BAKER — Baker School Coach Matt Brunson said he hopes his team can learn from last week's 65-48 loss to Walton and move forward when the Gators travel to Destin Friday night to face Rocky Bayou Christian School.
“I told the guys… ‘The rearview mirror is very small and we are going to rip it off and throw it out, because we are looking through the front windshield and it’s very big and very bright,” Brunson said.
“We lost to two very good football teams (Walton and Blountstown). We’ve made improvements from the adversity we’ve dealt with in those losses. We are excited to see what the future holds.”
That future begins with a rivalry between the Gators and Knights (1-2). Brunson has several connections with Rocky Bayou's coaching staff. Knight Coach Josh Childers briefly played for Brunson at Crestview. Childers’ father, Jeff, is the longtime team chaplain for Crestview's football team.
“I’ve got a great deal of respect for his (Josh Childers) dad and the job he does as the youth pastor at First Baptist Church (Crestview)," Brunson said. “Josh has developed into a fine coach. He’s had back-to-back conference championships in his league and he does a great job at Rocky Bayou.”
Brunson said the Knights will line up in a spread offense similar to the one run by Walton. “They spread you out like Walton spread us out and try to create running lanes,” he said. “We have to stop the run first and get them into third-down situations where we know they’ve got to throw, and then we’ve got to defend the pass well and be able to bring pressure (on the quarterback).
“It will be a good matchup and again, we’ve got to keep working on defending the spread. They are a 3-4 defense just like we’ve been working against the last few weeks, and he does a good job defensively as well.”
The Gators open District 1-1A play next week, but Brunson won’t be overlooking the Knights. “They were ahead of us last year at the half and it was a very good ball game,” he said. “ Going down to their place — they play at Destin Middle School — it’s an awesome venue to play a high school football game.
“We will have our hands full and hopefully we will get better this week and get this back on track. It would be big for our guys to get a win this week so we could carry that momentum into the Jay game.”
UPCOMING
WHAT: Baker School vs. Rocky Bayou Christian
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Destin Middle School, 4608 Legendary Marina Drive
Baker-Rocky Bayou Information
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Brunson excited about Baker's future