Navarre hosted Pace Friday night and beat the Patriots 34-0 in a week two matchup between county-rivals.
Navarre (2-0) followed up last week’s tightly contested win over Gulf Breeze with a blowout win against a Pace (0-2) team that was coming off of a loss to Choctaw.
Marlon Courtney misplaced his jersey and wore number-seven instead of his usual number-one, but Courtney and his offense didn’t falter.
The senior quarterback scored two first half touchdowns, helping his team take a 27-0 lead into halftime.
Senior running back Jaydin Antonio and junior running back Isaiah Moss each scored a rushing touchdown in the first half, while sophomore receiver Trent Hall and senior running back Gabe Davis both caught a touchdown pass from Courtney.
It wasn’t just Navarre’s offense playing well. Navarre’s defense rarely let Pace get any positive yardage in the first half.
Junior defensive end Grady Kelly tallied four sacks in the first half alone, and helped Navarre hold Pace to negative rushing yards in throughout the half.
Navarre’s special teams also made its impact felt early on.
Not only did they convert back-to-back fake punts in the first half, but they also blocked a field goal attempt on Pace’s last drive of the first half.
Navarre offense followed that up with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Courtney to Hall.
Hall, who had a fumble recovery and an interception against Gulf Breeze, has been a pleasant surprise for the Raiders this season.
“We knew [Hall] could do it,” Walls said. “He’s been really good. Anytime you’re making big plays as a 10th grader, that’s special.”
The second half featured more of the same dominance, despite Navarre only scoring one more touchdown, as the defense stuffed Pace at the line of scrimmage time and time again.
“I’m really proud of the shutout,” said Walls.
The second half touchdown was scored by senior running back Jaydin Antonio, who took back-to-back handoffs for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Navarre will face its third-straight county opponent next week when the Raiders travel to Milton.
“I know Milton will be fired up about being at home, it’ll be a tough road game,” Walls said.
Milton didn’t play a week one game, but they beat Pensacola high school 36-6 in their first regular season game on Friday.
Navarre and Milton are scheduled to kickoff at 7:30PM.
