BAKER — A hopeful march to a state football championship starts Friday, when Baker hosts Graceville in the Region 1-1A semifinals at Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium.
The game is a rematch of last year’s playoff opener, which the Gators won 21-7.
“Last year, we played them in the first game of the regular season, and in then in the first round of the playoffs,” Gator Coach Matt Brunson said. “So we are familiar with some of their personnel. Grant Thomas, the offensive coordinator from Niceville, took over the Graceville job last year.
“They are 7-3, just like we are. They are the runner up in District 2 to Vernon. They have to come to our place Friday night, and we are glad we are getting them at home.”
Graceville operates out of a spread offense with senior quarterback Preston Nichols as the triggerman. Nichols’ top target is sophomore receiver Camerot McClain.
The Tigers will line up in a base 4-3 defense.
“They’ve got some guys on the defensive side that are college prospects,” Brunson said. “We are going to have our hands full against a very athletic Graceville team.
"I think our guys are playing well, even though we hit a bump in the road last week (losing to Liberty County). We are looking forward to it; having home-field advantage in the playoffs is going to be big.”
Brunson said his biggest concern is Graceville’s team speed.
“Last week we saw a lot of speed at Liberty County, and we didn’t handle it real well,” he said. “If you let them (the Tigers) get on the perimeter, they can go. We are going to have to contain them and get some guys to tackle them.”
Brunson hopes Friday’s game will be just the first step of a playoff push.
“We are trying to get hot at the right time and make a little run,” he said. “We want to represent North Okaloosa County well.
“We want to invite everybody to come out for a great high school football game.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker hosts Graceville in playoff opener