Gulf Breeze-Navarre football rivalry set for latest epic chapter

The rivalry for Gulf Breeze and Navarre  — across all sports — never seemsto  disappoint. But most spectators would agree that the meeting between the football teams takes the cake.

For the third-straight year Friday's game will determine the district champion. The road team has won the last three years in a row. Last year's game at Gulf Breeze brought out nearly 4,000 fans and the thriller in 2016 had nearly 5,000.

Here's 5 things to keep an eye on in the District 2-6A championship:

1.  MC3 vs. Dolphin DBs: Marlon Courtney III leads the Pensacola area and is sixth in Class 6A of Florida with 1,603 passing yards, with six interceptions and 13 touchdowns. Gulf Breeze is third in Class 6A with 12 interceptions and has returned three of them for touchdowns. Trey Alexander leads Gulf Breeze and is second in the area with four pickis. 

2. TDs for T.D. or TFLs for Nav City?: Gulf Breeze’s Tyler Dittmer leads the state with 1,949 yards (9.6 per carry) and is second with 24 touchdowns. His longest run of the season is 70 yards.  He will collide with a stingy defense that is allowing 20.6 points and has amassed 70 tackles for loss this year. Jordan Jefferson leads that category with 16.

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3. Special teams: Navarre has blocked seven field goal attempts and two punts this season compared to Gulf Breeze’s one blocked punt. Navarre averages 24.8 yards per kick return and 7.2 yards for punt returns, while Gulf Breeze gets 14.0 yards back on each punt return and 15.5 for kick returns. Navarre has returned two kicks for touchdowns.

4. Clutch kicking: Gulf Breeze could benefit the most if this game comes down to a late field goal. Matt Scheurich is 4-for-4 on field goal attempts this year, including a game-winner for Gulf Breeze over Pace two weeks ago. He’s 37 of 38 on point after attempts. Navarre is 3 of 8 on field goal attempts this season, and 20 of 23 on PATs.

5. Field conditions: It began raining at 8 a.m. Thursday in Navarre and precipitation percentages remain in the upper 80s to 90s through 11 p.m. If the field at Bennett C. Russell Stadium remains wet Friday, it may affect the state’s leading rusher and his east-west cuts as well as the area’s top passer, who may be gripping a wet pigskin.

Brian Achatz can be reached at bachatz@pnj.com or 850-435-8521