Escambia came into Steve Riggs Stadium on Monday night and left with a 14-7 district win over Fort Walton Beach in a game that featured no scoring in the second half.
The game started off in Fort Walton Beach’s favor when Escambia fumbled on its opening drive and the Vikings recovered, but the Gators responded by blocking a punt deep in Viking territory. Two plays later, Kyron Perry took it in himself for a touchdown to put Escambia up 7-0.
The Escambia defense then forced another Fort Walton Beach punt. Perry completed a pass and kept it himself for a first down before Caden Downs ripped off a touchdown run to put the Gators up 14-0.
The Vikings answered with their best offensive drive of the night. Lavin McDaniel hit Cannon Wilbur, TyShaun Montgomery and Carlos White each picked up a first down on the ground, and McDaniel found Elijah Donson on a screen for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-7.
Escambia got back into Viking territory on its next drive when Cornelious Barge Jr. ripped off a first-down run, followed by two runs from Downs. A pass interference penalty on Fort Walton Beach pushed the Gators further, but an illegal formation penalty and a bad snap forced Escambia to settle for a field goal attempt. The kick was no good, keeping the score 14-7 heading into halftime.
Fort Walton Beach opened the second half by recovering an onside kick, and a face mask penalty on the Gators gave the Vikings even better field position. Escambia ended that threat by recovering a fumbled handoff.
The Viking defense showed up the rest of the way, but Escambia’s defense came in with a perfectly executed plan of shutting down the run and forcing the Fort Walton Beach offense to become one-dimensional.
The Vikings continued to give themselves chances all the way up to the final drive, which opened promisingly with a McDaniel connection to Wilbur. Two straight Escambia sacks followed, and a fourth-down incompletion sealed the win for the Gators.
