Escambia Academy Cougars Win State Championship
November 22, 2014
The Escambia Academy Cougars from Canoe, AL, won the AISA Class AAA state championship Friday night with a 35-28 defeat of Bessemer Academy at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, AL. It was the first football state championship ever for the school just outside Atmore — in fact, it was the first final game appearance ever for the Cougars.
The Cougars earned the win a on a one-yard touchdown run from Brett Gorum with just 49 seconds to play in the game, capping a 59-yard, seven play drive for the Cougars (11-1). On Bessemer’s final drive, an interception by the Cougar’s Kris Brown finalized the win.
Gorum was 5 of 7 passing Friday night for three touchdowns, including a 19-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Tim Finklea, a six-yard pass to Maleek Salter, and a 59-yarder to Scott Brantley. The Cougar’s other score came on a six-yard run from Brown.
Finklea had a total of 125 rushing yards on 23 carries for Escambia Academy.
Three weeks ago, Escambia Academy lost to Bessemer 32-14 at home in Canoe – their only loss of the season.
The state championship was the first in 30 years for an Alabama school from the Atmore area. The Escambia High School Blue Devils win a state championship back in 1974. The Northview High School Chiefs, just across the line in Florida, won a state championship in 2012.
NorthEscambia.com expects additional high quality images to post later Saturday or on Sunday.
Pictured above and below: The Escambia Academy Cougars celebrate the AISA Class AAA state championship Friday night at Troy State’s Memorial Stadium. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge
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Perdido Man Killed In Single Vehicle Crash
November 22, 2014
A Baldwin County man died in a single vehicle wreck early Thursday morning in Perdido, AL.
William Jonathan Ammons of Perdido was pronounced deceased following the 5 a.m. crash on Baldwin County Road 47, near Perdido Elementary School. According to Alabama State Troopers, Ammons lost control of his 2007 Honda Civic, left the roadway, struck a culvert and collided with a tree.
There were no passengers in the vehicle.
Pictured top and below: A 2007 Honda Civic after being removed from a wooded area Friday morning in a fatal Perdido, AL, crash. Pictured inset: The vehicle still in the wooded area. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
High School Playoff Finals
November 22, 2014
Here are Friday night’s high school football finals from around the area:
FLORIDA
- 7A — Niceville 34 Tate 0 [Read more...]
- 6A –Choctaw 35, Navarre 14
- 5A — Tallahassee Godby 41, West Florida 6
- 1A — Vernon 30, Baker 14 – FINAL
ALABAMA
- 2A — Washington County 60, Flomaton 0
- AAA-AISA STATE CHAMPIONS Escambia Academy 35, Bessemer 0 [Read more...]
Authorities Searching For Alabama Pharmacy Armed Robbery Suspect
November 22, 2014
Authorities across the Gulf Coast are on alert for 27-year old man wanted in connection with an armed robbery Thursday in Baldwin County, AL.
William “Jake” McMillan of Bay Minette was identified on surveillance video as the suspect who robbed the Lillian Pharmacy at gunpoint, demanding all of the store’s hydrocodone. The suspect fled the store in charcoal gray Ford pickup truck after getting 1,700 hydrocodone pills during the robbery.
A short time before the robbery, he allegedly took an undisclosed amount of cash from a register and safe from his workplace, the Las Vegas Discount Golf & Tennis at Tanger Outlets in Foley.
McMillan is wanted for first degree armed robbery and theft. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office at (251) 937-0202 or their nearest law enforcement agency.
7A: Niceville Tops Tate
November 22, 2014
The Tate High School’s playoff run came to an end Friday night as the Aggies lost to Niceville 35-0 in the Region 1-7A semifinal. The Aggies finished the year at 9-3.
Niceville will be Oakleaf next Friday night in the regional finals.
Photos by Jennifer Repine for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
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Florida State ‘Coming Back Together’ After Library Shooting
November 22, 2014
The trustees of Florida State University on Friday stood to applaud the campus police chief and prayed for two victims — one critically injured — as the school tries to recover from a shooting incident early Thursday that left three people wounded and the gunman dead.
FSU President John Thrasher told the university’s board of trustees that students were back in class and that Strozier Library, where the tragedy occurred, had re-opened Friday morning.
“The campus in my opinion is coming back together,” said Thrasher, who has been in his job less than two weeks. “We all hurt for the folks that are in the hospital, and we are trying to be diligent in our efforts to help them and support them, without being intrusive into the privacy that they expect.”
The board led a standing ovation for university Police Chief David Perry, whose officers arrived on the scene of the shooting in less than five minutes. Officers exchanged more than 30 rounds with the gunman, FSU graduate Myron May, who died outside the library after failing to penetrate its security.
“I tell thousands of parents and students at orientation that we are the ones that run toward the danger when everyone else is running the opposite direction,” said Perry, who hadn’t slept in 52 hours. “So when I got that first call, I was just as emotional as everyone else, but I knew that we had a job to do, and I knew that we were going to rely on our training to get the job done.”
University and Tallahassee police officers rushed to the library after May, a 31-year-old attorney, showed up with a semi-automatic handgun. He shot one student in the lobby and then went outside, where he shot a university employee and another student.
Tallahassee police late Friday afternoon released the names of the three victims. Police said one of the victims, Farhan Ahmed, 21, was being treated at a local hospital and that his family had asked for privacy. University employee Nathan Scott, 30, was shot in the leg and was being treated at a hospital. The third victim, Elijah Velez, 18, suffered what police called a “grazing” wound and was treated and released.
The trustees saw a video of a Thursday night vigil on Landis Green, where students lifted candles and sang “Amazing Grace.” During the trustees meeting, Chairman Allan Bense also led a silent prayer for the victims and their families, with whom he’d been spending time.
Thrasher, whose selection as president had drawn protests from some students and faculty members, said the university had come together.
“Normalcy is a funny word, and I don’t know that we’ll get back to it or ever forget,” he said. “But at least I think from a standpoint of some of the things that went on yesterday, I think our campus is alive and well and working toward the goals of being a great university.”
On Friday morning, Thrasher and FSU Provost Garnett Stokes — along with law enforcement — welcomed students at the library doors. With them was Dean of University Libraries Julia Zimmerman, whose security measures kept May from getting past the lobby of Strozier, where 450 students were studying at the time.
“We’re ready to get back to work,” Zimmerman said. “This is a busy time for the library, as exams are coming up. Our building is going to be packed to the gills for the next two to three weeks with students, and we are ready to work with them.”
About 100 students lined up at the library doors, saying they, too, were ready to pick up where they’d left off — more or less.
“It shocked a lot of people and it rocked a lot of people, but we’ll get back to normal pretty soon,” said Joe Pelt, a freshman biology major from Tallahassee. “It’s going to be in the back of our minds going in and out of Strozier and being around campus for a while, but we’ll bounce back. It’s what we do.”
Also Friday, the FBI intercepted a package May had sent to a friend in Texas. Other packages to other friends are expected. On Thursday, Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo described May as having been “in crisis,” and the investigation into his actions is continuing.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Basketball: Tate Beats Pace In OT
November 22, 2014
The Tate High School Aggiest beat Pace in overtime Friday night 74-72.
With the win Friday night and a season-opening win last Tuesday over Milton, the Aggies are now 2-0.
The Aggies will host Gulf Breeze Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Grand Send-Off For Escambia Academy Cougars
November 21, 2014
The Escambia Academy Cougars won the AISA Class AAA state championship tonight in Troy, AL, being Bessemer Academy 35-28.
Earlier Story:
A grand send-off was held Friday afternoon for the Escambia Academy Cougar football team as they left Canoe, AL, and headed through Atmore on their way to the AISA Class AAA state championship game tonight in Troy, AL.
Fans lined the highways to wave and wish good luck to the Cougars. Escambia Academy will play Bessemer Academy at 7 p.m. at Troy’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, home of the Troy State Trojans.
Pictured: A celebratory send-off for the Escambia Academy Cougars Friday afternoon in Canoe, AL, as they head to the AISA state championship game in Troy, AL. NorthEscambia.com photos by Ditto Gorme, click to enlarge.
Deputies: Beulah Shooting Was Domestic Violence
November 21, 2014
A shooting death Friday afternoon in Beulah was an act of domestic violence, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to the 7500 block of Mobile Highway, near Beulah Elementary School, to find one person deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. A “person of interest” was taken into custody at the scene.
Authorities have not released any names in the incident, and they have not revealed the relationship between the victim and the person of interest.
Beulah Elementary School was under a brief lockdown for a short time period, and Mobile Highway was closed temporarily as a result of the shooting.
Pictured: A fatal shooting occurred on Mobile Highway Friday afternoon. Photo courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Man Charged With Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, Battery Of Woman
November 21, 2014
An Escambia County man who kidnapped and sexually battered a woman Thursday has been arrested. Kyheem Scott, 26, was charged with kidnapping, sexual battery and armed robbery.
The incident occurred between 3 and 4 a.m. in a vacant lot on North C Street. The 44-year-old woman told Detective Shannan Briarton she was walking home from her mother’s house when the suspect approached her and offered to walk with her.
The woman declined, but as she walked away, the suspect followed. In an attempt to avoid him, the woman walked onto several streets but Scott ran toward her and told her he had a gun, which she believed he placed on her neck. She then was forced into the vacant lot where he ordered her to remove items from her pockets and to perform oral sex on him.
The man then fled the area and the woman called police. Scott was identified during the investigation, and had the victim’s cell phone in his possession when arrested Thursday afternoon.