“I’m so excited,” he said. “I’ve been ready to go to work. I’ve been waiting on this for a long time.”

Baker’s season ended October 27 and since then, Armstrong, who went both ways was as an offensive and defensive lineman, has been letting his body recover and doing training in anticipation of his college career that starts in a few weeks.

Armstrong is going to be an early enrollee at Mercer and will arrive on campus January 5 to get a head start on his college career.

“I’ve fully recovered (physically) and I’ve been trying to get faster and stronger,” he said. “Football has been everything to me. It’s all I wanted to do.

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’m so glad to be a part of football and the lessons it has taught me.”

Baker coach Barry Gardner shared some stories about how he has watched Armstrong grow as a football player through the years.

Longtime Baker coach and athletic director Matt Brunson, who is now at Opp, Ala., and was a teammate of Rob Armstrong, Kurt’s dad, at Troy State, also shared some thoughts about the younger Armstrong. Brunson not only coached Kurt his freshman and sophomore years at Baker, he has known him since he was born.

Brunson said it was obvious that Kurt was going to be born to play football.

Armstrong is the second Gator football player in as many years to sign a Division I scholarship joining Kayleb Wagner who signed with Southern Illinois last year and just completed his redshirt freshman season.

Gardner noted the importance of the day not only for Armstrong, but for the Baker football team as well.

“I think this is huge,” he said. “The more people that see this happen, the more believe it can happen. Last year we had Kayleb (sign) and this year we have Kurt.

“That’s always a good thing to have back-to-back years with kids signing.”

Armstrong joins several other Baker athletes that have signed scholarships this fall. Gardner said the reason Baker kids get scholarships in so many sports is because they have a reputation for hard work and doing thing the right way.

Gardner said the Bears are getting an offensive lineman with his best football in his future.

“You can’t teach size in an offensive lineman,” he said. “He’s 320 or 330 and he looks good (trim). And he moves pretty good for a boy that big. That’s what they are excited about at Mercer.”

For years the FHSAA put the top two teams from each district in the playoffs. Now, four district champions and four at-large teams based on computer rankings make the playoffs.

With a 4-6 record this year, the Crestview football team wouldn’t have made the playoffs even in the old format. The fact is youth and injuries was the story of the 2023 Bulldog season that while disappointing, offers a lot of hope for the years to come.  

The Bulldogs opened the season with a one-point loss to Rickards. Week two was the Hall of Fame game against Gulf Breeze. Crestview beat the Dolphins 35-21 and things were looking good. 

Five consecutive losses, including three shutouts, doomed the Bulldogs’ season. 

The losing skid started with a 49-27 loss to Choctaw. Pace beat the Bulldogs 28-0 for the first of three shutouts in a four-game stretch.  

A 42-21 loss to Niceville followed as the Bulldogs were down several key players in that game.

Losing to Niceville 42-21 the Bulldogs did some nice things despite being down several key players. 

Chiles then beat the Bulldogs 35-0, spoiling homecoming. A 35-0 loss to Mosley followed.

The Bulldogs closed out the season with wins over Milton, Leon and Fort Walton Beach. Crestview beat the Panthers 49-22, took care of the Lions 39-14 and held off the Vikings 35-28. 

All football teams must deal with injuries and the Bulldogs seemed to have their share of injuries and then some.  

Senior leaders at running back and receiver, Lazarius Parks and Jaden Appleby were injured much of the season, which, at times, brough the Crestview offense to a standstill.  

A young offensive line was forced to grow up on the fly against a tough schedule. Freshmen and sophomores were a huge part of the Bulldog offense and defense as the season progressed. 

Sophomore Patrick Rogers developed into one of the top running backs in the area as did freshman Manwell Robinson.  

Braylon Phillips will be back for his senior year next fall and can play multiple positions on both sides of the ball. 

For the second-straight season the Bulldogs will have to replace the starting quarterback. Turtle Nocher did a standout job in his lone year as the starter, throwing for more than 1,500 yards. He also was a reliable runner when the Bulldogs needed tough yards on the ground from the quarterback. 

There will be big shoes to fill at center with the graduation of Michael Foley. Maddox Reeves was invaluable wherever he lined up, be it on the offensive line, defensive line or at linebacker. 

Crestview should rebound in 2024 as the freshmen and sophomores on the 2023 Bulldogs gained a year of experience that should make them better players.

In many ways the game was a snapshot of the season, only better.

The Bulldogs finished the season with a 4-6 record after a 1-6 start. Crestview had a three-game winning streak to close out the year and fought to the end to improve. It would have been easy to go through the motions down the stretch, but the Bulldogs played to win.

Friday’s game didn’t start well either. One could say it was the single-game equivalent of a 1-6 start to the season.

Less than eight minutes into the game Crestview trailed the Vikings 14-0. Fort Walton Beach running back Eddie Love Jr. scored on a 65-yard run with 6:20 left in the first quarter. Less than two minutes later, Crestview quarterback Turtle Nocher fumbled when he was hit from the back and Viking linebacker Harrison Orr took it 45 yards to the end zone with 4:44 showing on the clock.

Instead of taking flight, the Bulldogs stayed to fight. And fight they did. The blind side hit would be the only Crestview turnover of the game while the Bulldogs forced three fumbles and recovered on onside kick.

“We love high school sports, but it is a high school football game,” he said. “We always want to be a great football player, but it’s also becoming a better man. What are you going to do when adversity hits you in the face?

“I was even more proud this game that we’re down 14-0 and we have two options, fight or lay down, and we fought. We fought way back and then we ended up winning.”

The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard on a 1-yard run by Nocher with 6:30 left in the half. The Vikings blocked the extra point and Fort Walton Beach was up 14-6 at the end of the half.

For the most part, Crestview owned the second half.

Patrick Rodgers scored from 16 yards out on the first drive of the second half and Nocher had a little pin ball action on his 2-point conversion pass that went off the hands of Braden Hood and into the arms of Braylon Phillips to tie the game at 14-14.

Rodgers accounted for 50 yards on the 64-yard drive. Nocher hit Hood with a 9-yard completion and Jace Green with a pass good for five yards for the other plays in the drive.

The Vikings wasted no time in taking the ball downfield and scoring on the first possession of the half.

Love Jr. scored on a short run with 6:40 left in the third quarter as Fort Walton Beach moved back in front.

That lead lasted 2:33 as Rodgers scored on a 7-yard run and Ethan Myers added the extra point to tie the game at 21-21.

Nocher hit Phillips with a pair of passes the covered 27 yards as Crestview took advantage of a short field in scoring.

The field was anything but short on the next Crestview drive when the Bulldogs took the lead for good.

It looked as if Manuel Robinson had gained more than 60 yards on a run from deep in Crestview territory only to have the play called back on a holding penalty.

The hold was followed by a motion penalty against the Bulldogs who were suddenly facing a second down and 18 at their own 14-yard line.

There was nothing to worry about as Rodgers not only picked up the 18 yards needed for the first down, but the remaining 68 yards to the Viking end zone. Myer’s extra point with 1:04 left in the third quarter put the Bulldogs up 28-21.

The drive was set up by a Viking fumble that was recovered by sophomore safety Gabriel Gottlieb.

Crestview was dealt what could have been a major blow on the extra point when Phillips was ejected fro allegedly hitting a Fort Walton Beach player.

But the night belonged to the once beleaguered Bulldogs who refused to let the Vikings spoil their final dance of the year.

The final Fort Walton Beach drive of the third quarter carried over into the fourth quarter before stalling on a fourth down play deep in Bulldog territory.

A 52-yard run by freshman Manwell Robinson was the final Bulldog touchdown of the game. Myers kicked the extra point and Crestview led 35-21 with less than eight minutes left in the game.

The Vikings scored the last points of the game on a 17-yard pass from Johnny Lewis Jr. to Love Jr.

Crestview started the final possession of the game with 6:18 left on the clock. The Bulldogs controlled the ball the rest of the quarter with Nocher taking a knee in victory formation on the final two snaps as Crestview secured the win.

Bulldog senior Lazarius Parks entered the season with high expectations, but he battled injuries and the loss of his mother during the season. Walking out of Jack Foster Stadium with a win was special way to end the year.

“I can never get those things back,” he said. “It was hard this year because you never know what’s going to happen. It’s nice to get the win.”

Senior center Michael Foley said it was important for the seniors to finish strong even with the playoffs no longer an option.

“It was amazing tonight,” he said. “We just had to keep fighting like we have the last three games. It was important for us to win out and keep challenging the guys coming back.”

The Bulldogs (3-6) enter the game coming off back-to-back wins over Milton and Leon. Fort Walton Beach (5-4) is coming off a 41-0 loss to crosstown rival Choctaw last week.

Without any hopes of the Bulldogs making the playoffs, after a practice earlier this week, Grant said there is still plenty of Crestview to play for heading into the offseason.

“I was with offensive line group today and we had 12 guys down there,” he said. “I said, ‘Raise your hand if you’re a senior,’ and only three guys did. That means we got nine players coming back in that position group that’s been getting faster reps all year long.

“It’s important for us because it’s another opportunity to get better. It would be a great springboard to The Bulldogs made quick work of Fort Walton Beach last year in a season the Vikings were winless and only scored 42 points all year.

The arrival of former Gulf Breeze head coach Bobby Clayton and several key transfers have turned things around at FBHS.

After surrendering 358 points to opposing offenses last year, the Vikings have only allowed 180 points this year. The Vikings will have increased their offensive output by 200 points if they can score seven points against Crestview.

Not only has Fort Walton Beach been bolstered by the arrival of a new coach, several players have transferred into the program helping elevate the program.

Perhaps the two biggest additions have been quarterbacks Johnny Lewis Jr. and Harrison Orr.

Dante Core, a junior cornerback, is another key transfer that has already received scholarship offers from several colleges and universities.

The Vikings will be a 4-3 defense relying on four big bodies up front to free the linebackers to make tackles.

The Fort Walton Beach offense will give Crestview several looks but will first try to run the ball.

Grant emphasized the importance of Crestview continuing to play the way it has in recent weeks with the offensive line doing its job and letting the game come to the Bulldogs.

“I’m very happy with what we’ve done in the past two weeks,” Grant said. “But we can’t relax on what we’ve done the past two weeks. We got to get better this week and finish this year strong.”

The game wasn’t without its share of drama. Baker held a 24-0 lead at one time before holding off the home team.

As has been the case throughout the season, sophomore running back Wyatt Straight led the way.

Straight had an astounding 46 carries for 256 yards and three touchdowns. In the last two games he has rushed for almost 600 yards and eight touchdowns.

Straight wasn’t the only Gator to find the end zone.

Connor Hamman had 44 yards rushing on seven carries and scored a TD. Lane Brewer scored a touchdown gaining 30 yards on eight carries as Baker ran for more than 300 yards.

The Gator defense was led by Kurt Armstrong who had six tackles and a sack.

Brewer, Dustin Clark and Joseph Blackshear each had five tackles.

As of Saturday, Baker (3-6) did not have a Week 11 game schedule. Gator coach Barry Gardner was still hoping to find an opponent for the now open Nov. 3 date.

Davidson took down Bruner 39-0 in the championship game on Oct. 19.

Panther coach Chris Small understands how difficult winning a championship is and how special back-to-back titles are.

“You know it comes in cycles,” he said. “Last year was an unbelievable feeling because we hadn’t done it in so long. I felt like this year we had a target on our backs.

“We were the team to beat, the favored team so it was it was a bit of a relief to be able to pull it off with some dominant players.”

Quarterback/linebacker Chasen Lawrence spearheaded the Panther attack replacing Zy Tassin, who earned a starting role on the Crestview varsity as a freshman.

“We knew he (Lawerence) was a good player, but we didn’t he was a great player,” Small said. “He was our leader. He was a force.

“He is the only kid that I’ve ever had that was captain for every game. He’s average height, but he’s as strong as an ox.”

The championship game with the Spartans was expected to be a battle. In turn, the battle became a run away win for the Panthers when Bruner’s best offensive player suffered a concussion early in the game and was unable to return.

If the star of the Spartans had played the full game, Davidson had devised a plan to shut him down. Whether the plan would have worked will never be known. What is known is the Panthers took care of business.

Lawerence, Kenneth Parker and Jacobe Gilyard had big games for Davidson’s offense. RaRa Traywick had some big receptions in the win as well.

“There were a lot of kids that were blocking really well on the offensive line,” Small said.

That line included Jy’lin Thomas, Stone Coburn and Max Hardy among others.

Small said Bruner scored the first two times it had the ball only to have the touchdowns called back by penalties. Things then swung in favor of the Panthers as they roared to the big win.

Small and the Panthers can now aim for a three-peat, which might just be in the realm of possibility.

With eight starters we got coming back the Panthers will definitely be in the hunt next year.

For now the team can savor what was a special 2023 season.