Molino PTA Golf Tournament, Chance To Win A Car
May 12, 2010
There is still time to register for the First Annual Molino Park Elementary School PTA Golf Tournament that will be held next weekend.
Golfers will have the chance to win a new vehicle from World Ford in the tournament on May 22.
Registration will be at noon and tee off will be at 1 p.m. at the Cypress Lakes Golf Course (formerly Solutia) in Cantonment.
The cost is $55 per person on a team of four; the cost includes 18 holes of golf and a golf cart. There will be goody bags and door prizes. Special events will include a putting challenge, longest drive and closest to the pin contest. Proceeds benefit the Molino Park PTA.
To register, contact Tina Pendleton at (850) 982-1615 or (850) 587-5002. Business sponsors are also needed.
Golf attire is required. No steel spikes are allowed on the course. All participants must be at least seven years old with an adult participating.
Log-A-Load Bass Tourney Benefits Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital
May 11, 2010
The 14th Annual Log-A-Load for Kids Bass Fishing Tournament was held this past weekend to benefit Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital.
Ken Sessions and Greg Sessions won the tournament with a total catch of four fish at 13.32 pounds and a second lunker of 5.09 pounds. For the win, they received $5,352. Second place went to Larry Bullock and Roger Caldwell with 8.9 pounds with a lunker at 5.09 pounds. Third place went to Joey Mann and Jack Jenkins with 8 pounds.
More than $12,000 in cash and prizes were awarded at the tournament.
There were 88 boats in the benefit bass tournament at the Swamp House Marina and Landing in Pensacola. All proceeds will benefit children in need at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital.
Pictured: 14th Annual Log-A-Load for Kids Bass Fishing Tournament winners Ken Sessions and Greg Sessions. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Last Chance: Register For Scalpball Tournament
May 11, 2010
There is still time to get in on some great volleyball action next weekend.
The Spring Scalpball Tournament benefiting the Northview High School volleyball program will be held Saturday, May 22. There is still time to register your team for this 4 vs. 4 volleyball tournament. For more information click here, or click here for a registration form.
Royals Advance Toward State With Win Over Northview
May 8, 2010
It was all the things that good playoff games are made off Friday night in Jay as a capacity crowd watched the Jay Royals take on the Northview Chiefs the Region 2A Semifinals.
In the end, the Royals beat the Chiefs 1-0. Along the way, it was a game of great pitching, great hitting and equally great fielding.
The only RBI of the game came from Rush Hendricks in the bottom of the third with a single up the middle to score Sawyer Gandy.
It was the end of one of the best seasons ever for the Chiefs (18-10). The Royals (17-7) will advance to the Region 2A Finals at 7:00 Friday night in Jay.
Hunter Brown pitched seven for the Royals, allowing two hits, no runs, one walk and striking out three. Austin Reid pitched seven for the Chiefs, allowing five hits, one run, four walks and striking out six.
Northview hitters included Brad Lower 1-2 and Dakota Stuckey 1-2.
Jay hitters included Sawyer Gandy 2-2 with a run and Rush Hendricks 1-1 with an RBI.
Photos courtesy WEAR for NorthEscambia.com.
Four More Tate Aggies Sign With Brewton’s Jeff Davis
May 7, 2010
Four Tate Aggie seniors signed letters of intent to play baseball for Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton.
Joey Hedden, Tyler Moore, Lee Hunter and Cole Vickery signed with the Warhawks Thursday afternoon. They joined Brandon Blackwelder who signed with JDCC back in March.
Pictured: Five Tate Aggies have signed to play with Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton. They are: (standing, L-R) Tate Coach Todd Boyd, JDCC Coach Darrell Blevins; (sitting, L-R) Lee Hunter, Tyler Moore, Brandon Blackwelder, Cole Vickery, Joey Hedden. Pictured below, top to bottom, are the family signing photos of: Cole Vickery, Joey Hedden, Lee Hunter and Tyler Moore. Submitted photos by Deeann Lee for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Beats Bonifay, To Face Jay Friday
May 6, 2010
The Northview Chiefs beat Bonifay Wednesday night to advance to the Region 2A finals Friday night against Jay.
Senior Austin Reid pitched seven for the Chiefs in their 4-1 victory over Bonifay. Reid allowed just one hit and one run while striking out 11.
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when the Chiefs put two on the board and Bonifay added one. Northview added two more runs in the sixth.
Hitters for the Chiefs were Austin Arrington, 1-3 with one run; Dabney Langhorne, 2-4 with one run, and RBI and a double; Austin Reid 1-4; Austin Lowery with one RBI and one run; Brandon Sheets 1-2 with one run; and Dakota Stuckey 1-2 with a double, and two RBIs.
Northview will play Jay at 7:00 Friday night in Jay.
Becky Lowery photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Jay Comes From Behind To Beat Bozeman, 9-7
May 5, 2010
The Jay Royals came from behind to the beat the Panama City Bozeman Bucks Tuesday night, 9-7.
The Royals were down 7-0 on their home field headed into the fourth inning. But in the bottom of the fourth, they put five on the board. Sawyer Gandy had a two run double for the Royals, and Hunter Brown had a two run homer.
In the fifth, the Royals sealed their Region 2A tournament win with another four points. Tyler Prescott singled while Gandy scored on a wild Bucks pitch. Dakota Smith doubled with a long hit into the right center field.
The Royals score their nine runs on eight hits and committed just two errors for the night.
Leading hitters for Jay were Hunter Brown 1-2 with a home run and 3 RBIs; Dakota Smith 2-3 with a double and two RBIs; and Sawyer Gandy 2-3, two RBIs and two runs.
Jay will be at home Friday night at 7:00 against the winner of Wednesday night’s Northview at Bonifay game.
Northview Baseball Regional Game Rescheduled
May 4, 2010
Tuesday nigh’s baseball game for the Northview Chiefs was rescheduled. The Chiefs will travel to Bonifay Wednesday night at 7:00 in the District 2A Regional tournament.
NHS Senior Hits Hole In One At Champion Golf Course
May 4, 2010
Timothy Wages of Century hit a hole in a one at the Champion Golf Course in Cantonment on Saturday.
He accomplished the feat on the fourth hole, using a 6-iron, according to witnesses Rob Brown, David Gaines and James Hughes.
Wages is a senior at Northview High School. He is son of James and Karen Hughes of Century.
FHSAA Considers New Division For Small, Rural Schools Like Northview, Jay
May 3, 2010

A Florida High School Athletic Association committee has given preliminary approval to creating a new division for for small, rural schools like Northview and Jay. Schools in the rural division would compete within their own division and have their own playoff series for boys and girls basketball, baseball, football, softball and girls volleyball.
The recommendation from the FHSAA Urban/Rural Committee came about a year after Northview, Jay and nearly 20 other high schools in the Florida Panhandle met to discuss forming a new independent athletic league outside of the Florida High School Athletic Association.
“We all just want to see our teams have a level playing field,” Northview Principal Gayle Weaver told NorthEscambia.com at the time the smaller Panhandle schools were meeting. “Sometimes our students say we are playing for second best, because they know that they could never win state.”
The problem lies with smaller schools in the FHSAA that are forced to compete at the playoff level with private schools and academies located in cities like Pensacola. Those private schools are able to recruit the best players with scholarships and other incentives, making the chances of a small, rural public school winning a state playoff unlikely.
“It’s a good idea because it keeps these private schools out,” Northview Athletic Director Sammy Day said. “You’ve got a lot of private schools that recruit…if they get them coming to school because they live in their area, that would be fine. But they don’t.”
“A new division of participating schools (public and private) needs to be created,” the FHSAA Urban/Rural Committee wrote in a recommendation for full FHSAA board approval.
“We have a number of member schools that need issues addressed in terms of equitable competition,” said Executive Director Roger Dearing. “We need to make sure people know this is not a public-private issue. This is an issue of small rural schools that do not draw their student populations from larger urban areas or outside the state or country, and have a difficult time competing against those that do. There is a way for all schools to exist and succeed with the advent of this new division.”
The committee, which was commissioned in Fall 2009, traveled throughout the state to gather feedback from parents, coaches and other stakeholders at public meetings about issues of concern regarding participation. From this feedback, the committee developed the following recommendations:
- to create a new division of participating schools, private and public, which have been designated as rural by the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, and whose student enrollments are 500 or less. This classification shall be limited to the following sports: boys and girls basketball, baseball, football, boys and girls soccer, softball and girls volleyball.
- to ensure penalties for an offense of recruiting, or any violation(s) of eligibility bylaws, are very severe, including but not limited to: program and/or school suspension from the Association; program and/or school restrictive probation, including exclusion from state series playoff events; and increased financial penalties.
- to investigate the use of a “clearinghouse” system for international student eligibility, with no more than one international student being eligible to participate on each varsity-level team.
- to seek input from member schools regarding reclassification and redistricting processes.
The Urban/Rural Committee noted in their full recommendation that the student population of 500 is an approximation with the actual number to be determined by the actual number of schools required t o create a competitive division.
To read the full FHSAA committee recommendation, click here (pdf).
Pictured top: Brandon Sheets tries to avoid Jay defender Chris Carrigan during last year’s meeting of two rural schools. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.







