2015 Preview Guide: Panhandle Region notebook

From Pensacola to Niceville, from Panama City to as far east as Port St Joe, it is no secret the Panhandle Region is home to some of the best players and teams around the state each year.

Last season was no different as four teams advanced to at least the state semifinals.

Niceville, Choctawhatchee and Vernon all rode dominating defenses all the way to the state semifinals before falling to Osceola, Armwood and Port St. Joe respectively.

For Port St Joe, they only allowed just 14 total points in the playoffs on its way to the schools fourth overall state title.

The question now is who will it be in Orlando this year? Who will be this years Cinderella team to make it to the state semifinals?

Chasing History

The nine county area that makes up the Panhandle Region has seen its share of success over the last 50 years with 31 state titles and 26 state runner-up finishes.

Port St Joe tied Baker last season winning its fourth state title. Now the Sharks look to make history by winning their fifth.

Here is a list of the areas state champions and state runner-ups.

State champions

• Holmes County (1965)
• Port St Joe (1971, 1984, 2005, 2014)
• Bay (1976)
• Milton (1978, 1979)
• Ernest Ward (1979)*
• Tate (1980)
• Woodham (1982, 1984)*
• Baker (1983, 1984, 1985, 1993)
• Escambia (1984, 1985)
• Walton (1985)
• Pine Forest (1987, 1988, 2000)
• Niceville (1988)
• Graceville (1988, 1993)
• Choctawhatchee (1990)
• Fort Walton Beach (1991, 1995)
• Washington (1994)
• Pensacola (2009)
• Northview (2012)

State runner-ups

• Graceville (1967, 2005)
• Liberty County (1969)
• Port St Joe (1970, 1989)
• Milton (1972)
• Pine Forest (1978, 1979, 2006)
• Baker (1980, 1982)
• Mosley (1981)
• Holmes County (1979, 1987)
• Woodham (1985)*
• Century (1986)*
• Bay (1993)
• Rutherford (1997, 1999)
• Escambia (1999)
• Marianna (2000)
• Crestview (2002)
• Pensacola Catholic (2004)
• Niceville (2009, 2013)
• Chipley (2011)

* – School is defunct

Coaching Changes

Of the 100-plus coaching changes across the state, only eight of those changes were in the Panhandle Region.

• Escambia: Willie Spears, Mike Davis
• Fort Walton Beach: Mike Owens, Tommy Johnson
• Graceville: Ty Wise, Grant Thompson
• Holmes County: Brad Johnson, Kevin Womble
• North Bay Haven: Jared Hale, Jeff Lee
• Pensacola: Mike Bennett, Mike Mincy
• Tate: Ronnie Douglas, Jay Lindsey
• Vernon: Bobby Johns, Willie Spears

On The Move

UPDATE: We have learned that there is a different set of plans in the works for Tommy Oliver Stadium, which includes a brand new stadium, as reported by WJHG-TV in Panama City.

The plan would include a brand new stadium to be located directly off 15th Street with the new stadium facing in a north/south direction, unlike the current east/west direction the current Tommy Oliver Stadium faces. The school district plans to contribute at least $7 million for the new stadium.

A July 13th deadline for the City of Panama City to become a partner in the new Tommy Oliver Stadium has been set by the Bay County School District. As of now Bay, Mosley and Rutherford will continue to play their home games at Tommy Oliver Stadium for the 2015 season.

We will update this story when more information becomes available.

ORIGINAL STORY: The excitement of finding out a new district and making up a new schedule is one of the joyful things a coach looks forward to in the off-season.

However, for Bay County football coaches Jimmy Longerbeam (Bay), Jeremy Brown (Mosley) and Rob Armstrong (Rutherford), the off-season was anything but joyful.

Three months after their seasons ended, fans and coaches from Bay, Mosley and Rutherford were all dealt a devastating blow by the Bay County School Board.

In February, the School Board unanimously approved the renovation of 60 year old Tommy Oliver Stadium beginning early as the spring.

The aftermath means that all three schools track teams were forced to move all their track meets and fall football games to Mike Gavlak Stadium on the campus of Arnold High and the stadium at Bozeman High.

According to the Panama City News Herald, Phase One began July 1, 2015 and consisted of installing turf, demolishing the existing track surface, replace visiting side bleachers, build a new concession stand and a drainage ditch.

Phase Two will begin July 1, 2016 and will include demolition of the home side bleachers, construct new field houses, new track, new track bleachers and a new parking lot.

The two-year project not only caught Bay, Mosley and Rutherford off guard, but also caught the coaches Arnold and Bozeman by surprise as well.

As of today, Arnold and Bozeman will play all of their games at home on Fridays, while Rutherford and Mosley are looking into possibly playing some games on their own campus.

On The Road Again

With several small towns spread out across the Panhandle region, athletic directors and football coaches often have to look other places for scheduling games.

For many schools, it can be cheaper to just drive across the state line to play a game then drive way across the Panhandle region.

It is no surprise many of them choose to play games across state lines in Alabama, since most of the counties border the state.

In the upcoming season, the region will have 10 gams featuring out-of-state teams including a surprising four against the state of Mississippi.

Navarre will make a 146 mile trip to the north, via on Interstate 10, on August 21 to play Dothan, AL an estimated three hour trip to officially kick off the 2015 season.

Other lengthy trips for Panhandle teams include Cairo, Georgia and Vidor, Texas.

Vidor came to Pensacola last season and was hammered 35-6 by Escambia.

Four Mississippi teams and one Lousiana team will make the cross state trip to nearby Panhandle teams.

Biloxi (3-8), Ocean Springs (11-2), Bassfield (15-1) and St. Martin (7-5), all from Mississippi will join Lousiana school St. Jesuit in playing teams from the Panhandle this season.

Bassfield won its third consecutive Mississippi Class 2A state title last season while Ocean Springs fell in the second round of the playoffs along with arch-rival, St. Martin.

Games featuring Out-of-State Teams:

August 21
Navarre at Dothan (AL)

August 28
Bay at Vidor (TX)
Jay at Flomaton (AL)
Biloxi (MS) at Tate

September 4
Ocean Springs (MS) at Milton

September 11
St. Martin (MS) at Crestview
West Florida at Cairo (GA)

September 18
Jesuit (LA) at Escambia
Bassfield (MS) at Niceville

October 2
Maplesville (AL) at Northview

Moving On Up

Over the summer, West Florida High was dealt a stunning blow, when the Escambia County School District decided to shake things up, as the Pensacola News Journal first reported.

Under the school district’s new plan, students from Woodham Middle formerly Woodham High, which closed in May of 2007, would be moved to a newly constructed new middle school on the northwest side of Pensacola along with zoning changed to help relieve overcrowding at Ransom Middle in nearby Cantonment.

The current Woodham facility would then be renovated to become the home of West Florida High providing the school with improved athletic facilities including a stadium and field house.

Brown-Barge Middle students would be relocated to the current West Florida High campus as well as allowing the existing technical center to expand into the remaining space.

The move over the next three years will be a blessing and stressful to say the least.

West Florida athletic director and baseball coach Marc Conti, whom the schools athletic complex is named after, sees several benefits. Among the benefits he sees, include a larger school campus and buildings and on campus football stadium.

As such, Conti won’t have to spend unnecessary money anymore every game wont be a away game anymore. Buses were needed to transport the team from West Florida to the stadium at Woodham.

However, the one negative thing is the Marc Conti Athletic complex, which houses the baseball and softball teams won’t be able to be moved.

In Mourning

When Milton takes the field August 28 against Pensacola Booker T. Washington at Haywood Hannah Stadium, the Wildcats won’t likely be the only thing on the Panthers mind.

Former Milton head coach Arthur Mike McMillion was killed in a single car accident May 12 on Interstate 10.

After becoming the schools assistant coach in 1993, McMillion became the head coach from 2000-2009.

The tragic loss was felt not just in the Milton community, but at arch-rival Pace and nearby Tate in Escambia Count as well.

McMillion son-in-law of Brad Filbert, is an assistant coach at Pace, while current Pace head coach Mickey Lindsey knew McMillion from his days of when he was at Ernest Ward and Lindsey was at Century.

“He had such a positive effect on lot of kids lives,” Lindsey told the Pensacola News Journal, “When you are a teacher, a coach, that is what you strive to do. Mike always did a great job. This is a very sad time for all of us.”

The two met in the annual spring game in May and both teams mourned and observed a moment of silence for McMillion.

And although Tate didn’t play Milton this past season nor will be playing them in 2015, the Aggies did their part in honoring McMillion himself when the news broke: