Sports Archive

Navarre’s football team went into last week with its playoff hopes intact.

But its dream of a postseason berth officially ended Sunday afternoon as the Raiders were not among the 32 teams selected for the 7A playoffs.

Overlooking the defense of the University of West Florida football team can be easy to do amid the fireworks that are consistently on display courtesy of the offense.

Yes, the offense still rolled up more than 500 yards and scored over 40 points in a Gulf South Conference battle against West Alabama Saturday afternoon, but it was the defense that headlined the fourth-ranked Argos’ 47-7 win at Tiger Stadium.

Silence filled the Navarre locker room late Friday night. Coaches and players tried to lift each other’s spirits in the wake of arguably the most difficult defeat of the season.

Losing hurts. Losing a rivalry game hurts even more.

Michael Carter played in his first NFL game in prime time Thursday night. 

And once again, the former Navarre Raider paved the way for the New York Jets in rushing.

As if there already isn’t enough fuel for the fire when Navarre and Gulf Breeze play their annual rivalry game, the flames are a little hotter this week because of everything riding on the showdown.

In addition to bragging rights and a trophy, both teams will be fighting for their playoff lives in the 2021 edition of the Beach Bowl Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Bennett C. Russell Stadium.

Navarre goes into the final week of the regular season with its playoff hopes still alive.

The Raiders are in that position after their 29-22 win over Crestview last Friday catapulted them back into the top eight of the latest set of 7A regional rankings.

Four seems to be a lucky number for the University of West Florida football team at the moment.

The Argos check at No. 4 in the latest NCAA Division II poll as well as in the latest set of regional rankings.

Last season didn’t end the way the Navarre boys soccer team would have liked. A blanket quarantine cost the Raiders the final two weeks of the regular season before Niceville eliminated them in the district tournament.

But with a new season on the horizon and a little more normalcy in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the team is ready to make this season a good one.

Navarre’s girls soccer team fell short of its goal of winning a district championship a season ago.

That has motivated the players in practice as they prepare to take aim at helping to return the program to the level it’s accustomed to being at.

Noah Reed looked focused as he prepared to swim the 100 Butterfly at Friday’s District 1-3A Meet in Pensacola. The Navarre standout stood at the diving block jumping up and down a little and slapping his chest to hype himself up before the race.

Once he hit the pool, Reed looked as if he was swimming as fast as he has all season.