CRESTVIEW — Tim Hatten won’t be scoreboard watching on Friday, when Crestview High School's football team travels to Niceville for the year's last District 3-6A game.
Choctawhatchee and Fort Walton Beach will also play a District 3-6A game that could affect Crestview’s playoff chances. But Hatten, Crestview’s veteran coach, knows if the Bulldogs (4-4, 1-1) do their part and beat the Eagles (7-1, 2-0) everything will fall into place.
A big part of the Bulldogs doing their part centers on quarterback Rusty Moorer, who makes his third start since breaking his throwing hand in the season opener against Northview. The last time out against Fort Walton Beach on Oct. 16, Moorer threw for more than 270 yards and three touchdowns.
“We have a lot of good things going for us,” Hatten said. “(Moorer) is capable, with the weapons we have, of throwing for 300 yards most any night, if things go right.
“We are a much different team with (Moorer) in there. We can move Corey (Armstrong) to fullback, and that gives us a hammer that will get us two yards, three yards, four yards. We still haven’t seen his potential at the running back position.”
When you add receivers Marquis McClain, Andrew Adkins and Capri Jones to the mix, along with tight end Matt French, the Bulldogs should present Niceville's defense with enough challenges.
“We are excited about where we are right now,” Hatten said. “We wish we had a few more wins, but we had to play the hand we were dealt.
“There’s nothing that says Fort Walton isn’t capable of upsetting Choctaw. A lot of things can happen in the playoff pictures that will shake it up quite a bit.”
Hatten said the district's only team guaranteed anything is Niceville: its worst case scenario would have them in a shootout with Crestview and Choctaw.
“If you are in the situation that Niceville and Choctaw are in, you are probably hoping the other team (the Indians or Eagles) wins,” Hatten said. “Any other scenario and you are not guaranteed anything for the playoffs.”
Assessing Crestview's and Niceville's offenses, Hatten said Moorer probably throws the ball a little better than Niceville, and Niceville probably runs it a little better.
Hatten doesn’t put much stock in Niceville’s recent success. “If you look at the two or three games (when) we’ve played them, they are no different than anybody that we’ve played,” he said. “We just have to worry about the Crestview Bulldogs.
“We have not had more success or less success against them than anybody else. We’ve lost to worse teams than them, and we’ve lost to better teams than them. We are not going to have a different game plan just because they are Niceville.”
WHAT: High school football — Crestview at Niceville
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Niceville High School, Eagle Stadium
UPCOMING
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview prepares for district showdown at Niceville