Choctaw, Navarre clash with plenty on the line

The Choctawhatchee football team has been here before, just last year, in fact.

As the Indians’ put the finishing touches on preparations for Friday night’s District 2-6A contest with Navarre, Choctaw does so on the heels of a 14-13 loss at Niceville in which it had appeared to be on its way to a possible overtime period, only to see the would-be game-tying extra point blocked.

At 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in district play, Choctaw coach Greg Thomas pointed to the 2010 season – when the Indians started slow in district play before reeling off five-straight wins to secure a playoff berth – as proof that despite the sting of last week’s setback, all is not lost.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” Thomas said. “We know how important each week is. If you’re not ready to go it’s not going to be fun, that’s for sure. We just have to be mentally ready each week for us to be able to compete at the level we want to.”

Choctaw will look to bounce back against a Navarre (2-3, 1-0) team smarting from a humbling loss of its own. One week after dispatching of Niceville in its district opener, the Raiders fell flat in a 43-24 loss to Pensacola Catholic.

Still, the Raiders enter Friday night’s game capable of improving to 2-0 in district play, a fact Navarre coach Chad Lashley didn’t dance around on Wednesday.

“It’s huge,” Lashley said, “it is huge. It’s a big game. It’s not make or break, but it’s much better to be sitting at 2-0 rather than being at 1-1 and having to deal with who loses. It’s much better to be in the driver seat.”

Navarre has been led this season by its quarterback, Dusty Jones, a first-year starter that has already thrown for 981 yards and 10 touchdowns. Jones has been picked off three times. By comparison, Choctaw quarterback Luke Clark has passed for 559 yards and six touchdowns with zero interceptions.

The similarities between the two teams extend beyond the quarterback position. Each features a defense teeming with speed, and offenses boasting hard-nosed running games. Choctaw has been led by Josh LeMay (289 rush yards, 3 touchdowns) while Navarre’s Dwayne Carter (631 yards, 9 touchdowns) is the area’s leading rusher.

“I think it’s a pretty good matchup between the two of us,” Lashley said.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night at Etheredge Stadium.