Friday night was a milestone for Fort Walton Beach, as the Vikings rolled to a 41-6 victory over Pensacola for their first season-opening win since a 21-14 victory over Crestview on Sept. 21, 2020.

The Vikings’ ground game set the tone from the start, churning out 216 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries.

Elijah Donson led the way with 18 carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns, while Carlos White added nine carries for 21 yards and a score of his own. Ty’Shaun Montgomery needed just one carry to make his mark, breaking off a 44-yard touchdown run. Sophomore Carmello Thomas chipped in four carries for 50 yards, and Lavin McDaniel added 23 yards on the ground as well.

McDaniel finished 6 of 14 passing for 84 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Both of those scores went to Cannon Wilbur, who hauled in two catches for 42 yards and found the end zone on each.

• Dantay Walker added two catches for 22 yards, Eli Crozier had a catch for 12 yards and Donson chipped in a reception for eight yards out of the backfield.

Every member of the Vikings’ running back committee found the end zone, and combined with the McDaniel-to-Wilbur connection through the air, the offense was firing on all cylinders.

Fort Walton Beach led 14-0 at halftime and came out of the break on a tear, pushing all the way to a running clock by the middle of the third quarter, the first time the Vikings had triggered one since a 35-0 win over Bay on Oct. 20, 2023. Pensacola managed a late touchdown after the running clock was in effect, but it proved to be too little, too late.

The dominant performance added to the growing sense of optimism surrounding the program as the Vikings improved to 1-0.