Chiles, Madison County, more open up the year with preseason wins | Big Bend football Week 0 roundup
The wait is over!
Big Bend football is back as 11 different area teams were in action Friday night from as close as Bradfordville to as far as Niceville. Not only did we get to see live football for the first time in months, but a handful of teams walked away victorious.
Here is your Big Bend football Friday night roundup for Week 0.
►Big Bend football: Here is everything you need to know for the 2022 season
►Won not done: Munroe focused on improvement following dominant win over NFEI
► BIG BEND FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS: Munroe 40, NFEI 0
Chiles 33, Sebastian River 6
Chiles (1-0) head coach Kevin Pettis enjoyed a victory over some old friends from his old job at Sebastian River (0-1) when his team drubbed the visiting Sharks, 33-6 in the Kickoff Classic.
At the game's onset, it seemed like the contest between would be some good, competitive football. The teams played each other stiffly in the first quarter as both teams went scoreless. Then everything changed.
Chiles erupted for 30 points in the second quarter to begin a dominating performance.
Assisted two fumble recovers and a safety forced by the Chiles, senior running back Tre Jones scored three touchdowns — two rushing and one receiving from Taylor Jacobs, Jr.
"I want to thank my o-line and the defense for doing what they had to do," Jones said. "My coaches keep pushing me and I'm keeping my head down to keep grinding."
Junior wide receiver Ryan Sumner also scored on a reverse play.
"We saw what they were doing and got a feel for it because we don't gameplan for the Kickoff Classic," Pettis said. "It snowballed on them a little bit when good things started happening. Tre made some big plays and got everybody juiced up. Defense made plays, and next thing you know it was 30-0."
Halftime was met with a lightning delay, which lasted for an hour. The second half featured the reserves where Sebastian River got its first and only score of the night on a 1-yard touchdown score in the third quarter. Bobby Engstler kicked a 30-yard field goal in the third for Chiles' lone points of the half.
"I was happy with how the offensive line played early, but disappointed in how we played late," Pettis said, who coached at Sebastian River from 2013-2017. "Tre Jones and Trent Hartung both played well. I'm not happy with how we played after the hour delay — it was in hand and we let our guard down."
Chiles's next contest will be a short trip to Wakulla on Aug. 26, a team that they defeated 42-7 a season ago.
"Wakulla's always a very good team," Pettis said. "Scott Klees does a heck of a job. For us, we got to eliminate the penalties and work on our eye discipline in the secondary." - Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat
Madison County 25, Wakulla 14
"New year, new coach, same mission. Welcome Coach Harris"
That was Madison County's pregame banner on Friday night before the Cowboys ran right throughout. It pretty much held true from quarter to quarter seeing Madison County oust Wakulla, 25-14, in its Kick-Off Classic matchup.
It was a game of firsts for the Cowboys. Head coach Price Harris's first game at the helm, the first game at home since winning that 1A state title in December, and the first look at what Madison County was brought to the field this fall with a different look from last season.
"We're just happy our guys rose to the challenge and I was really happy about how hard our guys played," Harris said. "That's Madison football. You play hard, you're physical and everything else takes care of itself."
Wakulla did have the jump early on in the game, making it inside the Cowboys' 10 late in the first quarter before missing a chip field goal, swinging momentum in favor of Madison County. The Cowboys ran with the momentum, seeing guys like senior defensive back Jonathan Akins dominate on both sides of the ball.
While Akins didn't find the endzone, he brought in massive yardage throughout the night and put Madison County in strong field positioning as well. His game on the rush only got better in the offseason, seeing him run a 10.70 100-dash at 1A state finals this spring.
"We played together, the offense looked pretty good and I'm feeling good," Akins said. "I was just trying to score early on in the game. I was just running through people and just did what I can do."
Senior defensive back/wide receiver Oshea Akins, senior quarterback Jamie Hampton, junior defensive back/wide reliever Tre’vion Gillyard, and senior defensive lineman/wide receiver Latoris Young had the scores for Madison County. They're preparing for Carrollwood Day next week on the road.
"We've just got to get better," Harris said. "We blew a lot of assignments and messed up some stuff that we should've had. For us to have a chance to do what we want to do this year, we're going to have to get better each and every week. They're going to be talented and disciplined, and they're [Carrollwood] is going to be a tough team."
The War Eagles come out of Friday's game benefitting from having the matchup be a practice game before heading into the regular season schedule. War Eagles head coach Scott Klees said that he saw the offense accelerate higher than expected, but the defense perform a little under expectations.
Senior running back Xavier Blake and junior wide receiver Marquez Johnson had a pair of scores for the War Eagles. They host Chiles next week in what Klees is expecting to be an extremely competitive matchup.
"We started 22 different players tonight no matter what," Klees said. "Nobody went both ways. Some played both ways, but no one started both ways. We gave everyone a shot tonight that earned it. We're going to have some guys playing both ways, and that's just from being a young team."
"Our schedule is brutal, but it doesn't stop for us. Every week is going to be a tough game. We've just got to continue to get better, and we seem to do that. We've got a formula at Wakulla we stick to." -- Jack Williams, Tallahassee Democrat
Lincoln 14, Niceville 11 (half)
For Jimmie Tyson, Eagle Stadium has no peer.
So it was fitting that in the aftermath of a 14-11 win over Niceville spanning the second half, the Lincoln head football coach let his Trojans savor this well-earned road victory 160 miles from home.
"Not only is it a long road trip, but there's no atmosphere in Florida like Niceville," Tyson said. "We've always loved to play it because it's like a playoff game. It feels like a third-round playoff game, not the preseason."
After Niceville JV and backups flexed on the road warriors 31-7 in the first half, Lincoln's starters proceeded to quiet the standing-room only crowd of around 6,000. Jashawn Washington followed up Logan Marise's 23-yard field goal (his second following a first-half 41-yarder) by taking the opening play 53 yards to the house. Niceville's offense, playing without injured quarterback Harrison Orr, wouldn't sniff the end zone the rest of the way.
In the fourth quarter, George Jones intercepted backup quarterback Kane Lafortune to set up Demetric Stephens' 3-yard game-winner.
"The speed of the game got us on the first play and that guy made a heck of a run. So really two busted plays in a half and they get to celebrate on our field," Thompson said. "I hope our guys take it the right way and don't like looking up to that scoreboard and not seeing us on top, because that hasn't happened much."
Down 14-3 in the waning minutes, Niceville made it a one-score game when Navarre transfer Christian Caballero pounced on a high punt snap that sailed into the zone and Micah Turner converted the two-point on a run up the gut.
But Lincoln ran out the final four minutes as they converted on third-and-9 en route to victory formation.
"It was huge because it was lot of mental toughness there — not causing dumb penalties, clock management and knowing when to get down and kill the clock, so I was proud," Tyson said. "It feels good. They're a great program, a good team, always play disciplined and technically play hard so it's good for us to get a victory."
As for Niceville, there's no reason to overreact. Orr returns for the opener, Logan Marise and the special teams played lights out, Caballero and Jack Hurtado spearheaded a dominant linebacking effort and the run game showed bursts of explosiveness behind D'mon Allen, Micah Turner and DJ Robinson, the latter who scored twice in the opening half.
Coverage issues (Orr out, Azareyeh Thomas off to FSU) and penalties loomed large for the Eagles, who host North Miami Beach Friday at 7 p.m. - Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News
Other area scores
Maclay 21, Wewahitchka 6
2Q: Michael Grant pass to Caleb Heuchan for TD, PAT GOOD, 7-0 MAC
3Q: Michael Grant pass to Grayson Oberste for TD, PAT GOOD, 14-0 MAC
4Q: Michael Grant pass to Caleb Heuchan for TD, PAT GOOD, 21-6 MAC
St. John Paul II 17, South Walton 13
North Florida Christian 40, Hamilton County 0
2Q: JP Pickles pass to Leon Washington for TD, 17-0 NFC
2Q: Ethan Fisher FG GOOD, 20-0 NFC
3Q: Leon Washington kick-off return for TD, 27-0 NFC
4Q: JP Pickles pass to Josh Schuchts for TD, 34-0 NFC
4Q: OJ Vaughan Jr rushing TD, 40-0 NFC
Raines 21, Godby 7
Aucilla Christian 36, Fullington Academy 35
Josh Agner: 5-7, 97 passing yards, two passing TDs, 69 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD
Jace Grant: 123 rushing yards, two rushing TDs.
Eli Conrad: Two receiving TDs
Tucker Wiles: 12 tackles
Gabe Gamalero: one interception, two tackles.
Williston 37, Taylor County 6
1Q: Mike Gant recovers muffed punt in endzone for TD, 7-6 WILL
Chipley 32, Jefferson County 6
Rickards vs. Bishop Moore (canceled due to weather)
Thursday: Florida High 42, Blountstown 0 (varsity half)
Thursday: Munroe 40, North Florida Educational Insitute 0
Jack Williams covers prep sports for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Big Bend football teams open up year with preseason wins | Week 0 roundup
