Pace could’ve been cleaner in some aspects, but it’s hard to argue with the final result.
The Patriots cruised past Tate 30-8 on Oct. 10 at Pete Gindl Stadium to repeat as District 1-6A champions and clinch a berth in the state playoffs. Pace still has one district game against Navarre on Oct. 24, but has wins and owns the tiebreakers over Crestview and Tate, who are 1-1 in district play.
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“That bye week can’t come quick enough,” Patriots head coach Vance Smith said. “But we still got three really tough games in front of us. We gotta take it one game at a time. We’re going to enjoy this one and then next week, Sunday, we’ll move on to Pine Forest.”
It was a familiar formula for Pace, who racked up 280 yards on the ground and held the Aggies to just 180 yards of offense.
This was the Patriot’s eighth straight win over Tate. Here are three takeaways from the pivotal district clash.
Pace’s fast start proves crucial
The Patriots took control before the near sellout crowd at Pete Gindl Stadium had the chance to settle in.
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Pace junior quarterback Brooks Washington ran for a 58-yard touchdown on the second play of the game. Then after forcing a Tate punt, Washington capped off the second Patriots drive with a 16-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.
Washington racked up 121 rushing yards in the first quarter alone, finishing with 144 rushing yards and two touchdowns and completing three of five passes for 36 yards. Tagg Strickenburger ran for 70 yards as part of a Pace rushing attack that averaged 6.8 yards per carry despite missing two starting offensive lineman and junior running back Makael Williams for the second straight game.
“Our line is the best line in Florida,” Washington said. “I’ll put that hands down. Just being able to run behind those guys is awesome.”
As successful as Pace was moving the ball at times, they struggled to finish drives. The Patriots didn’t score an offensive touchdown the rest of the night, instead settling for three field goals. They also turned the ball over on downs once and lost a fumble.
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“Credit to the Tate coaches and kids over there,” Smith said. “I thought they did a really good job in the second half. We had a really hard time running the football, which is what we do and then in the passing game we didn’t execute. Just a sloppy, sloppy night offensively.”
More: Pensacola area high school football Week 8 recap, Jay and Pine Forest get district wins
Pace get contributions from all three phases
Even though Pace would’ve liked to be a little better on offense, the Patriots still put together a complete performance.
Pace’s defense kept Tate off the board until Ethan Pittman’s three-yard touchdown run with 10:31 left in the fourth quarter. That capped off a 19-play drive for the Aggies, one Smith blamed on his offense not finishing drives.
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Tate ran for just 3.1 yards per carry and freshman quarterback Damaylan Woodberry was never comfortable.
The Patriots special teams did their part too. Nelson was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals, drilling 25 and 35-yard field goals in the second quarter and a 30-yard field goal to cap off the Patriots only third quarter drive.
“Just an overall team win,” Smith said. “It’s just you’re frustrated because we didn’t execute the way were capable of executing on offense. But again, all three phases matter. When we needed the defense to get a stop, they got a stop and when we needed to execute on special teams we were able to do that also.”
The special teams contributions didn’t stop there. In the second quarter, West Florida commit Jonathon Jimenez blocked a punt deep in Tate territory that junior Caleb Boudreaux picked up and ran in for a five-yard touchdown and a 24-0 lead.
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“We practiced it all week,” Boudreaux said. “We saw that they really were open and they weren’t like together to block. Johnny just came through, he blocked it and I was like I’m just gonna scoop and score.”
Tate turns to freshman quarterback
The Aggies have been looking for answers at quarterback since sophomore starter Miles Delarosa tore his ACL in a 27-7 win over West Florida on Sept. 19.
Sophomore running back Tanner Clark finished that game, then led Tate back from a 20-0 deficit to 29-26 win at Navarre on Sept. 26. But head coach Rhett Summerford decided to start Woodberry to preserve Clark for the regular season stretch run. Clark ran for a team-high 742 yards and 10 touchdowns in Tate’s first six games.
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“We can’t kill Tanner,” Summerford said. “That’s just what it is. We’ve got a long season ahead of us still. He can’t tote the ball 40-50 times. He’s a sophomore and our backfield right now we have a junior, a sophomore and a freshman. It is what it is. We’re trying to get better and we’ll continue to build and get better.”
Woodberry completed six of 15 passes for 55 yards. Tate ran for just 3.3 yards per carry, with Pittman running for 42 yards and a touchdown and Clark 36 yards. Florida Atlantic commit Elijah West caught four passes for 34 yards.
The Aggies remain in the hunt for a Region 1-6A playoff berth despite the loss.
“I just didn’t think we had momentum,” Summerford said. “They beat us up front on defense and we got some young guys on offense we’re trying to build and get better and we will eventually. We just aren’t there right now.”
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Up next: Pace (6-1, 2-0 District 1-6A) will play at Pine Forest on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. Tate (5-2, 1-1 District 1-6A) will play at Booker T. Washington on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pace football cruises past Tate repeats as district champions
