Young Raiders get first win under their belt

By ADAM PRUIETT

Florida Freedom Newspapers
(850-315-4484 | adamp@nwfdailynews.com

NAVARRE - The Navarre football team's inexperienced offense followed the lead of unseasoned quarterback Andrew Velazquez.

It was the second start of his career and the second start for nine other Raiders on offense, but by the end of the first half they looked more like veterans.

Velazquez led the way, tossing two long touchdown passes in the last two minutes before intermission to give Navarre a comfortable advantage en route to a 20-3 victory over West Florida on Friday night.

The win was the first as head coach for Chad Lashley, who had been Navarre's offensive coordinator before taking the helm. The Raiders doused Lashley with a water cooler after the game.

"It felt good in the aspect that our kids improved, and that's what we wanted," Lashley said.

Velazquez was pulled to start the second half in last week's 29-6 loss to Rutherford. He was a different quarterback against the Jaguars (0-2), connecting on 14-of-21 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns.

Those two scores propelled Navarre (1-1) to a comfortable win.

Leading 6-3 approaching the two-minute mark in the second quarter, Velazquez threw a strike to a streaking Billy Mitchell for a 57-yard touchdown.

"That felt amazing," Velazquez said. " ... The line really picked it up this week. It was really important for them to get it done in the trenches."

He wasn't finished. With 1:11 left, Navarre got the ball back at its own 30. Velazquez tossed a screen pass to Michael Pettus and then hit him over the middle for big gains.

The drive looked like it might stall when Velazquez was sacked on consecutive plays, but he responded by heaving a 25-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Riker. That put Navarre up 20-3, and both teams pitched shutouts in the second half.

West Florida's night was summed up by its first drive of the second half. The Jaguars, who haven't won a game since 2004, moved the ball 85 yards, but a sack, holding penalty and interception by Greg Moses killed the drive.

They then moved the ball to the 7 on their next possession before an intentional grounding halted the march.

Adam Hamilton kicked two field goals, and Pettus rushed for 50 yards and caught four passes for 79 yards. Mitchell and Riker combined for seven catches for 129 yards.