football Archive

The scoreboard was still on late Friday night as Baker head coach Barry Gardner, fighting back tears much the way his players were trying to do, gathered his team near the far end zone and talked about the curtain lowering on the season.

Legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Dancing is a contact sport. Football is a hitting sport.”

Lombardi would have liked Baker senior Brayshawn Baker. The Gator cornerback would rather hit someone and cause a fumble than make an interception and score.

When Cecil Purdue speaks, it’s barely above a whisper. But when he steps on the football field, the Crestview senior lets his play do the talking for him. Purdue is a Swiss Army Knife type player that can line up at receiver, running back, linebacker or safety. He’s a reliable member of the “hands team” when Bulldog coaches expect the opposition will try an onside kick.

It will seem like old times on Friday when the Crestview football team hosts Milton in a 7 p.m. game at Jack Foster Stadium. Players, cheerleaders and coaches from the 2002 Class 3A state runner up team will be honored at half time.

Most people think there is only one quarterback at a time on a football field. And while the might be true as far as the position goes, a team needs quarterbacks at other positions getting the team lined up correctly.

If someone wants to know what a lean, mean, quarterback sacking machine looks like, they need go no further than Crestview’s Jaylen Knox.

t’s been a tough 11 months for Baker football player Tucker Martin.

Martin, a senior, injured his knee late last season. He underwent surgery shortly after the 2021 season ended and has been working his way back ever since.

Lazarius Parks does a little bit of everything for the Crestview football team.

He is a wide receiver and can line up on the outside or in the slot. He is one of the best running backs on the team. And he can play quarterback if needed.

Following a disappointing loss, like the one Baker suffered at the hands of Northview, many teams would get dismayed. But not the Baker Gators. Under the Friday night lights on Sept. 30, the Baker Gators played host to the Lighthouse Christian Academy Stingrays.

Last year, Lighthouse held Baker to just nine points. Friday night looked a bit different, as the Baker Gators defeated Lighthouse 48 to 7. They earned their fourth win of the season behind a running game that produced six touchdowns on Friday night.

Identical twin brothers Devin and Jaden Voisin have shared a lifetime of memories together as star athletes. They were standouts football, basketball and track at Crestview High School before following older brother Keon to the University of South Alabama after graduating from CHS in 2019.