Niceville is on a four-game streak of home wins, while Navarre is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Niceville Eagles will take on the Navarre Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given how much these teams ran in their prior games.
Last Thursday, Niceville was just a hair shy of victory and fell 29-28 to Mosley.
Niceville's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Uriah West, who rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and Dj Robinson who rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown. Alante Reese got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but Navarre ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They slipped by Gulf Breeze 49-48. Given Navarre's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 91st, while Gulf Breeze is ranked 233rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Connor Mathews and Hunter Pfiester were among the main playmakers for Navarre as the former rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns and the latter rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry.
Mosley's win bumped their season record to 6-3 while Niceville's loss dropped theirs to 7-2.
Friday's game might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Niceville has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 224.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Navarre struggles in that department as they've been even better at 243 per game. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Niceville took their win against Navarre when the teams last played back in November of 2022 by a conclusive 35-14. Does Niceville have another victory up their sleeve, or will Navarre turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
