Sports Archive

Wide receiver Ka’Ron Ashley was asked about what the University of West Florida football team can learn from last Saturday’s loss at the hands of West Georgia.

That 30-26 loss to the then 12th-ranked Wolves, after all, was the first for the Argonauts in nearly two years. It ended a school-record streak of 11 consecutive games for the reigning NCAA Division II national champions, who came into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation.

School history will have to wait.

Despite arguably its best effort of the season, one where it poured its heart soul and sweat into a tournament battle with Niceville that went the distance,  the Navarre volleyball team just missed on its first district championship in program history.

One of the biggest matchups in the area will be played Friday night as Navarre heads to Niceville.

District title hopes and playoff implications are riding on this 7 p.m. showdown between the Raiders and the Eagles.

Navarre’s football team  is back in the top eight of the region.

The Raiders are up three spots after picking up a crucial 41-34 win over Pace last week in District 1-7A play.

Ryan Davenport clenched his fist and threw punches in the air after every point his Navarre Raiders scored as they mounted a memorable comeback against Fort Walton Beach in a District 2-6A semifinal Tuesday night.

Players on the bench jumped up and down, cheering on their teammates, their smiles growing wider as Navarre inched closer to victory. On the court, the Raiders hit hard, executed passes, serves and sets and played the kind of defense it needed to play to win in a pressure-packed moment.

Madison Dorsey started swimming because her older brother, Harrison, got involved in it. She was hooked after that.

“I would go to his meets and really liked it. I thought it would be a lot of fun to do it,” Dorsey said.

Branden Heinke had a rough go of it during his final year of cross-country and track at Navarre.

The shin splints? They were brutal. But he tried to push past the pain.

There is an empty space in the trophy case at Navarre that the Raider volleyball team hopes to fill this week.

The road to getting that done begins tonight when Navarre hosts Fort Walton Beach in a 6 p.m. District 2-6A semifinal.

Luke Morris pulled off his jersey as he crossed the finish line last Thursday afternoon. Sweaty and exhausted, Morris was pleased he pushed through another race on a warm October afternoon.

It’s been a challenging season for Morris, who missed the first few weeks of it battling injuries and COVID, but he’s back at it and hoping to wrap up his senior season on a high note.

Austin Reed has always owned the moment. Good or bad. 

Late Saturday night, the University of West Florida quarterback shouldered a lot of the blame for the Argos’ loss to West Georgia in a battle of Top 25 teams.