BAKER – It was the same song with a different verse as Baker hosted Graceville for the second straight year in the Region 1-1A football semifinals.

And for the second straight year the home crowd left Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium smiling.

The family of legendary Baker sprinter Houston McTear, who passed away Oct. 31, was recognized in a pregame ceremony. The Gators then made Houston proud with a 26-0 win.

“It’s awesome,” Baker Coach Matt Brunson said. “Our kids have been fighting and preparing all year. To have defensive performance like we did tonight against a team as athletic as Graceville, I thought that was awesome.

“Our kids have worked hard and gotten better all year. I think we are peaking at the right time.”

Jon Beck threw touchdown passes of 22 and 54 yards and Montae Barto scored twice, the first on the 22-yard pass from Beck and then late in the third quarter from five yards out to help seal the win.

Barto’s touchdown catch came on a swing pass to the left flat with a second left in the first quarter to put the Gators up 6-0. Josh Springle added the extra point and Baker was in business.

Beck’s second touchdown pass, the 54-yarder, was a fly route to Kalee Ciurleo, who was streaking down the west sideline. Ciurleo made a spectacular juggling catch to secure the ball and outran the Tiger defenders to the end zone with 9:33 left in the half.

Baker added a safety sacking Tiger quarterback Preston Nichols in the end zone with just under four minutes left in the half.

Springle closed out the scoring in the first half with a 40-yard field goal to put Baker up 19-0 at the intermission.

Graceville (7-4) took the opening kick of the second half and drove into Baker territory before being forced to punt. The drive took more than six minutes off the clock and seemed to seal the fate of the Tigers.

Baker got the ball on its own 6-yard line and marched 94 yard on 10 plays to put the game out of reach. Barto finished the drive but Jalen Ciurleo was a workhorse in moving the ball for the Gators gaining 31 yards on the drive.

Graceville had one final chance to score as time was running out, but Nichols fumbled inside the Gator 5-yard line and Logan Cadenhead jumped on the ball to secure the Baker shutout.

The Gators finished the night with 361 yards in total offense. Baker had 180 yards rushing and 181 yards passing. Graceville had 207 yards in total offense.

Baker (8-3) will host Vernon on Friday in the Region 1-1A finals.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker shuts out Graceville (PHOTOS)

BAKER — A hopeful march to a state football championship starts Friday, when Baker hosts Graceville in the Region 1-1A semifinals at Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium.

The game is a rematch of last year’s playoff opener, which the Gators won 21-7.

“Last year, we played them in the first game of the regular season, and in then in the first round of the playoffs,” Gator Coach Matt Brunson said. “So we are familiar with some of their personnel. Grant Thomas, the offensive coordinator from Niceville, took over the Graceville job last year.

“They are 7-3, just like we are. They  are the runner up in District 2 to Vernon. They have to come to our place Friday night, and we are glad we are getting them at home.”

Graceville operates out of a spread offense with senior quarterback Preston Nichols as the triggerman. Nichols’ top target is sophomore receiver Camerot McClain.

The Tigers will line up in a base 4-3 defense.

“They’ve got some guys on the defensive side that are college prospects,” Brunson said. “We are going to  have our hands full against a very athletic Graceville team.

"I think our guys are playing well, even though we hit a bump in the road last week (losing to Liberty County). We are looking forward to it; having home-field advantage in the playoffs is going to be big.”

Brunson said his biggest concern is Graceville’s team speed.

“Last week we saw a lot of speed at Liberty County, and we didn’t handle it real well,” he said. “If you let them (the Tigers) get on the perimeter, they can go. We are going to have to contain them and get some guys to tackle them.”

Brunson hopes Friday’s game will be just the first step of a playoff push.

“We are trying to get hot at the right time and make a little run,” he said. “We want to represent North Okaloosa County well.

“We want to invite everybody to come out for a great high school football game.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker hosts Graceville in playoff opener

It was a tough night for Baker School's football team Friday as the Gators fell to Liberty County 55-39 in a battle of Class 1A district champions.

Montae Barto led the Gator attack with 101 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Jalen Ciurleo added 87 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

Gator quarteback Jon Beck had 55 yards rushing and 106 yards through the air.

Baker (7-3) hosts Graceville on Friday in the opening round of the playoffs.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker falls to Liberty County

GULF BREEZE  — Crestview had less than 250 yards in total offense Friday night at Dolphin Stadium against a gritty Gulf Breeze team.

But the Bulldogs came up with big plays on defense and special teams when they were needed. In the end the offense did just enough.

Rusty Moorer hit Keenan Redd with a 6-yard scoring pass in overtime to give the Bulldogs a 27-24 win.

“You always want to end the season on a positive note,” Bulldog Coach Tim Hatten said. “We lost so many close games that we should have won.

“We needed to win a game that was close and finish the game at the end. I’m happy about the way we competed and I’m glad to finish 5-5.”

Crestview intercepted three Gulf Breeze passes and turned a blocked punt into a touchdown as the Bulldogs often had the Dolphin offense on its heels.

Gulf Breeze was driving on its first possession when Capri Jones intercepted a Tristan Covell pass in the end zone to turn back the only scoring threat of the period for either team.

Crestview struck first in the second quarter when Lajonte Watson recovered a blocked Dolphin punt in the end zone. Sam Johnson got the block for Crestview.

The Dolphins came back and scored two twice in the quarter on touchdown passes from Ricky Alexander to Cole Shepherd. The first pass covered 12 yards and the second four yards as Gulf Breeze took the lead.

Crestview tied the game in the third quarter with Corey Armstrong scoring the first of his two touchdowns from a yard out with 3:59 left in the quarter. The score was set up by Malcolm Galbreath’s second interception of the game.

The interception gave the Bulldogs a first down at the Dolphin 12-yard line. An 11-yard run by Antryon Gloster set up the 1-yard score by Armstrong. Seth Kootsouradis added the extra point as the Bulldogs tied things up.

Gulf Breeze (2-8) regained the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 57-yard run by Tyler Dittmer.

The Bulldogs took the ensuing kick and drove 69 yards to on five plays to tie the game. The big play of the drive was a 39-yard pass from Moorer to Alik Whited.

Armstrong finished the drive with a 2-yard run.

Crestview won the toss in overtime and went on defense and forced a field goal.

The Bulldogs had a third and goal from the six when Moorer connected with Redd for the game winner.

Gloster led the Bulldog attack with 104 yards rushing on 15 carries. Crestview finished the night with 123 yards on the ground.

Moorer was 12-of-23 passing for 121 yards.

Tight end Matt French had one catch for 53 yards. Whited had to grabs for 47 yards.

Crestview finished the night with 244 yards in total offense. Gulf Breeze had 311 yards in offense.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview ends season with win over Dolphins (PHOTOS)

NICEVILLE — David Jackson — nicknamed "Djack" in the Niceville locker room — looked like he hadn't played a single snap.

After the shaking of hands with the Crestview players Friday, Jackson was the first one to race toward the post-game team huddle where coach John Hicks stationed with a single fist-pump after a 38-3 rivalry win.

Jackson was a little more animated.

The senior left tackle was jumping 3 feet in the air for shoulder bumps, chest bumps and every other celebration with his teammates.

He looked fresh despite playing a full 48 minutes — but that's what winning the District 3-6A championship feels like.

"I feel we put in work from day one," he said. "I was excited. I was happy. We didn't want to lose to (Crestview) again."

Jackson refers to the 17-12 loss at Eagle Stadium — where Niceville (8-1, 3-0) has won 17 straight — and he and his offensive line comrades were a big reason the Eagles defended their home grass.

Niceville running back Deonte Sheffield had 180 yards from 19 carries and the Eagles totaled more than 220 rushing yards against a Crestview defensive line that includes a Division I college prospect, senior Marcus Flavors.

"They've got some good players," Jackson said. "From the first play, we had to give them body shots."

For the Bulldogs (4-5, 1-2), this signals the end of any postseason hopes with Choctaw beating Fort Walton Beach and clinching the district's No. 2 playoff berth.

Niceville started a running clock when quarterback Tyler Russell pushed into the end zone from a yard away. That ended the third quarter with the 38-3 tally. Before that, it was a lot of Niceville running the ball and Russell lobbing pretty passes into the end zone.

 Sheffield opened the scoring midway through the first quarter, and Russell's first pass went 32 yards to a falling-down Romeo Finley in the end zone.

By contrast, Crestview quarterback Rusty Moorer fell down in disappointment after his best chance for a touchdown bounced off his wide receiver's hands in the second quarter. Crestview settled for Seth Koostouradis' 27-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 14-3. That score became 21-3 before halftime when Russell hit Jake Bari for a 21-yard lob to the corner of the end zone.

Moorer tallied 153 passing yards and the Bulldogs rushed for 154 yards, 62 from Moorer.

Russell, who had 176 passing yards, gave kudos to his offensive line — which, along with Jackson, includes Andrew Gudson, Donnie Brechtel, Jacob Nihill, Matthew Marks and Kini Makaneole.

"The offensive line just had a great push the whole game," Russell said.

Sheffield scored from 21 yards away to start the second half's scoring, and put the district title in the Eagles' hands yet again.

He agreed, too — "Djack" and the rest of the offensive line deserved to catch a second wind after the game. District titles are special, and they helped make it happen.

"I'm really impressed with them," Sheffield said. "This summer, we started slow. We didn't think we would have a good running game, but they came on strong.

"We can run the ball whenever we want."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview falls to Niceville