Escambia football uses big plays, strong second half to roll past West Florida in Week 1

Escambia High began its football season of high expectations by flashing its potential.

The Gators yielded a near whole-quarter touchdown drive on the game’s first possession, but immediately struck back and surged from a close first half into a 45-12 win against West Florida in the opener for both teams at the Jaguars’ Marlon L. Bullock Stadium.

But amid the five-touchdown difference at game’s end, Gators head coach Mike Bennett has plenty to critique in his team’s lopsided win.

“The first half I wasn’t very happy, the first quarter really, but we started playing better,” Bennett said. “We had too many fumbles, too many mistakes, just a lot of stuff that can’t go on.

“But, hey, give West Florida the credit. They came out with a great plan, they got after us. We started making plays in the second quarter and throughout the second half and that turned it for us.”

The Jaguars, reloading with a team full of underclassmen, took the position from the kickoff and methodically used 14 plays – all runs – and stunned with the game’s first touchdown. The opening drive took nearly 10 of the 12 first-quarter minutes off the clock.

“That is exactly how we have to play it,” said West Florida head coach Harry Lees. “I was just proud that we showed some fight. We improved from last week (preseason loss at Pace) and that is all I can ask.

“It’s a long season and if we just keep getting better, I think we’ll be around at the end. I think we took some positive steps this week and I was proud of the way our guys came out and fought.”

The Gators counter-punched in an instant.

They returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, but it was nullified by an illegal block early in sequence.

Unphazed, the Gators ran a trick play on their first snap with quarterback Nino Freeman throwing a line-of-scrimmage pass out wide to Clayton Sanders, who then threw to wide-open receiver Mason Moore on a play that covered nearly 80 yards, took a matter of seconds and gave the Gators a 7-6 lead when converting the extra point.

“We were going to run that play,” Bennett said. “I called (offensive assistant) coach Brett (Bennett, his son) on (Thursday night) and said, ‘Hey, this is the play we’re going to run if the ball is in the middle of the field or the right hash, we’ll run it.

“Clayton made a great throw, Mason Moore made great catch and that’s what you have to have. It was big because it got us right back with momentum.”

The Gators never lost that momentum. They opened a 14-6 lead with 5:55 left before halftime, following a fumble recovery and return by defensive back Chrissean Jones.

It set up seven plays later a fourth-and-goal score from the 2-yard line on a direct snap to Dorrion White.

“We didn’t know if we going to have Dorrion (Friday), because he was a little banged up, limited in practice, but he came out and he was really good,” Bennett said.

After a field goal by Morgan Stancliff provided a 17-6 halftime lead, the second half began with a game-defining play. On a third-and-20 situation on their first possession, the Gators hit a big-play, 35-yard TD pass from Freeman to Ladarian Clardy.

The Gators rolled from there.

“We knew … speed-wise it was not a good matchup and that is why we are doing what we are doing,” Lees said.“And we knew they were going to get some big plays, we just had to consistently do what we did that first drive.”

Escambia will now prepare for its next challenge, a higher one, when traveling next Friday to face the Niceville Eagles at 7 p.m. This game was originally listed as a Thursday game, but will be played on Friday.

West Florida High will look to even its record next Friday at Booker T. Washington.

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia football uses big plays, strong second half to roll past West Florida in Week 1