FWC Hunter Safety Courses In September In Molino, Jay, Milton
August 30, 2026
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is offering free hunter safety internet-completion courses in Molino, Cantonment, Jay and Milton. Hunter safety courses are designed to help students become safe, responsible and knowledgeable hunters and learn about conservation.
Participants must take the online course before attending a class.
All firearms, ammunition and materials are provided free of charge. Students should bring a pen or pencil and paper. Anyone under 18 must have a completed and signed parental release.
Anyone born on or after June 1, 1975, must pass an approved hunter safety course and have a hunting license to hunt alone (unsupervised). The FWC course satisfies hunter-safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces.
The two-day events will be held as follows, and you must have completed an online hunter safety course and have a copy of the completion certificate or field day voucher prior to taking a Range Day (listed bottom).
ESCAMBIA COUNTY In Person Field Day Classes
- September 14, 6-10 p.m. — Molino Community Center
SANTA ROSA COUNTY In Person Field Day Classes
- September 21, 6-10 p.m. — Jay United Methodist Church
- September 28, 6-10 p.m. – Extension Office, Milton
RANGE DAY
- October 3, 9 a.m. – noon — Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, Milton
Those interested in attending a course can register online and obtain information about future hunter safety classes, or contact FWC safety coordinator Jeff Schumacher at (850) 767-3612 or via email.
Blue Wahoos Set Home Run Record In Win Over Biscuits, Move Closer To Division Title
August 30, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Montgomery Biscuits 5-2 on Saturday night, securing their third win in a row and lowering their magic number to clinch the South Division second half title to six.
Brandon Compton and Ethan O’Donnell each hit solo homers in the second inning to open the scoring against Biscuits starter Marcus Johnson (L, 0-2). Compton’s opposite-field blast was his 21st Double-A homer of the season, the fifth-highest single-season total in Blue Wahoos history and just three shy of tying Griffin Conine’s 24 homers in 2022 for the franchise record. O’Donnell’s held team importance, as it was the 164th hit by the Blue Wahoos this season to surpass the 2023 club for the most in franchise history.
The Blue Wahoos added on after the early homers thanks to a third-inning sacrifice fly from Aiva Arquette. Arquette delivered once again in the fifth against Biscuits reliever K.C. Hunt, lacing an RBI single to left field. Juan Matheus followed with a sacrifice fly for Pensacola’s fifth and final run of the night.
Jacob Kisting (W, 3-0) was sharp once again in his fourth start for the Blue Wahoos, working into the sixth inning for the first time since being acquired from the Rays organization in a deadline trade. The righty allowed two runs, one earned, over 5.0+ innings, with the only damage a Will Simpson solo homer in the fourth.
Gabe Bierman, Alex Williams and Jack Sellinger (S, 
combined for 4.0 hitless innings of relief to secure the win, Pensacola’s 17th in their past 20 games.
With the victory, the Blue Wahoos improved to 18-6 with one game remaining in the month of August. They’ve secured the best winning percentage in a full month in franchise history, surpassing their 19-10 July in the 2018 season.
Pensacola’s lead over the Columbus Clingstones in the second half South Division race remains at 8.5 games with 13 remaining in the regular season. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now down to six.
The Blue Wahoos wrap up their series with Montgomery on Sunday afternoon.
written by Erik Bremer
Pierce Leads Tate Past Former Milton Team In 24-21 Win
August 29, 2026
Senior quarterback Cade Pierce returned to his old stomping grounds Friday night to lead the Tate Aggies to a gritty 24-21 road victory over his former team, the Milton Panthers.
Riding high after a dominant 40-13 home win over Marianna last week, the Aggies quickly went to work against a Milton squad hungry to rebound from a Week 1 shutout against Pensacola Catholic.
Pierce set the tone early in the opening quarter, finding Efidarius Bryant for a touchdown strike to give Tate a 7-0 edge. Running back Ethan Pittman carried the heavy load from there, punishing the Milton defense with a touchdown run in the second quarter to help secure a 17-14 Tate advantage at the break.
Pittman struck again in the third quarter, taking a handoff from Pierce and punching it across the goal line to extend the lead to 24-14. The workhorse back anchored the Aggie offense all night, piling up 171 yards and two scores on 27 carries. Milton rallied in the fourth to pull within three, but Tate’s defense stood tall in the closing minutes to seal the win.
Now 2-0 on the season, Tate returns to Pete Gindl Stadium next Friday at 7 p.m. to host the Escambia Gators (0-1), who are looking to regroup after an 8-0 loss to Pine Forest.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Chiefs Roll Past McIntosh 42-13, Shift Focus To Graceville Road Trip
August 29, 2026
The Northview Chiefs remained undefeated on the young season Friday night, rolling past the McIntosh Demons 42-13 just across the Washington County, Alabama line north of Mobile.
With the dominant road victory pushing Northview to 2-0, the Chiefs now face another lengthy trek next week—a roughly 140-mile journey east to take on the Graceville Tigers.
The Tigers (0-2) are looking to turn their fortunes around after dropping their first two contests against Central and Cottondale by a combined 99-26.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Friday Night Football Scoreboard
August 29, 2026
Here are Friday night football scores from across the North Escambia area.
FLORIDA
Thursday
- Niceville 41, West Florida 14
Friday
- Northview 42, McIntosh 13
- Tate 24, Milton 21 [Recap story...]
- Jay 56, Elberta 8
- Pine Forest 8, Escambia 0
- Pensacola High 32, Gulf Breeze 10
- Catholic 51, Pace 33
- Washington 45, Navarre 27
ALABAMA
- T.R. Miller 14, Straughn 7
- Escambia County (Atmore) 50, Tarrant 6
- Evangel Christian 50, Escambia Academy 21
- Flomaton (open)
- W.S. Neal (open)
Recap: UWF Football With Stunning Win Over No.16 Southern Illinois In Division I Debut
August 29, 2026
Given an opportunity for a second historical debut, the UWF football team produced another stunning achievement.
The Argos, a 20-point underdog in their first Division I game Thursday night against Southern Illinois – ranked No. 16 in one FCS preseason poll – powered into an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter, then made dramatic game-sealing plays in the final minutes for a 34-31 victory, thrilling a record crowd of 6,124 at Pen Air Field.
The Argos have proven adept at creating attention across the college football world.
“It’s always good to be on the right side of history,” said redshirt senior defensive lineman Byron Puryear in a fitting assessment of what happened. “That’s the moment right there, the right side of history. We played good. We did what we had to do.”
Playing with a remade roster of 73 new players, the Argos were ready for the moment.
“I think a lot of people outside the team were counting us out,” said UWF head coach Kaleb Nobles. “And I’ve got to tell you, our locker room does not think like that…Our job is to come in play good football and our guys did that. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. Am I stressed out, yes.”
“(Thursday) is kind of what UWF football is about,” said Nobles, who ushered the arrival of UWF football in 2016 when he was the starting quarterback for the Argos’ inaugural season. “We had success on the Division II level. Now you make the jump to Division I. I know a lot of people outside were just wanting us to play our best and have fun… and that’s not we’re about .. We’re here to win. We’re here to compete every play. And that’s what UWF football has been about for 10 years.”
Puryear was part of a swarming, gang-tackling, well-focused UWF defense that often won the line-of-scrimmage battles and forced out Southern Illinois star quarterback DJ Williams in a second-quarter injury. Williams, a senior and FCS All-American, spent the second half watching in shorts from the sideline.
His backup, Jake Curry, tossed a pair of interceptions, one of which A’khoury Lyde returned 44 yards for a second-quarter touchdown that gave UWF a 20-6 lead at halftime.
“We prepared a lot for DJ Williams,” Nobles said. “I talked more about him than I talked about our kids. He’s a great player and I hope he is not hurt too bad. Anytime you get a back-up quarterback, you put another good plan together and we knew they would. I’m not sure that guy is as athletic as DJ but he’s a good passer, but our guys did what they had to do to hold him back and get the win.”
The Argos further gained control on Markel Townsend’s nine yard TD run with 7:27 left in the third quarter, which built a 27-9 lead.
But Curry rallied the Salukis. Taking advantage of two UWF fumbles, Curry ran for a score, then threw a touchdown pass with 7:39 left and suddenly UWF’s lead was 27-24.
The Argos defense, however, changed the momentum by recovering a fumble at the Salukis’ 42, after UWF’s ensuing possession went nowhere.
With 6:22 left, UWF’s new starting quarterback Ty’ray Davis, a sophomore from Orlando, led a defining drive.
After losing yardage on a first down play from the Southern Illinois 18, the Argos called a wide receiver screen to Luc Carroll, a freshman from Miami’s Gulliver Prep High, who turned the play into a 22-yard touchdown with 2:37 left.
“It was big time play call by coach (offensive coordinator) Donny Baker,” Nobles said. “It is something we have repped from day one. Just a normal tunnel screen that we blocked up well and we had two freshman receivers out there….That was Luc’s first college pass… and to win the game. A great time to call it. I think (Salukis) were blitzing into it and worked out perfect.”
Southern Illinois, however, was not done. Curry completed a nine-play, 73-yard drive with 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left.
The Salukis had all three timeouts remaining. The ensuing onside kick was smothered by UWF’s Kenyan Hunter at the Southern Illinois 46. UWF forced the Salukis to use all three time outs, then punted to the 20 yard-line.
With 18-seconds left at his own 36, Curry threw another interception, this one snagged by David Law-Mortinez to end the game and began the Argos celebration.
UWF amassed 335 offensive yards in the game. An important element was UWF committed just five penalties for 48 yards.
Davis rushed for 88 yards and passed for 109 yards and two scores.
The Argos defense was led by sophomore linebacker Cameron Anderson of Jacksonville, who had 11 solo tackles and sophomore Carson Ratliff from Mobile’s Faith Academy who had nine stops.
Ratliff was a pallbearer in former UWF teammate Ben Conken’s funeral on Aug. 22. Conken died after a battle with cancer.
A moment of silence was held for Conken and UWF top donor Darrell Gooden, who died in July.
“Carson was a pallbearer for his best friend’s funeral and then he comes out (Thursday) and plays his tail off,” said Nobles, his voice cracking with emotion. That is not easy for a 19-20 year-old kid to do.”
UWF has now won their season opening game for six straight seasons. The first FCS win will be a memory for many for years to come.
by Bill Villona, Argos Correspondent
WHAT’S NEXT? – The Argos travel to Conway, Arkansas to face Central Arkansas on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. This will be the Argos first conference game in the United Athletic Conference. The Central Arkansas Bears were formally members the Southland Conference from 2007 until joining what is now the UAC.
Central Arkansas competed in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference, an NAIA level conference until 1993, then became members of the Gulf South Conference – the Argos former home – as NCAA Division II members until 2007 when joining the FCS Southland Conference.
written by Bill Villona, Argos Correspondent
Photo Morgan Givens/UWF for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Matheus’ Multiple RBIs Leads Wahoos to 5-3 Win
August 29, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos saw their magic number shrink again on Friday night, with a come from behind 5-3 win over the Montgomery Biscuits.
The game went scoreless for the first inning and a half before Montgomery broke the seal. Three singles off of Orlando Ortiz-Mayr put the Biscuits up 1-0. In the top of the third, Pensacola evened the score with an RBI single from Juan Matheus to make it 1-1.
The tie didn’t last long as Theo Gillen ripped a two-out RBI-double into left field in the bottom of the third, bringing the lead back to Montgomery. An inning later, a leadoff triple from Connor Hujsak came around to score on a Kamren James groundout, giving the Biscuits a 3-1 lead. With Ortiz-Mayr done after 4.0 innings, it was up to the Pensacola bullpen to keep Montgomery off the board.
In the meantime, the Wahoos offense began mounting a comeback. It started in the top of the 5th when a perfectly executed double steal brought the ‘Hoos to within a run. With Aiva Arquette on first and Adrian Santana on third, Arquette broke for second. As the throw came down, he stopped, because right when the ball was released, Santana took off for home. With a crafty feet-first slide, Santana was safe and the score was 3-2. The steal of home was just the 11th in Wahoos franchise history.
Then in the 6th, following Cristian Hernández’ 27th double and 30th steal of the year, Ethan O’Donnell tied the game up with a single into left. The top of the 7th also brought fortune as Adrian Santana reached on a dropped third strike to begin the frame. Two batters later, Juan Matheus unleashed a double into the gap to give the Blue Wahoos their first lead of the game.
And finally in the 8th, with men on the corners and nobody out, Connor Caskenette bounced into a 5-4-3 double play, bringing the score to 5-3 in favor of Pensacola. They scored four unanswered in four consecutive innings. As this was going on, Jaydenn Estanista (W, 2-0) and Luis Palacios (S, 4), locked down the final 5.0 innings allowing no runs on just a hit, a walk, and four Ks. Palacios earning saves on back to back days was the first occurrence since Jeffery Yan in 2023.
Luis Guerrero (L, 0-1) was tagged with the loss for Montgomery, as they fell to 63-61 overall and 28-27 in the second half. The Blue Wahoos improved to a season high 21 games over .500 with a 72-51 overall record and a 36-18 record in half two. They also tied a season and franchise best in stolen bases with 7 as a team. The win coupled with a Columbus Clingstones loss dropped their magic number down to 7 games with 14 to play.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series with Montgomery on Saturday night.
written by Charlie Hobert
Wahoos Best Biscuits In Extras As Magic Number Narrows To Nine
August 28, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos battled back from an early deficit on Thursday night to force extra innings and beat the Montgomery Biscuits 5-4.
The numbers favored the Blue Wahoos entering play; a 7-1 second-half record after losses and wins in all of Eliazar Dishmey’s previous seven starts. Fortune, however, favored the Biscuits early with two hits dividing outstretched defenders, giving Montgomery a 1-0 lead.
Dishmey bent but didn’t break in his start, allowing consecutive singles in the second before a weak pop-out ended a Biscuits two-out rally. In the third, Dishmey quickly found himself in a hole, surrendering a run on back-to-back doubles to extend the Biscuits’ lead to two and consecutive walks to load the bases. Thankfully, the ever-dependable Juan Matheus turned a soft grounder to a 5-2-3 double play and caught a fly ball in foul territory to erase the threat and end the inning.
The wheel of fortune finally spun in the Wahoos’ favor in the fourth when Brandon Compton drove a liner just inside the right field foul line for a double, eventually scoring on a Fenwick Trimble single to right that snuck just underneath the Biscuits’ first baseman, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1.
Mason Vinyard would relieve Dishmey with two outs in the fifth, allowing two baserunners on a hit-by-pitch and a walk, but getting a groundout to quell the Biscuits’ rally.
All offense would be on hold until the top of the sixth, when Fenwick Trimble again stepped up in the clutch, driving home Compton and Dillon Lewis with a two-out, two-run single for the first Blue Wahoos lead.
The pendulum rapidly swung back the Biscuits’ way in the bottom half of the inning, as three more perfectly-placed singles loaded the bases for Mac Horvath, who subsequently drove in two to put the Biscuits back on top 4-3. Poised to add on, Montgomery’s rally was snuffed out when Blue Wahoos catcher Ryan Ignoffo picked Ryan Spikes off of third base.
The Wahoos would tie in the eighth after a squeeze bunt single by Juan Matheus scored Adrian Santana. Nigel Belgrave (W, 5-5) replaced Vinyard in the home half, silencing the Biscuits through regulation.
Santana wasted zero time putting the Wahoos on top in the tenth, lacing a leadoff double into right off Justin Yeager (L, 0-1) to score pinch runner Jay Beshears and give Pensacola a 5-4 lead. Brandon Compton walked and stole second base to slot two runners in scoring position, but Yeager limited the damage and stranded both men aboard.
Santana’s RBI was all that was needed. Belgrave continued his no-hit relief appearance until Luis Palacios (S, 3) was called upon to record the final out in the 10th, cementing another one-run and comeback victory for the Blue Wahoos.
The Blue Wahoos improved to 71-51 overall and 35-18 in the second half, and are now 9-1 in extra-inning games. With a win and Columbus loss, the Blue Wahoos’ magic number decreased to nine with 15 games remaining.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series with Montgomery on Friday night.
written by Luc Maho
Tate Sweeps West Florida to Stay Unbeaten
August 27, 2026
The Tate High School Aggies kept their undefeated season rolling with a dominant 3-0 sweep over the visiting West Florida Jaguars, taking the straight-set victory with scores of 25-13, 25-17, and 25-13.
The win improves the Aggies to a perfect 4-0 on the year while the Jaguars dropped to 0-5. Tate continues to show depth across the court this season, tallying 115 total team kills, 144 digs, 105 assists, 33 aces, and 17 blocks.
Senior Torrie Garrett has anchored the Aggies’ offense with a team-leading 50 kills, while senior Bailie Merritt and Grace Gaulden have paced the service game with eight and seven aces, respectively. At the net, sophomore Myla Manoso leads the defensive front with nine total blocks, supported on the back line by junior Harper Leopard, who is averaging 3.3 digs per set.
Tate will look to extend their winning streak on Thursday when they host Pensacola High at 6:30 p.m.
Walks Burn Wahoos Against The Montgomery Biscuits
August 27, 2026
For the first time since last Thursday, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos found themselves in the loss column. In a 10-0 loss to the Montgomery Biscuits, Pensacola couldn’t overcome a slow start.
Walks were the story of the night for Luis Moreno (L, 6-7). He allowed three free passes in the first, one in the second, and four in the third. The 8 total walks were a season high for an individual pitcher for the Wahoos and a career high for Moreno. Those three first-inning walks coupled with four base hits brought four runs home for Montgomery.
The third inning saw three more runs plated for the Biscuits, giving them a 7-0 lead over the Wahoos. Moreno didn’t make it out of the third, finishing with 2.2 innings, 5 hits, 7 runs, 8 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Tristan Stevens was the first man out of the pen and pitched a perfect 2.1 innings, striking out three in the process.
Logan Whitaker and Josh Hejka threw the final 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk. The Pensacola offense only managed to scrape across three hits from Aiva Arquette, Fenwick Trimble, and Colby Shade. Garrett Edwards (W, 5-10) grabbed the win for the Biscuits, improving their record to 63-59 overall and 28-25 in the second half. The Wahoos fell to 70-51 and 34-18. Despite the loss, the magic number for Pensacola still dropped to 11, thanks to a Clingstones loss in Chattanooga.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series with Montgomery on Thursday night.
written by Charlie Hobert