Pensacola's offense shines in romp over Choctaw (with PHOTOS)

FORT WALTON BEACH — Before his team’s contest with District 1-3A rival Pensacola, Choctawhatchee football coach Greg Thomas praised the Tigers’ defense as the best he’s witnessed in his two years in the Panhandle.

But it was Pensacola’s offense that stole the show Friday at Etheredge Stadium in a 51-14 romp.

Click here to view a Photo Gallery of the game.

Quarterback Jalen Spencer accounted for three touchdowns, receiver David Giannotti scored twice and Pensacola (4-1, 3-0) piled up 288 yards rushing. As for that reputable defense, Choctaw scored 14 points in the first half — matching the most the Tigers had given up in a game all season — before Pensacola shut out the Indians (1-3, 1-1) in the second half.

Pensacola scored on four of its five full possessions in the first half behind Spencer, who had 101 yards rushing and 82 passing by halftime. He got things rolling with an 8-yard touchdown run, set up Rakim Rivers’ 2-yard plunge with a 49-yard run and fired to Giannotti for a 7-yard scoring strike as the Tigers led 24-7.

Choctaw’s two scoring drives in the first half couldn’t have looked more different. The Indians cut their deficit to 10-7 when Freddie Gray capped a 14-play, 83-yard march by running in from 14 yards out. And Choctaw only needed 50 seconds to go 74 yards as quarterback Jesse Adams spotted Justin Savage for a 30-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left before intermission.

At that point, Choctaw trailed 24-14 and appeared to have the momentum. But Spencer split the Indians’ defense with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Giannotti on the fourth play of the second half.

The game got out of hand after that. Quan Johnson motored 67 yards for a touchdown on a punt return and followed with a 19-yard scamper, and Jacoby Brown recovered a fumble and went 35 yards for the score.

Spencer completed 8-of-11 passes for 162 yards and rushed for 104 on seven carries. Adams finished 17-of-28 for 177 yards, 144 of which came in the first half. Savage caught six passes for 79 yards.

Pensacola 51, Choctawhatchee 14

Pensacola          10              14                   20                   7—51

Choctaw             0                14                     0                    0—14

First quarter

P – Jalen Spencer 8 run (Bobby McLaughlin kick); 7:53

P – McLaughlin 30-yard field goal; 1:40

Second quarter

C – Freddie Gray 14 run (Dillon Drake kick); 5:55

P – Rakim Rivers 2 run (McLaughlin kick); 3:04

P – David Giannotti 7 pass from Spencer (McLaughlin kick); 1:12

C – Justin Savage 30 pass from Jesse Adams (Drake kick); 15.1

Third quarter

P – Giannotti 63 pass from Spencer (McLaughlin kick); 10:07

P – Quan Johnson 67 punt return (McLaughlin kick); 5:17

P – Johnson 19 run (kick blocked); 2:10

Fourth quarter

P – Jacoby Brown 35 fumble return (McLaughlin kick); 8:58

                                         P                          C

First downs                   16                 15

Rushes-yards             39-288            28-77

Passing yards               162                 177

Comp./Att./Int.           8-12-0            17-30-1

Fumbles-lost                2-0                 1-1

Penalties-yards            10-80              4-11

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING— Pensacola: Jalen Spencer 7-104, Jimmy Threat 6-49, Kenyon Martin 6-33, Quan Johnson 5-47, Nathaniel Wade 5-22, Laderick Black 5-29, Rakim Rivers 3-6, Bryce Horton 1-0, Jaquize Baldwin 1-(-2). Choctaw: Charlie Lott 16-31, Freddie Gray 6-38, Jesse Adams 5-6, Marcus Rosenthal 1-2.

PASSING— Pensacola: Jalen Spencer 8-11-0 162; Nathaniel Wade 0-1-0. Choctaw: Jesse Adams 17-28-0 177; Freddie Gray 0-2-1.

RECEIVING— Pensacola: David Giannotti 4-83, Barion Crenshaw 3-62, Quan Johnson 1-17. Choctaw: Justin Savage 6-79, Freddie Gray 4-24, Zach Morgan 3-36, Cody Brannen 2-18, Ryan Born 1-11, Charlie Lott 1-9.