Every year, I say the same thing: This high school football season promises to be the best yet.
This year is no different with new head coaches and revitalized programs looking to compete for county, district and regional supremacy (and ultimately with Central and South Florida powerhouses). Sizing up the 2026 season, I’m here to deliver 26 bold predictions I believe will come true. Not only that, I can rationalize each one. So let’s dive into these 26 bold predictions for 2026.
1. Choctaw makes a run to the 4A state title game
You wanted bold. Look, do I think today’s Big Green are better than American Heritage? No. But every year, we’ve seen Choctaw make adjustments, supplement the home-grown talent with transfers and grow into a state title contender. In 2025, Choctaw established itself as the area standard. The brutal non-district schedule may lend for a couple of losses, but what’s not to love about the framework of IMG transfer Baker Giles, that three-headed backfield, an Amir Reese-led secondary, and the talent in the front seven?
2. Choctaw’s Dante Whidbee eclipses 15 touchdowns, 1,000 rushing yards
Last year, Whidbee had a stretch where he scored in seven straight games with 12 touchdowns in that span. The dude ultimately gave up his body in a 43-yard, season-ending run in a region semifinal win at over Columbia. Fully healthy this year, expect the senior to shine even while splitting carries with Von Keller and Carter Marracco.
3. Choctaw’s TJ Franklin reaches double-digit sacks
The Alloway brothers graduated, their 11 sacks each representing 31 sacks gone from Choctaw’s vaunted front seven. Who will fill that void? Franklin, who had two sacks as a freshman, serves as a good place to start.
4. Choctaw’s Amir Reese nabs 10 INTs
Sticking with Choctaw’s defense, will opponents test Reese after his five interceptions in 2025? Or will it be like an Azareyah Thomas situation of 2020? I believe the former. Reese, like Choctaw legend Jayce Brown, has a nose for the football. Expect the Oregon State commit to snipe QBs once again.
5. Choctaw QB Baker Giles clears 1,000 rushing yards
Last year, Choctaw quarterback Tamen Zabetakis had 900 yards on 129 carries. Giles eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark three times in eight games last year for IMG, rushing for 668 yards and eight touchdowns on 10 yards per carry. Expect Choctaw to lean on the dual threat’s legs.
6. FWB doubles last year’s 11.8 points per game
Josh Pulliam’s second year at the helm will feature an enormous offensive evolution. Last year’s 2-8 squad mustered just 836 rushing yards on 3.3 yards per carry, but this year Ty’Shaun Montgomery and a better offensive line will shatter those numbers. Lavin McDaniel, a year after throwing for 537 yards and three touchdowns, can also make this offense go vertical. If FWB doesn’t top 20 points per game, I’ll be surprised.
7. FWB’s Ty’Shaun Montgomery rushes for 1,000 yards
The Choctaw transfer showcased his speed in the Kickoff Classic and appears to be the lead man in the backfield. If FWB’s offensive line matures and Montgomery gets the workload, these Vikings will look very different from last year.
8. FWB threatens for first above-.500 regular season since 2012, settles for 5-5 campaign and playoff trip.
Six opponents on the Vikings’ schedule finished .500 or below. There’s some very winnable games out there, and it starts with Pensacola Week 1.
9. Niceville RB Jakobe Gilyard tops 2,000 yards, 20 TDs
Last year, Gilyard piled up 1,561 all-purpose yards and 18 touchdowns for as dominant a rookie campaign the area has seen since Kayleb Wagner at Baker. But in the five losses, a theme revealed itself: he averaged just 14 carries for 62 yards with four touchdowns. Expect 25-30 carries per game and Gilyard to shine in the pass game. Also expect a significant uptick from last year’s 5.4 yards per carry.
10. Niceville QB Deagan McCoy completes 65 percent of passes, tops 30 TDs
McCoy has the weapons in Caleb Leonard, Jaxon Dark, Jason Leach and Gilyard. Last year’s 2,071 passing yards and 23/10 TD:INT came with a .566 completion rate. Solid stuff, but just the beginning. His receivers are better this year, and I think we see a maturation under the wing of offensive coordinator Brooks Perry.
11. Niceville seniors Noah Renes and Dom Ealy reach double-digit sacks
Renes, nicked up in 2025, is fully healthy and committed to Georgia Tech. Ealy, a year after posting 3 1/2 sacks, is hunting offers. Expect the Eagles to be blitz happy in 2026 and rack up the sacks.
12. Niceville’s Caleb Leonard tops 1,000 receiving yards, 10 TDs
We saw the connection with McCoy in the Kickoff Classic. The two have had an entire offseason to gel, and the Freeport transfer has already shown his love for the long ball after 19.7 yards per reception last year)
13. Niceville ends three-game losing streak to Mosley
Tommy Joe Whiddon’s Dolphins have owned the Eagles since 2023 on their way to three straight district titles. No longer district rivals, this is the first year Mosley hasn’t opted for an open week to prepare for the Eagles. Adron Robinson knows how important this matchup is.
14. South Walton completes perfect regular season
With Florida High, Pensacola Catholic and Pine Forest on the slate, this won’t be easy. That’s three losses from last year’s 8-4 campaign. But South Walton added talent on the O-line, welcomed receiver Treiy Crenshaw and, all offseason, has championed a goal of 10-0 after their promotion to 3A.
15. South Walton’s JD Brown throws for 3,000 yards, 30 TDs
Brown is going to be spinning it in 2026. Last year he threw for 2,558 yards and 23 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions. He also rushed for six touchdowns and 232 yards. Come the offseason he committed to UConn, and all offseason he’s praised his weapons. Monster senior year loading.
16. Treiy Crenshaw is South Walton’s next 1,000-yard receiver
Speaking of Brown, he’s got a shiny new No. 1 wideout in Crenshaw. The junior transfer from Alabama had 30 receptions for 565 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore, and someone has to replace Max Baker’s and Grant Gilmore’s combined 1,470 yards and 18 touchdowns from 2025.
17. South Walton’s Connor Rooney leads area in tackles
The future Rice Owl is coming off a 100-tackle, Defensive POY campaign for the Seahawks. With Jackson Moffatt gone, expect to see Rooney’s role expanded. The 6-2, 218-pound senior will be everywhere for South Walton’s vaunted defense. Expect 12-15 tackles a night with some sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles and blocked kicks speckled in.
18. Baker’s Calvin Wilks breaks out with 1,500 rushing yards, double-digit TDs
It was a relatively quiet junior season for Wilks, who rushed for just 638 yards and four touchdowns. But Wyatt Straight and Justice Baldwin are gone along with their collective 1,300-plus rushing yards. Wilks will fill that void and I expect his not-even-nine carries per game to approach 20 per game.
19. Baker’s Austin Stanley records double-digit sacks
The junior had a team-leading seven sacks last year, and we’ll see his role amplified with Justice Baldwin graduated.
20. Crestview’s Zy Tassin tops 30 TDs
Committed to Wake Forest, Tassin can do it all for Crestview. Yet we’ve never seen it produce 20 touchdowns in a full season. That changes this year. Expect the Bulldogs to feed their senior.
21. Crestview running back Manwell Robinson eclipses 1,000 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns
Robinson needed just 85 carries to wrack up 600 yards and six touchdowns as a junior. This year, expect the senior to eat.
22. Crestview returns to playoffs, where it meets rival Niceville
Crestview and Niceville have very strong schedules, and I think their matchup on Oct. 16 decides the District 1-5A champ. I have faith both will emerge as Region 1 contenders, and potentially a 3-6, 4-5 matchup looms in the first round or the two meet in the semifinals. It’d be the first playoff meeting between the rivals since 2022, when the Bulldogs won 26-21 at Eagle Stadium.
23. Freeport running back Dylan Louthain tops 1,500 yards and 15 TDs
First-year Bulldogs head coach Bobby Johns is committed to establishing the run. Enter Louthain, who’s coming off a junior campaign where he rushed for 746 yards and seven touchdowns.
24. Walton’s Whitton West tops 2,000 passing yards, 25 TDs
West’s right arm looks good following a junior campaign where he threw for 1,507 yards and 17 touchdowns in nine starts. Walton will be forced to throw a ton this year.
25. Walton’s Sincere Williams or Rodney Clinch eclipses 1,000-yard rushing campaign
Walton has weapons in the backfield, Williams averaging 8.3 yards per carry last year as a sophomore and Clinch leading the Braves with 502 yards as a junior. One of those two, if no both, will break out.
26. Destin RB Donnie Couitt averages more than 100 rushing yards per game
With Junior Harris’ 1,232 yards and 13 touchdowns gone, this is Donnie Couitt’s backfield. After the senior rushed for 132 yards in a shortened Kickoff Classic, he’s due to handle a heavy workload.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: 26 bold predictions in 2026 for high school football on Emerald Coast
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News | USA TODAY Network
