Choctawhatchee can clinch playoff berth against Bay

FORT WALTON BEACH — Ask Choctawhatchee senior Ryan Born what a win at Bay — and the playoff berth it would secure — would mean to him and a wry smile stretches across his face.

“A dream come true,” Born said. “It’s been so long for the school to have been in the playoffs, we just want to push each other to get there.”

Choctaw (4-3, 4-1 District 1-3A) travels to Bay (4-4, 3-2) knowing that a win tonight will assure the Indians of their first playoff berth since 2004. Just last season, Choctaw jumped out to a 2-0 start to district play only to see its hopes of a District 2-4A crown dashed by a fifth straight loss to Fort Walton Beach. Two days later, the Indians found themselves in a three-team shootout with the Vikings and Crestview still holding on to hopes of playoff football.

Instead, Choctaw was eliminated, signaling a deflating end to an otherwise exhilarating one-year turnaround under then new coach Greg Thomas.

Tonight, Thomas hopes to see his team make the most of its latest opportunity.

“If we play well and win we clinch a playoff spot,” Thomas said. “We were in the same situation last year and just didn’t come through with it. We know that we’re going to have to play better than we did last week because we’re playing a better team.”

Bay enters tonight’s contest having won three of its last four, two of which were decided by four points apiece. In three of its four losses, Bay lost by 12 points or less and two of those came by four points or less.

“They’re not one-dimensional,” Thomas said. “They can run the ball and throw it … They’re big up front, defensively they’re sound and they have a little bit of confidence too. They’ve been in every game they’ve played.”

For Choctaw, however, the theme this week has been focusing more on getting a full four quarters out of the Indians rather than worry too much about what to expect from Bay.

One week after starting slowly against lowly Washington, Freddie Gray believes the Indians are primed to punch their ticket to the postseason.

“You can never think it is guaranteed because last year we were in the shootout and when push came to shove, we ended up losing and being out of the playoffs,” Gray said. “We just want to take care of business (tonight) and make sure we’re in the playoffs.”