Sports Archive

The unofficial start to high school football season has arrived.

Crestview High School will be one of the first teams in the area to hit the field as the Bulldogs travel to Escambia for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Gators on Thursday night in a preseason Kickoff Classic.

The Crestview High School football team took a trip to Gulf Breeze on Saturday morning to take part in what was one part scrimmage and another part officials clinic.
It was a beautiful morning in Gulf Breeze that was probably more suited for a day on Pensacola Beach. the heat index reached 112 degrees by 11 a.m.

Standing 5-foot-10 and weighing around 250 pounds, sophomore lineman Makani Abdon is what one might think of as a typical Baker Gator football player.

He might be a tad small and a step slow, but he makes up for those shortcomings with the intangibles of smarts, toughness and heart.

The familiar rhythm of football echoed across the Crestview practice field.

The calendar might say early August, but there’s a sense of urgency with the Bulldogs counting down the days until they travel to Escambia Aug. 17 for the Kickoff Classic with the Gators.

A sure-fire sign that high school football season is upon us is the annual Meet the Bulldogs Night.
The big event is set to take place on Friday, Aug. 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Jack Foster Stadium. Cost is five dollars.

Javin Shoemake will be trading the so-called tools of ignorance for the green, green grass of home next spring.
Shoemake the catcher on Crestview High School’s baseball team the last few seasons has graduated and signed to play at Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Ala., where he will move to the outfield.

There’s a saying in sports that great teams don’t rebuild, they reload.
The Baker football team has been great the last decade having gone to the playoffs for 10 consecutive years and having won at least one playoff game each of the last nine years. The highlight of the run came as the Gators won the 2020 state championship

There are athletic scholarships that award more money than the Whitney Megan Langley Memorial scholarship. There are athletic scholarships that some would say carry more prestige. But it’s hard to deny the meaning before the annual award is given to a graduating Crestview softball player.

The 2023 recipient was catcher Alex Carroll.

Baker football fans that can’t wait until the Kickoff Classic on Aug. 18 to scratch their football itch are in luck.
Baker School will host Meet the Gators Night on Aug. 11 and feature teams from the Baker Area Youth Association as well the school’s middle school, junior varsity and varsity teams.

Crestview senior Lazarius Parks has been a Jack of all trades throughout his Bulldog football career.
If the coaches needed a big play from a wide receiver, they knew they could rely on Parks. If they needed a change of pace at running back, they would give the ball to Parks.