Baker started with a heavy run offense and began chipping away at the Tigers’ defense downfield. Unable to convert, Blountstown took over on downs and scored on its first play. But Baker answered back soon enough with a pass from Dawson Mitchem to Ray Rentz in the end zone.

The Tigers scored once again to regain the lead, but Baker’s defense prevented the two-point conversion from being successful. The Gators’ special teams once again stepped up when it mattered, and Elijah Lindros recovered a mishandled punt by Blountstown to set up the Gators in scoring position. Chasen Lawrence then punched it in to take a 14-12 lead.

After the half, Baker and Blountstown were at a stalemate. Neither team found the end zone for the majority of the third quarter. Lindros once again stepped up with a touchdown-preventing interception.

It was a tough fight between two top teams in the 1A classification, and head coach Matt Brunson commended Blountstown’s toughness but knew Baker had sown a good seed.

“Well, they are kind of setting a standard for the North in 1A, and we battled them jokers. But what our guys did is fought for four quarters, and what I told them at halftime is the next 24 minutes are going to set the tone for the next six weeks, and we’ve competed at a very high level,” Brunson said. “This was a physical football game, so we’re going to be fine, but them guys played hard.”

Baker continued to try and find ways to progress downfield and found some success with the passing game. Bridger Noffke broke free of his defender and came down with a touchdown catch to close the gap. Sam Kollar followed suit with a two-point conversion reception.

The Gators put in a last-ditch effort in the final minutes to try and close the gap once again but fell shy of converting. Even with the loss, Brunson is excited to see how his team will grow moving forward.

“Over the next six weeks we’ll definitely see what we’re about and we’re going to keep playing, but I’m excited,” Brunson said.

Baker will be back at home next week as previous rural district rival Central pays a visit to Doug Griffith Stadium.

Aubrey Kelley is a reporter for the Crestview News Bulletin.

To contact him, email him at aubrey@sandpaperpublishing.com

Unfortunately, a penalty by Crestview and a decent run by Lincoln allowed the Trojans to kick a field goal with four seconds left to win the game 13-10.

When looking back at how the game started, Crestview had Lincoln’s number. In a game of inches, the Bulldogs had the Trojans fighting for yards. Defensive end Landon Scott was anywhere and everywhere on the field for Crestview.

In the first quarter, Lincoln was making haste toward the end zone, but Scott had been shedding past the offensive line and getting in the backfield in a hurry. He did so once again and caused Lincoln to fumble the ball that was then secured by Ali Ingersoll.

With the ball in Crestview’s possession, Zy Tassin entered the game for what many thought would be a true first look at the senior quarterback. A quick scramble to the outside three plays in set Tassin on the sideline for the remainder of the game, making room for Brock Spears to take the field.

Spears commanded the offense for the rest of the game for Crestview. The first half was all ground game for the Bulldogs with Manwell Robinson, Trevin Ford and Jayden Goldsmith each getting reps in the backfield. Robinson had two great runs once Crestview finally trudged its way downfield, finding the end zone with 5:35 left in the first quarter.

The Trojans were eager to answer Crestview back, but not before JD Dortch jumped in front of a quick screen pass for an interception. As the Bulldogs took over on offense, they began having some issues moving the ball downfield. Eventually, Crestview settled for a field goal from Elijah Rice to make the score 10-0.

Crestview was about to enter the half with a 10-point lead, but Lincoln still had time on the clock. A quick out route was successful in getting the Trojans within field goal range, where they settled for three points before halftime.

The second half of football was a defensive battle between the two teams. As each team fought to gain traction, neither could make its way downfield. Crestview had a chance to increase its score by another three points after Rayshaun Cargle caught a deep pass down the middle of the field, but the field goal attempt was wide.

With four minutes left in the game, Crestview needed to run out as much time as it could. Try as they might, the Bulldogs were unable to move the chains to try and get the game clock to zero. Lincoln took over and found a receiver in the back right corner to tie the game 10-10.

The Bulldogs fought hard all the way until the bitter end. A chip-shot field goal with four seconds left was all that stood between starting the season 1-0 or 0-1. The Bulldogs will travel to Enterprise, Alabama, on Friday, where they’ll face another top-tier opponent.

Aubrey Kelley is a reporter for the Crestview News Bulletin.

To contact him, email him at aubrey@sandpaperpublishing.com