Choctaw, FWB, SoWal, Walton football pick up wins in Week 6

Can we just get to "The Game" already?

>Fort Walton Beach's 2-0 start to District 1-4A play and Choctaw's district-opening, running-clock win at Milton Friday night has set up the kind of meaningful matchup the oldest rivalry in the Panhandle demands, the two set to meet Oct. 9 at Joe Etheredge Stadium with a playoff bid on the line.

>Friday's pair of wins cemented that reality.

>At Milton, Dante Whidbee got things started with back-to-back rushing touchdowns, Andrew Rynearson kicked a 27-yard field goal, Von Keller scored for the fourth time in two games, Jordyn Long had a pick-six and Carter Marracco returned a kickoff 79 yards to the house to give the Big Green (3-2, 1-0) a 36-7 halftime lead.

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>Marracco later caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Baker Giles to start the running clock in a 45-13 district win over Milton.

>At Gulf Breeze, Fort Walton got two touchdowns from Tyshawn Montgomery on an 80-yard carry and a kickoff return for 80-plus yards, a touchdown connection between Lavin McDaniel and Landon McKuhen, a Cannon Wilbur score on an end-around and a Carmello Thomas 12-yard touchdown run to win 35-21.

>Not only are the Vikings 2-0 in district, but at 3-3 they've already surpassed last year's win total.

>"Man it's a blessing," Fort Walton coach Josh Pulliam said of the state of Viking football. "We're thankful we have that district opportunity, and we're thankful we came out with the victory tonight. A lot of things we still need to work on, but we'll look at it tomorrow morning and go from there."

South Walton 28, Pine Forest 20South Walton long has had the reputation of an air-raid offense only as good as the quarterback play would take the Seahawks.

>Well, come Friday the Seahawks affirmed they can run the ball and win games with its physicality and O-line play.

>Connor Rooney had a pair of touchdown runs, Carter Hawk found the end zone on the ground and South Walton threw the ball just six times, one going for touchdown between JD Brown and Parker Rooney in a win Phil Tisa gushed about.

>"Pine Forest is athletic as heck and that's the first time we've ever played, so this is a huge district win," Tisa said.

>Max Madden and Gabe Parenton, meanwhile, shined for a ground game that generated around 300 rushing yards. South Walton next travels to Walton Friday, Oct. 2.

Walton 36, Freeport 3 Whitton West threw for three scores, Rodney Clinch and Eli Odom both had two scores and the Braves improved to an area-best 5-0 with a District 1-2A rout of Freeport.

>Clinch had a receiving and rushing touchdown, Sincere Williams had a touchdown on the ground and Odom had two receiving touchdowns for the Braves, who shined defensively against a Bulldogs offense averaging over 40 points per game.

>The Braves host former district foe and rival South Walton Friday, Oct. 2.

Baker 42, North Bay Haven 6Dawson Mitchem rushed for a couple of touchdowns and threw for a score, Calvin Wilks eclipsed the century rushing mark with a score and Chasen Lawrence (88 yards) scored twice and Sam Kollar found the end zone in the Thursday night rout.

>Baker, which rushed for 254 yards to improve to 4-2, hosts FAMU Friday, Oct. 2.

Other ScoresPace 41, Crestview 27

>Pensacola Catholic 45, Destin 8

>This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Choctaw, FWB, SoWal, Walton football pick up wins in Week 6