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.

In a span of four minutes on Friday night, Navarre flipped the script and revived the once-fading pulse of its playoff hopes.

First Derek Percivalle blocked a punt attempt in the end zone for a safety. Then, a couple of minutes later, EJ Love scored the first varsity touchdown of his career.

Drew Ottley qualified for an individual berth to next week’s regional tournament.

The Raider golfer won a playoff against Sammy Tucker of Washington in thrilling fashion at Monday’s District 1-3A tournament at Stonebrook Golf Club in Pace.

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.

Needing a win to remain in the hunt for a playoff berth, Navarre responded to the challenge in front of it Friday night.

The Raiders built a big first-half lead, weathered a storm late and hung on for a 41-34 victory over Pace in a District 1-7A game that seemed destined to be easy at one point but turned into quite the battle between two county rivals.