Shoal River won the opening toss and deferred allowing Davidson to receive the opening kick. Manwell Robinson made the Mustangs pay returning the kick 80 yards for a Panther touchdown. Fifteen seconds into the game Davidson had a lead it would hold the entire way en route to a 40-16 win.

“It’s always a rivalry,” Davidson coach Chris Small said. “They know each other. They around each other.

“They play with each other. It’s always a great fight.”

Small stressed the importance of the opening kick return for the touchdown.

“We had a great start,” he said. “It was a great kick return from Manwell. You always want to get on top early no matter what you are playing.”

That great start continued when Small went with an onside kick recovered by the Panthers at the Shoal River 49-yard line. Four plays later Davidson quarterback Hayden Graham connected with Ali Ingersole on a 44-yard pass play for a TD. Raymond Rentz took the all in for the 2-point conversion as Davidson led 14-0 two minutes into the game.

The Panthers showed their ability to move the ball throughout the first half with Graham spreading the football around the field in a preview of a player that could one day be leading the Bulldogs.

Graham’s favorite target was big tight end Austin Stanley.

A rain-soaked second quarter slowed the pace of the game and the ability of either team to move it as Davidson held the 14-0 lead at the half.

The football gods continued to shine on Davidson in the opening minutes of the third quarter. The Mustangs fumbled on their first play from scrimmage of the quarter.

Graham recovered the fumble. Seven plays later, with the Panthers facing a fourth down and 25 yards to go, Graham teamed up with Stanley for a 52-yard touchdown pass. Stanley shook off several would be tacklers on his march to the endzone as the Panthers moved the lead to 20-0.

Davidson’s next score came courtesy of quarterback Chasen Lawrence finding Zach Smith an 8-yard touchdown pass. Ingersole scored the 2-point conversion increasing the lead to 28-0 with a minute left in the third period.

The Mustangs finally got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Amir Reese scored on a 4-yard run. Landon Scott scored the 2-point conversion.

By that time it wasn’t a matter of if Davidson would win, but by how much.

The Panthers had a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns from Jonathan Duenas on runs of 20 and 54 yards.

Reese scored his second touchdown of the night for the Mustangs from a yard out. Malachi Akins scored on the conversion.

While happy with the win, Small wasn’t about to declare the Panthers a contender for the county championship.

“I’m not really sure what this means going into the season,” he said. “We had a lot of mistakes we have to clean up. We saw some good things.

“We just have to be able to polish some things up if  we are going to make a run at the county championship.”

At 24, Connor already has an impressive resume coaching girls basketball having been the head coach at Central High School and headed an AAU program. Crestview High School principal Jay Sanders announced on Wednesday that Connor will succeed Steve as the head coach of the Lady Bulldogs.

Connor checks all the boxes Sanders was looking for in a girls basketball coach. He has a passion for the girls game and has already accumulated a wealth of experience. Most importantly, he isn’t looking to use the position as a steppingstone to a boys opening and he’s a man of integrity.

“For me it came down to a coach whose number one priority is the girls basketball program,” Sanders said. “I was also looking for coach that had girls head coaching experience.

“He’s a bright, energetic young coach. I’m excited to see where he takes our program.”

Williams couldn’t hide his excitement for getting the job.

“It feels really good to be at Crestview,” he said. “I’m just so pumped. This is my first rodeo in the big leagues with the big schools.”

Connor has developed his own coaching style with a blend of those he has worked with and been around.

“I like to be a run and gun kind of team,” he said. “I like for us to control the pace of the game both offensively and defensively. I feel like if you are the one to attack, rather than absorb the hit the other team give you, it gives you the upper hand.

“I think that’s a very similar philosophy to what my dad does and did. I think that’s why he found success here at Crestview because we have the right pieces (players) to do it and it’s going to find a lot of success here.”

Connor helped his father as a volunteer assistant and paid assistant for several years before embarking on his own head coaching career at Central. He had recently returned to the CHS staff and has worked with the team throughout the summer.

Not only is he familiar with the players he’ll be coaching, he also knows the ins and outs of Okaloosa County teams and most of the local opponents the Bulldog will be facing on the court.

Connor believes his youth is more beneficial than harmful as he takes over the Crestview program.

“I’m very big on tying life lessons into practice and team meetings,” he said. “I believe my perspective might be a little more relatable to them (the girls) and that helps them trust me because I get what they are kind of experiencing. It’s a little more relevant to my age.”

Connor played high school basketball at Paxton and was a student manager for his father with the Lady Bobcats. He was dual enrolled at Northwest Florida State College while in high school and graduated with his associate degree at the same time he graduated from high school.

He continued his education at the University of West Florida where he was a student manager on the Lady Argo basketball team adding to his wealth of basketball knowledge.

Only time will tell if Connor is able to accomplish the things Steve has in the coaching ranks. One thing that is certain is Connor embraces the challenge of following in his father’s steps while trying to make his own path.

“I want to instill that the legacy my dad started will live on (at Crestview),” Connor said. “He has a way about him of creating winning cultures. It’s defining what we represent on and off the basketball court.

“I want to keep the same culture and I want people that are going to buy into that and really continue what my dad started. I’ve been told that I have some big shoes to fill. In a way I want to fill those shoes, but I also want to create my own footprint here.”