Sports Archive

It was tough going for the Crestview volleyball team on Tuesday. The Lady Bulldogs faced a high-flying and talented Navarre squad in what could be, if both teams stay on track, a playoff preview later this fall.

At times Monday’s volleyball match between host Baker and South Walton was close. There were exciting rallies. And fans were often on their feet cheering the respective teams. Close sets, exciting rallies and cheering fans weren’t enough for Baker though. When the dust had cleared, it was the Seahawks walking away with a 3-0 win by scores of 25-17, 25-23, 25-11.

First-year Baker cross country coach Devan Miller has a good mix of experience and youth on his team. Seven runners will compete on both the boys and girls teams and he expects to have athletes that will do well throughout the season.

The 2023 class for the Crestview Bulldogs Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted on Friday, Sept 1 at a Hall of Fame reception. The inductees will be introduced at halftime of that night’s football game between Gulf Breeze and Crestview.

To the untrained eye, there wasn’t anything pretty about Baker’s season opening football game at Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium on Friday. The Gators hosted a talented South Walton team that not only had more players, but more athletes as well. Unfinished Baker drives on offense coupled with big plays from the Seahawk offense was the story of the game in a nutshell as South Walton took a 35-7.

Local high school and middle school football teams are the only groups that have been preparing for the 2023 season. The group of men, and sometimes women, fans and coaches alike love to hate, have been hard at work as well. It’s hard to imagine the chaos that would take place on the field without the officials.

The season opener football game for Crestview High School was filled with promise early on. The Bulldogs were up 15-0 at the half on a visiting Rickards squad from Tallahassee. But, as everyone knows, football is a sport that is played for four quarters. The Raiders scored all 24 points of their points in the second half. Rickards’ final score, a touchdown pass from Benjamin Henry to tight end Jalen Wiggins, came with four seconds left in the game giving. The touchdown gave the visitors the 24-23 win.

Barry Gardner enters his second season as the Baker head football coach facing the same expectations the fans that pack Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium have every year, a run for a state title.

The Gators might play in the smallest classification in the state. And, with just 22 players on the varsity roster, Baker has one of the smaller squads in the state, but that doesn’t change the emphasis of winning at Baker.

There were no changes to District 2-4S, which is what Crestview will compete in this fall in football.

The Bulldogs will again be joined again by Tallahassee schools Chiles and Leon as well as Mosely and Niceville.

Dress rehearsals are complete. There are no more Kickoff Classics or scrimmage on the schedule.

The Crestview Bulldogs open the 2023 season in the friendly confines of Jack Foster Stadium on Thursday when they host Rickards. The Bulldogs hope the season concludes in early December with a 4S state championship.