After flying high against West Florida last Friday, Escambia came back down to earth. The Escambia Gators lost 42-21 to the Niceville Eagles on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Gators can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 69th, while the Eagles are ranked 20th).
Escambia's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Billy Dunn, who rushed for 11 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 70 yards and a touchdown on only two passes.
Escambia's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Taiylor Bradsher and Ladarian Clardy. Bradsher didn't just play on offense: he also forced a fumble, made four total tackles (1.0 for loss), and defended a pass in addition to snagging an interception. Justus Payne was another major factor on D, making nine total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Johnny Lewis Jr was the offensive standout of the matchup as he rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries.
Escambia's loss dropped their record down to 1-1. As for Niceville, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 2-0.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Escambia will have plenty of time to ponder what went wrong as they've got a bye scheduled next week. After, they'll take on Bay at 7:00 p.m. on September 13th. As for Niceville, they will stay at home for another week and welcome Pine Forest at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
