One word is all Pace’s football team needs for its theme for the season. Vengeance.

It stems from last season’s heartbreaking end, the Patriots leaving everything they had on the field in a 35-34 opening-round loss to eventual regional champion Buchholz on the road.

Milton is determined to right the ship after a 3-7 campaign in 2022, and the Panthers took a step towards that with a 24-7 win over Pensacola in a Kickoff Classic on the road last Friday.

The Panther defense stood out, forcing multiple turnovers. When asked if the defense’s newfound confidence was a point of emphasis over the summer, Gillis said it was.

The Jay Royals got their first taste of action last Friday night as they played in a preseason Kickoff Classic against Lighthouse and Freeport in Gulf Breeze.

The Royals played two quarters against Lighthouse and two against Freeport as they were able to get in one final tune-up ahead of the 2023 season.

After an abrupt end to last year’s season, with the Patriots losing by a point to Buchholz in the first round of playoffs, the Pace Patriots enter this year with their eyes on vengeance.

Their story began Friday night when they hosted Pensacola Catholic in their Kickoff Classic.

Football in the North end of Santa Rosa County gets rolling tonight as area teams take part in their respective Kickoff Classics.

Pace hosts Catholic, Milton travels to Pensacola and Jay welcomes Lighthouse Private Christian Academy into town.

Santa Rosa County swim teams got some preseason work in on Tuesday in a preseason relay meet at the Pullum YMCA in Navarre.

Navarre, Pace and Milton all competed at the meet on a hot and humid afternoon. Gulf Breeze was there as well.

Panhandle Prospects is hosting its third Top 40 Showcase Aug. 27 at the Fricker Center in Pensacola.

The top 40 players from the area will be participating in front of college coaches and members of the media, including Milton’s Treymar Jones and Ra’shaun Elzy as well as Jay’s Mason Allen. CJ McKinley, who had been playing at Milton and will play this season at FCP National High School, will also participate.

It’s hot here on a practice field just outside of Pen Air Field on an early August afternoon. The kind of hot that requires multiple water breaks over the course of two hours and popsicles at the end of practice.

And yet, the University of West Florida football team pushes through the brutal summer heat and stifling humidity.

Joe Surratt helps a young football player adjust his helmet before practice begins for Central on an open athletic field in rural Santa Rosa County.

It’s one of those things that comes with the territory of being a program literally being built from the ground up.

Manny Kimmons started playing football in middle school and hasn’t looked back. He’s now one of the Milton Panthers’ top players going into the 2023 season.

A senior defensive lineman, Kimmons is doing his best to be a leader.