For starters, Navarre’s football team continued its dominance of the ninth month, rolling past Pace 49-30 to cap its fifth consecutive unbeaten September. The streak in that month now stands at 22.
It’s a heck of an accomplishment to be sure.
Now let’s look beyond Navarre to three former Raiders who grabbed the spotlight on the final weekend of the month with big plays.
Start in the NFL with Jordan Leggett, who finally caught the first touchdown pass of his pro career.
It’s been quite a journey for Leggett, who has battled his share of adversity in less than two years in the league. Sidelined during the regular season as a rookie because of an injury, Leggett had a shaky preseason and did not have a catch in the first three games of this season.
He was wide open on the third-and-goal play in the fourth quarter, and though the Jets didn’t beat Jacksonville, it was a big moment for Leggett, one he probably won’t forget anytime soon.
Leggett told me before the season began that his goal was to make the Pro Bowl this season. And maybe this touchdown catch is the spark the first player from Navarre to make it to the NFL needed to get rolling and be the player many expected him to be at tight end.
Flip over to the University of West Florida and we find Quentin Randolph snagging the first touchdown pass of his career. Already in the midst of his best season as a college football player, Randolph’s catch helped the Argonauts rally for a 30-21 win over Delta State on the road.
There was a time when you wondered if Randolph could ever be an impact player at the next level. He didn’t play as a freshman, but he saw a little bit of time last season during the Argos’ run to the NCAA Division II national championship game.
A player who has never been afraid of hard work, Randolph put in the time and effort in the offseason that was necessary to take his game to another level.
Hard work is paying off to say the least for Randolph, who ranks third on the team in catches and yards, turning in three games where he’s had multiple catches.
The other highlight of the weekend came from Gatlin Casey. After four years at Lehigh, where at one time he was one of the best receivers in the FCS, Casey opted to use his grad transfer year and chose to play at Middle Tennessee.
Casey had gotten off to a slow start with the Blue Raiders but made his first start in a game against Florida Atlantic and was clutch when it mattered, grabbing a two-point conversion pass that lifted Middle Tennessee to a 25-24 win over the reigning Conference USA champions. The celebration by Casey in the end zone was priceless.
Big moments like the above-mentioned don’t happen often. But my guess is we haven’t heard the last of Leggett, Randolph and Casey.
