The Gulf Breeze Dolphins had a lot to prove last Friday coming off their first loss of the season against West Florida High School, and going into their first Homecoming game with new coach Bobby Clayton at the helm.
The Milton Panthers were a hard team to beat, and Clayton knew it going into the big game last Friday.
“They’re a tough team,” Clayton said. “They play really good.”
But Clayton wasn’t nervous, even though he was spotted crouched down near the 10-yard line in the first quarter with a worrisome look in his eyes.
“It’s funny. I tease all the time and say that I don’t get nervous. I think I’ve only been nervous one time in my life,” he laughed. “I want them to achieve something they’ve never been able to achieve before, and they keep on doing it. They’re doing that now and making huge strives to do that, and it’s outstanding.”
And the Dolphins did just that, winning over Milton 36-3.
Milton had the edge at only one point in the game: at the start of the first quarter. The Panther offense came on strong and was able to march the ball down the field to the Dolphin 8-yard line only 6 minutes in, but were unable to push through Dolphin defense and were forced to go for a field goal.
Their kick was ultimately good, but it was the only set of points the Panthers would see on their side of the scoreboard all night.
The Dolphins eventually put their first 6 points of the night on the board with a little over 2 minutes left in the first quarter. Dolphin quarterback Tyler Phelps threw a 25-yard pass right into the hands of senior wide receiver Parker Baynes who carried it all the way to the endzone.
The Dolphins went for a two-point conversion following the touchdown, which was good, making the score 8-3, which ended the first quarter.
In the second, the Dolphins slowly walked the ball down the field with a number of pitches and hand-offs from Phelps, eventually bringing their offense to the Panther 1-yard line.
Instead of pitching it, Phelps would keep it at the 1-yard line and jumped into the endzone for a touchdown with 5:52 left in the first half.
Milton tried to come back from the second Dolphin touchdown, but were pushed back by Dolphin defense, forcing them to go for a field goal instead of a clean 6 points. The field goal ended up hanging a little right, keeping the Panthers at bay with only 3 on the board.
The failed field goal ended the first half 15-3.
Gulf Breeze received the ball first in the second half, and it didn’t take long for them to get into the Panther endzone. A little over 3 minutes into the half, Phelps pitched the ball to Tyler Dittmer, who slid past a pack of Panthers for a 25-yard touchdown run. A good point after put the Dolphins up 22-3.
Gulf Breeze kept the momentum going and followed up the Dittmer touchdown with another touchdown from Bayned with 2:19 left in the third.
In the final quarter, the Dolphins hung back a little, only putting 7 on the board. That touchdown and good point after came with a little less than 6 minutes left in the game. Phelps pitched the ball to running back Carl Taylor who ran the ball less than 10 yards into the Milton endzone.
