game with a ceremonial last tackle. The last tackle took place at the end of the final regular-season practice and was a tackle on a tackling dummy. The dummy would be wearing that week’s opponent, which was traditionally Kentucky or Vanderbilt.

Every senior got to take part in the last tackle, from the walk-on who never got to play in a game, to the starting quarterback. Each senior had his moment.

I always liked the tradition of the last tackle. That symbolic tackle represents closure for players who give so much to a game that is so physically and, at times, mentally demanding.

Most former football players never get the game out of their systems. Something about football challenges you in the heat of August and calls you on a cool Friday night — even 40 years after you played your last game.

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I was backup football player for two years at Gulf Breeze High School. I appeared in four games, made one tackle, almost blocked a punt against Niceville and managed to lose my shoe on a play that went 50 yards.

My high school career by most standards was forgettable, but it was the only one I had, and I still cherish my time as a Dolphin. And all these years later, I still long for one more game — preferably against Milton — and one more tackle.

My best friend, Ken Hardy, was the first Gulf Breeze football player to receive a football scholarship. Ken played college football at Auburn University from 1976 to 1979. He had a few offers to try out for National Football League teams, but his body was so beat up he decided to move on to life after football.

A few years ago, Ken — along with his wife, Helen, and son Heath — and I were talking about being former football players. Heath, who was only a few years removed from his high school playing days, admitted that he missed it and I was quick to agree.

Helen then turned to Ken and said she had never heard him talk about missing playing, to which he replied, “I miss it every day, but talking about it won’t change things.”

I can assure every young man about to leave their football careers behind that life does go on without playing football.

Life can be full of seasons of change and excitement that brings challenges greater than any experienced while playing the game.

But football will always call and serve as a reminder of special days of youth.

Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: A last game of football

A lot has happened in the four years since Baker School head football Coach Matt Brunson moved from the same job at Crestview High School to his alma mater.

The Gators have enjoyed four straight winning seasons and back-to-back district championships. Baker also is riding a 20-game regular-season winning streak heading into Friday night’s regular-season finale with South Walton.

Brunson has proven to be the right man for the job at Baker. I think that if anyone can take the Gators to their fifth state championship, it’s him.

Things haven’t gone so well at Crestview since Brunson answered the call to make the 11-mile trip home.

The Bulldogs have had two coaches, three losing seasons and have not made the playoffs. Last year’s 5-5 campaign was the best season Crestview has had since Brunson took the Bulldogs to the playoffs in 2010.

On the surface, things aren’t sunshine and rainbows for Crestview's program. But I believe that Bulldog Coach Tim Hatten will turn things around in the next year or two. Fans just need to be patient and let him do a job he’s plenty qualified to do.

STAYING OPTIMISTIC

Hatten won at the high school level at Haines City. He won at the junior college level in Mississippi when he coached Pearl River Community College to a national championship.

Will Hatten win a state championship at Crestview? I don’t think anybody knows the answer to that question, but there are reasons for Bulldog fans to be optimistic about the program's future.

Crestview's freshman and junior varsity teams lost just three games between them. Middle school football in Crestview is riding high with Davidson and Shoal River playing for the Okaloosa County championship Thursday night.

The current Panthers and Mustangs could be part of a foundation that will have Crestview High School's football team in the mix for years to come.

UNPREDICTABLE FUTURE

Of course, nobody knows how well a player will do as they step up in competition. Some athletes continue to get bigger, stronger and faster. The tailback that was the middle school star often becomes the star on the high school team.

There are cases where kids who grow early stop growing. The dominating lineman in the seventh or eighth grade becomes just another player at the high school level.

Players get hurt and are forced to give up the game. And there are times when a 15- or 16-year-old decides football, or some other sport, is no longer fun. And there are parents and athletes who think they see greener pastures at some other school and transfer.

Matt Brunson is building something special at Baker. Given time, I think Tim Hatten also can build something special at Crestview.

I hope fans of both teams will support their coaches and players, wherever they are in the building process.

Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Thoughts as football season winds down