Area high school football teams went 5-2 in Week 3, with Baker, Choctaw, Freeport, Niceville and Walton the notable winners.
Here’s a recap of the week’s games, while you can read about Choctaw’s 28-0 victory over Crestview here.
Freeport 48, Northview 43
Pretty or not, Freeport is finding a way to get the job done amid its 3-0 start.
Friday’s thriller was easily the biggest win of the season so far, the Bulldogs scoring the final 20 points after being down 43-28 with under 5 minutes to play. Carter Nunes rushed for two scores and threw for three more, including a 28-yarder to Julius Miles with 48 seconds left for the game-winner. That followed up an onside kick by Cullen Green which was recovered by Caleb Leonard.
Miles, a Louisville commitment, finished with four touchdowns (two rushing, two receiving) and Leonard had the other receiving score. Riley Pressel also delivered an interception and Ryland Willig delivered a game-changing sack in the fourth quarter.
Freeport next hosts Cottondale (1-1) on Friday.
Niceville 35, Pine Forest 14
Niceville continues to get better each ewek.
Deagan McCory threw for four touchdowns on the road, freshman running back Jakobe Gilyard nearly eclipsed the 200-yard rushing mark with two scores and the Eagles outscored Pine Forest 21-8 in the second half to improve to 2-1.
McCoy threw for 228 yaards and connected with Robert Oliver seven times for 152 yards, including touchdown grabs of 36 and 17 yards. Gilyard, eclipsing the century rushing mark in the first three starts to his career, rushed for 190 yards and a score and caught another. Teray Geiger had the fourth touchdown reception.
Niceville next hosts archrival Crestview Friday at Eagle Stadium.
Baker 41, Central 6
Baker’s goal of practicing on Thanksgiving grows more realistic by the day.
A 3-0 start and 123-34 margin of victory has reinforced that, the latest a rout of Central where Justice Baldwin completed all six passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for 48 yards and a score. Riley Renfro caught two of those, ending with 179 receiving yards, and Austin Stanley collected the other two touchdowns. Wyatt Straight tacked on two carries for 23 yards and a touchdown for the Gators, who host Jay (1-1) next week.
Walton 19, Holmes County 18
A win is a win, and Jay Lindsey had to remind himself of that Friday night following a hard-fought victory without his team at full health.
Sincere Williams had a 50-yard touchdown run, Elijah Odom and Whitton West connected on a 70-yard score and, in a game of inches, Walton converted two two-point conversions, got a 25-yard field goal from Erik Merlo and delivered a fourth-and-1 stop in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Holmes County had a chance late but went for two for the second time and came up short.
“We had to patch some things up on offense, so it was just get through this week,” said Lindsey, who had to replace his 6-foot-7 tight end along with other things.
Walton next travels to West Florida (2-1), which beat Fort Walton Beach 34-14 Friday night.
West Florida 34, FWB 14
The VIkings led the visitors 14-12 in the second quarter, but West Florida closed with 22 unanswered points as Fort Walton continues to look for that elusive win.
The Vikings (0-3) get back to it Thursday night when they host Booker T. Washington (1-1), which beat West Florida 28-20 to open the season before losing 14-13 to 3-0 Milton.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Week 3 HS football roundup: Baker, Freeport, Niceville, Walton pull down wins
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
