Bulldog coach Thomas Grant has been working with his team throughout the summer in shorts and shirts. Adding the helmets the first week gives players a chance to get acclimated to the head gear again before the fun starts.

There has to be a certain mentality and toughness to enjoy hitting. Grant said the Bulldogs have it and credits past members of the offensive line with helping incorporate that into the program.

“I think it’s a mindset for us and all credit goes to the guys a few years back to Bryson Norris and Luther Fagalima,” he said. “We’ve produced some really you know good offensive fronts but we’re going to be very young this year.

“We have one returning starter Michael Foley. To be totally honest, he might be the most important person on the team. He knows every single call.”

Foley, who starts at center, is so well-versed in the Bulldog offense that running backs and receivers will ask him what they are do on any given play.  

“He might be the smartest guy on the team,” Grant said.

Hitting will help separate the offensive linemen as the Bulldog coaches look for the right combination of players to join Foley.

Grant is expecting big things and big hits from other players as well.

Sean Johns and Keishawn Smith should provide big hits from the secondary. Smith will also contribute at outside linebacker.

Vili Tolutan arrived on campus in June and has looked good working at linebacker and a hybrid position on offense. Grant has yet to see Tolutan in pads, but the coach thinks he’ll like what he sees.

“I’m really excited to see him in pads,” Grant said. “He could be a force in the middle for us. Reece Kilian is another name that you should hear a lot about. He’s going to be a junior.”

Jaden Appleby, Karson Kolmetz, Maddox Reeves, Byron Williams and Gabriel Gotley are a few of the players Grant sees stepping up and hitting hard.

This year’s rendition of the Bulldogs will be younger than the 2022 squad. But there is depth at every position, which will keep players battling for playing time each practice.

“I’m just excited to see everybody compete to be honest with you,” Grant said. “It’s going to be competition every day. You know the depth chart is going to change every single day.

“You have a great day you. You can’t rest on what you did yesterday. You got to get ready and hopefully that consistency will help us moving forward.”

First, they must navigate the regular season and hope to accomplish enough to make the playoffs.

Playoff berths aren’t as cut and dry as they once were. Yes, a district champion receives the automatic playoff spot, but then the computer takes over to determine the remaining teams.

That’s where the regular season schedule comes into the picture. Wins only count as much as the quality of the opponent you beat.    

Breaking down teams based on last year’s results can be tricky, but sometimes that’s the only way to do things.

Crestview’s 10 opponents were a combined 46-60 last year. The teams scored 2,723 points while allowing 2,923 points. That’s an average of 25.7 points scored and 27.6 points allowed.

The Bulldogs open the season at home on Thursday, Aug. 24 against Tallahassee Rickards. Crestview stays at home for games against Gulf Breeze and Choctaw before hitting the road for the first time.

Games at Pace and Niceville will be followed by home games against Chiles and Mosley. It’s back on the road at Leon and Milton before closing the season at home against Fort Walton Beach.

Four of those teams; Rickards, Choctaw, Pace and Niceville were in the playoffs last year. Rickards, which plays in the three-team 3S District 2 and beat both Arnold and Leon to make the playoffs losing in the first round to Pine Forest.

Choctaw, Pace and Niceville were the only three teams on the Bulldog schedule to finish the 2023 season with more wins than loses. Niceville’s record was the best at 9-2. The Eagles beat Crestview in the regular season, but lost to the Bulldogs to open the playoffs.

Gulf Breeze, Mosley and Chiles all finished the year 5-5. Milton was 3-7, Leon 1-9 and Fort Walton Beach 0-10.

Four teams; Chiles, Fort Walton Beach, Gulf Breeze and Leon have new coaches.

The Chiles job opened up in June when former Crestview head coach Kevin Pettis was fired by the Leon County School District for undisclosed violations.

Crestview has to replace several starters from last year’s team, but having a coaching staff intact makes a big difference. And the Bulldogs will be talented, although young, across the board.

I see wins against Leon, Fort Walton Beach, Milton, Rickards, Chiles and Gulf Breeze.

Mosley, Choctaw, Pace and Niceville are toss up games. Mosley and Choctaw are home games which should give the Bulldogs the edge to win those games.

Niceville should be the toughest game on the schedule. Playing at Niceville with a veteran quarterback gives the Eagles the advantage.

Pace will be the most physical team on the Bulldog schedule. If Crestview can match the physicality of the Patriots, their athleticism should be the difference.

Crestview was 7-5 last year with three of those loses coming by a combined eight points. The little things that cost the Bulldogs those games also cost them a host spot in the playoffs and a higher seeding

Six home games is an advantage for the Bulldogs. Look for Crestview to finish the regular season 8-2 losing on the road to Niceville and Pace.

First, they must navigate the regular season and hope to accomplish enough to make the playoffs.

Playoff berths aren’t as cut and dry as they once were. Yes, a district champion receives the automatic playoff spot, but then the computer takes over to determine the remaining teams.

That’s where the regular season schedule comes into the picture. Wins only count as much as the quality of the opponent you beat.   

Breaking down teams based on last year’s results can be tricky, but sometimes that’s the only way to do things.

Baker plays nine regular season games and should win eight of them.

The schedule starts out at home against South Walton followed by road games at Destin and Bozeman. It’s back home for the War on Highway 4 and then on the road to Lighthouse Christian Academy.

The Gators get a tough Northview team at home, travel to Tallahassee to face Florida A&M High, are at home against Freeport and close out the season at Pike Liberal Arts in Troy, Ala.

Last year, Baker’s opponents went a combined 39-54. Only two teams, Northview, 13-1 and South Walton 6-5, had winning records.

Northview and South Walton made the playoffs as did Bozeman and Freeport. Both Bozeman and Freeport finished the year with 5-6 records. Two of Bozeman’s losses were to Baker.

Five teams on the Gator schedule won three or fewer games in 2022. Two of them, Destin and Lighthouse, only won one game.

The scoring differential was as might be expected by teams a combined 15 games under .500. The Gator opponents were outscored 2,575 to 1,844. Northview and Freeport were the only teams that scored more than 300 points during the season.

Destin could be a trap game for Baker. Yes, the game is only the second one of the season, but that has nothing to do with why the Sharks could pose a threat to the Gators.

Destin is in its second season of varsity football. And, with the open transfer policy in place, the school has reportedly welcomed several players that could help the Sharks immediately.

Baker’s three losses in the regular season came at South Walton and Northview and at home against Blountstown. Those teams scored 122 points on Baker. Chipley scored 39 points on Baker in the playoff loss.

The Gators scored 324 points last year, but only a total of 30 in the four losses. Twice, to South Walton and Blountstown, Baker was shutout.

In Baker’s eight wins, the Gators outscored their opponents 294-88.

Gator coach Barry Gardner said his team will be young and perhaps a step slower at certain positions. Baker will have to rely on technique and a surge up front to keep the opposing offenses honest.

The Gators will also have a dangerous offense running the Wing-T. It’s nice to have a big threat back as has been the case with Kayleb Wagner, but four or five yards a play is more than sufficient to move the ball and get to the end zone.

Coming off a career-best 775 yards rushing, Stanton has now rushed for 2,516 yards at Samford, and sits number four on the career rushing leaders at the Birmingham, Ala., school. He is 607 yards shy of moving into second place in school history for yards rushing.

The school rushing record of 4,575 yards seems out of reach, but Stanton has his sight set on a big goal heading into his final college season.

“I’m going to try and break that 1,000-yard goal (for a season),” he

aid. “If I can pass that, it will be my biggest goal.”

There have only been eight 1,000-yard rushing season in Samford history and four of those were by Chris Evans, the leading rusher in school history.

Not only would Stanton become just the sixth Samford running back with 1,000 yards in a season, he’d also secure that second-place spot in school rushing history.

The motto at Crestview High School is, “Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog.” Stanton took that to heart when signing with Samford, which also has a Bulldog mascot.

That wasn’t lost on his mother, Alison, when they were on his official recruiting visit to the school five years.

“It was kind of funny because when I went on my official visit my mom was, ‘If you come here, you will always be a Bulldog,’” he said. “And I was, ‘Yes mam.’ And that’s the way it turned out.”

Stanton credits his high school experience as a Crestview Bulldog for preparing him for college football. The offense Crestview ran under former coach and current CHS athletic director, Tim Hatten, was similar to the style employed by Samford.

“Coach Hatten, coach (Thomas) Grant (current CHS head coach and former offensive coordinator) and coach (Tim) Gillis are all good coaches,” he said. “They prepared me for all the big moments, the drills we do with the plays we call.

“They gave me the first stepping block for the offense I’m in now.”

Everything about Division 1 college football is bigger than high school football. That said, Stanton’s experience against the top talent in Northwest Florida did prepare him for big games at the college level.

“Playing at Crestview prepared me very well,” he said. “I kind of had some skepticism going into college. I kind of had some nerves, but I first got in for my first play, I noticed it’s kind of like high school.

“It’s way bigger in college than high school. But it’s the same skill like being down here playing Niceville or Choctaw. Our offense (at Crestview) was pretty fast, but in college, coach (Chris) Hatcher, my head coach, we run an offense super fast.”

Not only was the tempo of the game a step up in speed from high school to college, so was speed of the athletes. Stanton was usually one of the fastest players on the field at Crestview. He’s just another player that can run fast in college.

“I’ve had to make an adjustment with guys running a 4.4, 4.5 (40-yard dash), but I can compete with them,” he said.

Stanton hopes to remain around football after his playing days. He’s majoring in psychology in hopes of becoming a sports psychologist.

“Being an athlete, and being around athletes every day, I know how athletes think,” he said. “I’d like to be able to help them.”

Stanton’s football journey will probably bring him back to Crestview for at least one night somewhere around 2029 or 2030 when he should be inducted into the Crestview Bulldogs Sports Hall of Fame. Whether or not he rushes for 1,000 yards this season or moves into second place on the list of career rushing leaders at Samford, Stanton been equally successful as a Samford Bulldog as he was a Crestview Bulldog.

Stanton admits that he isn’t one for motivational speeches and quotes. He does have simple message for everyone chasing a dream.

“I’m not a big inspirational quote guy,” he said. “But if you are willing to put in the work to chase your dreams, your dreams will come true.”

The Bulldogs had been off two weeks since their spring game May 19 and Grant was pleased with what he saw in the first week.

“The kids didn’t come back in too bad of shape,” he said. “They were ready to go. So far with the varsity group we’ve had 100 percent in attendance. It’s been a really good week.”

Close to 150 players are at summer workouts, and the group includes freshman, junior varsity and varsity players.

“Right now, we’ve still got some kids trickling in that have to finish up summer school at the middle schools,” Grant said “And with all the houses going up, people are just moving here.”

Grant has been impressed with how quickly the incoming players have picked up what they will need to do. He credits that to Davidson Middle School coach Chris Small and Shoal River Middle School coach Ryan Gillis and their staffs as well as the youth league coaches in Crestview.

Grant, now in his second year as the head coach, wants to continue to build bonds and lines of communication within the Crestview football community.

“I’ll talk football with anybody,” he said. “I know that I’m going to be talking with Pop Warner and CAYA (Crestview Area Youth Association), coach Small and coach Gillis, I’m an open book.

I feel like we are all in this together; us, the community, the middle schools, the youth programs,” Grant continued. “We’re lucky to have one high school in this town so we are all in this together. We are one big staff.”

Grant was ready to welcome the incoming freshmen as they made their move from middle school football at Davidson and Shoal River.

“If there is an incoming freshman that can help us on the varsity, they are going to play varsity,” Grant said. “We are playing the best 11 people on the field; offense, defense, special teams (regardless of year in school).

“Luckily, the state of Florida gives us a six-quarter rule now. In any scenario, they get to play six quarters a week,” Grant added.

Grant said a player might play two quarters on varsity and four quarters on junior varsity in a given week, or vice versa. The number could also be split where a player plays three quarters for each team.

“It’s (the rule) huge for the development of our kids,” he said. “Before we were having to make the decision on backups when to play them. Now we get the best of both worlds. You can only get better by playing.”

Before the freshman have a chance to play junior varsity or varsity, they will first have to make it through the summer conditioning program and learn what it takes to work at a high school level.

Grant, who is now in his second year as the Bulldog head coach, plans on having players work out Monday-Thursday, with Friday being a makeup day. This year he’s adding a new wrinkle to the way summer drills are done.

“We’ve always had our freshmen coming separate, but this year we have varsity, JV and freshman are going to come in at the same time,” he said. “We’re just going to kind of split them up into groups.  I want the older kids to be able to show the younger kids how they do things and how we compete and how we lift.

“I think that’s going to help the learning curve for some of the guys,” Grant continued. “I think that’s going to help some of the older guys and they’re kind of a coach’s role and the mentor role and help them. We’re going try that for the first month and see how it goes.”

When the players return after the mid-summer break, they will be more divided into the primary team they will play on in the fall.

“That will be about 40 days out from playing the actual game (to start the season),” Grant said. “But for the month of June, they’re all coming in together.”

The groups will rotate between workout stations as they work together on conditioning and weightlifting.

The first three or four weeks of summer will be football basics of making sure players understand the offense and defense as well as what they are required to do.

There will also be work on techniques for each position as the state prohibits teams from going in pads until the start of preseason practice in August.

Grant plans on having some seven-on-seven passing competitions even if most are Bulldogs against Bulldogs. Those will likely be on Wednesday nights.

Grant hopes to bring several teams in one night near the end of July for a big passing tournament.

“We’re just trying to give them as much knowledge as possible so they will be able to get out there and play fast,” Grant said.