Tate’s Ryleigh Cawby Signs With Southern Miss Softball
November 17, 2019
Tate High School softball senior Ryleigh Cawby signed with Southern Miss softball Friday. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sunny Days, Clear Cool Nights
November 17, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 65. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 63. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 44. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 71.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 66.
Northview Volleyball Presents Awards During Annual Banquet
November 17, 2019
The Northview Chiefs Volleyball team held their annual banquet recently.
The following varsity awards were presented:
Best Defensive Player: Heather Knowles
Best Offensive Player: Karelis Morales
Best Server: Payton Gilchrist
Most Improved Player: Hailie Anderson
Most Valuable Player: Nevaeh Brown
Coach’s Award: Teriana Redmond and Payton Jackson
Receiving varsity letters were: Mia Starns, Abigail Levins, Taylor Levins, Makayla Ramsey, Cassie Davis and Abigail Mascaro.
The following junior varsity awards were presented:
Best Defensive: Mia Starns
Best Offensive: Abigail Levins
Most Improved: McKenna Simmons
Best Server: Taylor Levins
Most Valuable Player: Taylor Levins
Coach’s Award: Mia Starns
Pictured top and first three photos below: Northview varsity volleyball. Pictured bottom two photos: Northview junior varsity. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
UWF Ends 8-Win Regular Season 48-37 Over UWA
November 17, 2019
They honored a senior class before kickoff Saturday which had guided the University of West Florida football team from infancy to national relevance.
And then, redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Reed produced an unforgettable performance to ensure a fitting sendoff and post-season, playoff berth.
Reed’s brilliance included completing his first seven passes, then throwing for 443 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, as the Argos won a 48-37 shootout against West Alabama at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
“It’s just such a good group of seniors and they have all been such leaders since the moment I stepped on campus,” said Reed, who remembered his previous career high passing was 375 yards at St. Augustine High. “To have those seniors and be able to step up, it’s just blessing.
“I can’t say anything, but thank God. It’s just a blessing, 100 percent.”
On this crystal-clear afternoon, amid a crowd of 5,619 which will put UWF again among the top tier in NCAA Division II attendance, Reed’s performance was also essential.
It assured the Argos (8-2) will advance into the NCAA Division II playoffs for the second time in the program’s four-year history, another first-time feat in NCAA history. The Argos reached the national title game in 2017, completing a breakthrough where no prior college football program at any level had gone from start-up to title game in two years.
The win was also UWF’s first regular-season win against West Alabama, one of its Gulf South Conference rivals. The Argos, however, won at West Alabama in a region championship game in 2017 en route to reaching the championship game.
UWF will learn its first-round matchup in the 2019 playoffs during a selection show on NCAA.com at 4 p.m. Sunday. The Argos won’t have a home-field edge, which goes only for the top four seeds, but they are definitely part of the 28-team field.
“No (young) program has had that opportunity,” said UWF coach Pete Shinnick. “When we built this team we had to find the right fit and right team for Pensacola. I think what we have done the last three years… and be within seven points (last week at Valdosta State) of the Gulf South Conference championship, I couldn’t be prouder of what our guys have been able to accomplish.”
UWF and West Alabama combined for 1,191 yards total offense. This included 788 passing yards and 62 first downs. West Alabama never punted. UWF punted twice.
So, that kind of track meet.
“For us, it was just fun,” Reed said. “Especially as an offense, we love to put together a game like that and really help our defense out. Really all year they have been so strong. For us to get in the one game where they needed help and go out and do it was special.”
Shinnick later joked, ”Fun for me is 50 to nothing.”
Instead, Saturday was back and forth, featuring plenty of stars.
UWF senior receiver Quentin Randolph, a Navarre High grad, led the receiver corps with 171 yards and three touchdowns. His 50-yard TD catch with 12:26 remaining broke a tie and put UWF ahead 41-34.
Running back Anthony Johnson, a Pace High graduate, then finished a game-sealing, eight-play, 75-yard drive with his nine-yard touchdown with 1:24 remaining. Johnson finished with a team-high 13 carries for 44 yards.
Randolph produced the second-best receiving performance in UWF’s four-year history.
“It’s probably the best football game I have had in my 18 years playing football. It was phenomenal,” Randolph said. “On senior night and magnitude like this on win or go home. This game meant a lot to me.
“After how we performed last week at Valdosta, it was pretty awesome to see us explode like this. I think this is the only game the defense hasn’t carried us. To be able to flip the script was pretty awesome.”
While the defense did surrender its most points all season, the Argos twice stopped West Alabama inside the 10 to force field goals and UWF defensive tackle Daryl Wilson recovered a third-quarter fumble at the 1 to thwart a touchdown.
Wilson finished with four tackles. Teammate and linebacker Chanler Ferguson, who forced that fumble, led UWF’s defense with 10 tackles.
“We always practice red zone (defense). We had to bow our neck and give everything we got,” Wilson said. “You want to make a big play out there. Offense had it done for us. We knew they were going to put up points and we just had to get a couple stops.”
Randolph was among seven UWF players with two or more catches. Tate Lehtio, a senior and UWF’s leading receiver had five catches for 62 yards. He was vital on several conversion down catches and on UWF’s first possession of the game, which ended with Randolph’s 27-yard touchdown.
Lehtio said the game’s back-and-forth flow helped the offense bear down.
“I think it’s good pressure to have actually,” he said. “You are sitting there and you are not complacent. I think that pressure helped us to succeed on offense.
“We have been in a playoff mode these last couple weeks.”
Lehtio was part of a group of seniors who took leaps of faith to attend UWF when football had no history.
“The vision is coming true,” he said. “We always talked about what it could be and what it had potential to do. To see it happen is just incredible.”
In addition to Randolph’s three touchdowns, receivers Kenneth Channelle and Rodney Coates each had a score, and offensive tackle Samuel Antoine fell on a fumble in the end zone, after a Reed run, for the Argos second touchdown.
It was part of a day where everything Reed did turned out well.
“It’s kind of like euphoria you kind of get into,” he said. “You’re feeling everything. You know what the defense is doing, how your receivers are getting open. I get into this zone. The minute I see it, it clicks.”
When asked where Reed’s performance ranked with him, Randolph said. “Don’t tell him I said this… but number one. Nineteen years old and a redshirt freshman…. for him to have the game he had. I am really proud of that kid.”
Alabama Rep. Byrne Staff To Hold Office Hours Tuesday In Escambia County
November 17, 2019
Staff members from the office of Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) will hold office hours in Escambia County (AL) on Tuesday.
The staff members will be on hand to help constituents with problems they may be experiencing with federal agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Medicare, and Social Security. Staff members can also assist constituents who need help applying for or receiving a United States passport.
The schedule for Tuesday, November 19 is as follows:
- 9:30 – 10:30 am: Brewton City Hall
- 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: East Brewton Town Hall
- 2:00 – 3:00 pm: Atmore City Hall
Byrne will be in Washington on Tuesday and will not personally attend the community office hours.
Part Of Highway 29 Renamed For Highway Worker Killed In McDavid
November 16, 2019
A portion of Highway 29 in McDavid was designated Friday in honor of a worker that was struck and killed while on the job last year.
His name was Maceo Perkins, a name that won’t be forgotten by those traveling Highway 29 between Cox Road and Sigler Road, now known as “Maceo Perkins Parkway”.
Perkins, 41, was with a group of workers employed by Broad Spectrum working on Highway 29 near Siglar Road. Just after noon on April 6, 2018, he was hit by a vehicle driven by 60-year old Sharon Odom of Century. The Florida Highway Patrol said Odom’s 2006 Ford Mustang traveled off the roadway onto the west shoulder, colliding with Perkins and the workers’ unoccupied Dodge Ram truck.. He was pronounced deceased at the scene; Odom died at her Century home four days later.
His wife Laquinda Perkins set out to make absolutely sure he would be remembered by seeking the official designation, an honor that required an act of the Legislature and approval by the governor. At the request of Sen. Doug Broxson and the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners, the state Legislature passed the designation, and Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law.
“I did not imagine that I could actually do this,” Laquinda Perkins said during a dedication ceremony Friday afternoon. “I know I can’t have him back. This means so much to me, and it happened in a short period of time…People say it happened fast, but I serve an awesome God. I prayed, and I continue to pray that Maceo would always be remembered.”
“Many times I look at a sign, and I say I wonder who that person was. Now I know that person had someone that loved them so much that they went on a crusade to make sure their name will no be forgotten,” Broxson said. “They will look at this sign and say ‘I wonder who that was; I wonder what he did. I wonder what statement he made’.”
Friday’s ceremony was almost directly across the street where the accident occured.
“I had made him a little cross. It’s over there,” Laquinda said, motioning across Highway 29. “I just did not want him to be forgotten.”
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Nice November Weekend
November 16, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 62. North wind around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 65. Calm wind.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 67. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 43. Calm wind.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 48.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 71.
Flomaton Advances To Quarterfinals With Win Over St. James
November 16, 2019
The Flomaton Hurricanes beat St. James 20-19 in a thriller Friday night to advance to the 3A quarterfinals.
The defending 3A station champion Hurricanes were down 19-6 before a fourth quarter rally and a game that came down to a two point conversion that was right on the money.
Jate’vius “Tank” Franklin was into the endzone on a pass from Daquan “Money” Johnson with just 16 seconds to go in the ballgame to cut the St. James Trojan lead to just one, 19-18. Johnson was then in for two for the 20-19 win for the Canes.
Flomaton’s other scores came on a 1-yard touchdown run from Franklin in the first, and Johnson from six yards out.
Johnson had 162 rushing yards on 29 carries and the big touchdown pass to Franklin late in the fourth. Franklin had 17 carries for 92 yards.
Friday night marked 100th win for head coach Doug Vickery at Flomaton High School.
The Flomaton Hurricanes (11-1) will host T.R. Miller next Friday night.
NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Escambia Man Gets 60 Years For Stabbing Elderly Woman, Leaving Her For Dead
November 16, 2019
An Escambia County man was sentenced to 60 years in prison followed by a lifetime of probation Friday for brutally attacking an 82-year old woman in Pensacola and leaving her for dead.
In the late hours of June 9, 2018, Owens entered the apartment of the 82-year victim while she was sleeping in a recliner. He immediately slit her throat. When she tried to fight back, he also stabbed her in the back.
He then proceeded to go through her residence, taking multiple items including her phone, purse and money she had collected for her church. When Owens left the residence, he threatened to come back
and kill her if she told anyone.
The victim’s daughter discovered her the next morning, bleeding in her recliner, when she went to pick her up for church.
Law enforcement searched the area and made contact with Owens at an apartment in the same complex. They observed he had scratch marks on his hands, consistent with the victim’s version of events. A search of the residence revealed the victim’s stolen items, including her purse, checkbook and other items. Law Enforcement also located a white undershirt with what appeared to be a blood stain on the front. Both the victim’s and Owen’s DNA was confirmed on the undershirt.
Vernon Tops Northview 43-18
November 16, 2019
The Northview Chiefs saw their championship hopes dashed 43-18 on the road Friday night at the hands of the Vernon Yellow Jackets.
Northview and Vernon last met in the playoff back in 2015 with Vernon winning 8-7.
In Friday night’s matchup, Trent Peebles scored for the Chiefs in the second before adding another 25 yard touchdown in the third. Mark Findley had a 30-yard rushing touchdown for Northview in the fourth.
The Northview Chiefs ended their season at 8-3.
Also Friday night, Baker beat Graceville 35-21. Vernon and Baker advance to the Region 1-1A finals next Friday night.
Photos courtesy Paul Goulding Photography for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
