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Crestview Head Coach Thomas Grant is entering year 18 with the Bulldogs. Grant worked as an assistant at his alma mater for 14 years before becoming the head man. After a debut 7-5 season in 2022, his Bulldogs have suffered back-to-back losing campaigns.
With the majority of last season’s offensive and defensive production coming from returners, 2025 appears to be a golden opportunity for a veteran-led Crestview football team to tack on another winning season and playoff appearance for Grant.
The Bulldog offense features some do-it-all kids with statistics from 2024 that seem straight out of a video game. Starting with rising junior Zy Tassin, the quarterback, running back, wide receiver racked up decent numbers in almost every statistical category possible. Taking reps as QB2 last season, he threw for 270 yards on only 12 completions. His 12 completions averaged 22.5 yards, and three of them went for touchdowns.
While he doesn’t fit any traditional position and can really only be described as an athlete, Tassin should find most of his reps at receiver. He led the Bulldogs last season with 22 catches, 367 yards receiving and three scores. In his sophomore season, he also tallied 16 carries for 56 yards and two touchdowns.
Another all-around athlete on the Crestview offense, quarterback Jayzion McQueen, racked up an impressive 1,911 all-purpose yards. Over 1,100 of those yards came through the air in his nine games at quarterback. He completed just over 50 percent of his 159 attempts and threw for 11 touchdowns in 2024.
One of the only downsides to the rising senior’s game is his ball protection. While he did throw for those 11 scores, he was picked off 13 times. If McQueen can increase his completion percentage and improve his touchdown to interception ratio, the Bulldogs could be looking at boasting one of the better quarterbacks on the Emerald Coast.
McQueen also returns as Crestview’s leading rusher. The dual-threat field general carried the ball 125 times for well over 750 yards. He finished the season with four games over 100 yards and broke paydirt nine times on the ground to bring his scoring total to 20.
Tassin and McQueen were more than the majority of the Bulldog offense a year ago, accounting for 2,565 of Crestview’s 2,939 total offensive yards. Bringing back both will certainly be big for Coach Grant as he looks to right the ship. One can expect any opposition in 2025 to get a heavy dose of the dual-threat duo.
Contrary to the issues of many football teams on the Emerald Coast this season, Crestview will have a huge amount of juniors and seniors on its roster in 2025 who have already had their fair share of varsity production.
Four of the five athletes who recorded over 100 rushing yards will make their return to the View for upperclassmen seasons. Both quarterbacks, as mentioned above, are returners, and two receivers with over 100 yards will also be at the disposal of Thomas Grant in 2025.
Young receivers like Manwell Robinson, who has already been offered by Troy, and CJ Reynolds also have a chance to build on the limited action they saw in 2024. Breakout seasons from the rising junior receiver duo would certainly alleviate some of the pressure on McQueen and Tassin to carry the load the way they did last season.
While the offensive returners are a big bonus, that’s not where it stops for Crestview. On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs will return four of their five leading tacklers.
At times last season, the Crestview defense was one of the best in the area, holding Choctaw to just 14 points and Pine Forest to 13. However, they also gave up 35 against Niceville, 56 to Pace and 54 to Tate. Showing flashes of greatness a year ago, a defense that features much of the same personnel with another year under their belts has the opportunity to be consistently good in 2025.
With 159 tackles throughout his Crestview career, rising senior Max Anderson has quickly become the cornerstone of the Bulldog defense. The outside linebacker averaged nearly ten tackles per game last season and goes into 2025 as an even more polished player.
Another senior, Carlton Rainge, is also set to be a key returning piece for Grant’s defense. Rainge finished second last season for the Bulldogs with 74 total tackles and led the team with 10 tackles for a loss. Also entering their senior years, Sean Johns, who recently received his first Division I offer, and Jordyn Stoudmire, who led the team with three sacks last campaign, should be guys whose production increases drastically this year.
And as if he didn’t get enough on the offensive side of the statsheet, Zy Tassin also led his team in interceptions. At the free safety position, Tassin brought in two picks and 15 tackles.
The Crestview schedule, basically identical to the one from last year, is a gauntlet in the opening half. After a Week 1 matchup against Milton, the Bulldogs will face Niceville on the road in Week 2. The following week, a Choctaw team that is shaping up to be one of the best area teams this season will come to Jack Foster Stadium. After two consecutive tough tasks, Week 4 is no different, as Thomas Grant’s team will make the trip to Pace to play the reigning district champions. Their remaining district opponents are Navarre and Tate, whom they are scheduled to play in Weeks 8 and 10.
The amount of returning production that Crestview will have in 2025 is rare among high school football teams in the area. Showing some promise in moments as a young team last season, the Bulldogs have a very good chance to show their maturity and put two straight 4-6 seasons behind them.
