Sports Archive

Seniors on the Baker volleyball team exited their home court one final time on Friday after the Class 1A state semifinal match with Union County. As has been the case for so many matches the last four years, the seniors left winners.
The Gators defeated the Tigers in three sets by scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-19. Baker, the number two 1A team in the state will face top ranked Liberty County on Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Time in Winter Haven at Polk State College.

Perhaps the only surprise in Thursday night’s football game between Crestview and Fort Walton Beach was it took the Bulldogs a little while to get going. Once they did it was all over in a 41-3 Crestview win.
Sloppy play by Crestview, that in part could be credited to a tenacious Viking squad, allowed Fort Walton Beach to take an early 3-0 lead on a field goal by Elijah Oswald with 7:09 left in the first quarter.

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 has been a rough year for the Vernon Yellow Jacket football team.
The team’s head coach, Trey Pike, was killed in a boating accident in early August.

It seems like old times for the Baker School volleyball team. Or at least it might seem somewhat like 2020. That was the last time the Gators appeared in the Final Four.
Baker is headed back to the Final Four thanks to a sweep of Chipley on Tuesday by scores of 25-20, 25-18, 25-16. The Gators will host Union County on Friday at 7 p.m. The winner of the match will play for the state championship on Nov. 11 against the winner of Liberty County-Williston.

The Okaloosa County Middle School Football Champion again resides in Crestview.

The Davidson Panthers claimed the title beating Pryor 36-12 in a game played on Oct. 20 at Choctaw High School’s Joe Etheredge Stadium. The win avenged a 32-0 loss to the Pirates earlier in the season.

A playoff spot is still a possibility for the Crestview football team as the Bulldogs travel to Fort Walton Beach on Thursday to take on the Vikings. Game time is 7 p.m. at Steve Riggs Stadium.

The game is being played on Thursday because there is a shortage of officials in the area and this is the only way games can be covered.

About the only way Leon could slow down the Crestview offense on Friday was by showing up late.
The Lions didn’t arrive in Crestview from Tallahassee until 7:20 for a 7 p.m. game. By the time the teams warmed up, Crestview’s Homecoming 2022 was delayed by an hour.

It was business as usual as the Baker volleyball team hosted District 1-1A rival Central in the region volleyball semifinal on Thursday night.
Powered by 15 kills from Maddie Mills the Gators swept the Jaguars in three sets by scores of 25-10, 25-11, 25-23.