Sports Archive

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.

With the official start of fall practice earlier this week the countdown to the 2023 football season has officially started.
The Baker Gators travel to Northview Aug.18 for the Kickoff Classic with the Chiefs. They open the season at home against South Walton a week later on Aug. 25.

John Carlisle is slowly but surely settling into his new office in the Baker School fieldhouse.
The longtime Baker softball coach and assistant football coach has traded his math classroom and coaching gear for the trappings of athletic director.