🐊 Baker stays perfect — Gators move to 8-0 and eye another deep playoff run.
💪 Choctaw eyes repeat — Big Green can clinch the district title with one more win.
🦅 Niceville still alive — Despite ups and downs, Eagles remain in the playoff hunt.
NICEVILLE — With only three weeks remaining in the 2025 high school football season, conversations around local teams are now turning toward the playoffs.
After a week of tough district wins and losses, the playoff picture became clearer going into week nine.
Here is what you need to know.
Good news, Baker fans: a playoff run in 2025 is almost certain; you need to win one more game to ensure it.
Sitting at 8-0 (3-0 in rural standings), the Gators will face their toughest remaining team on paper this Friday, as they host Freeport. After that, they go on the road for the final time in the regular season, facing Port St. Joe on Oct. 24.
Baker has outscored opponents 293-98 this year and is coming off a 49-6 win over Zion Chapel last week.
In what is still one of the most competitive districts in Northwest Florida, District 1-2A is going to be a dogfight to the end.
We start with Walton, who fell to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in district play last week in a 24-7 loss to Pensacola Catholic. With that loss, the Braves have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Moving to Freeport, which also entered a two-game slide, losing to South Walton 50-9. The Bulldogs are still in the fight, with a favorable schedule coming up. After a matchup with Baker, which can go either way, Freeport will face Walton on Oct. 24 and North Florida Christian on Oct. 31.
For South Walton (5-2, 2-0 in 1-2A) and Pensacola Catholic (7-1, 2-0 in 1-2A), their destiny is set for an Oct. 24 matchup, with the winner taking the District 1-2A title outright.
If you remember reading our playoff article last week, you would have noticed how tight District 1-4A was.
Following week eight, Booker T. Washington fell to 0-2 in district play and 4-3 overall, after losing to Pine Forest, 32-9. The upcoming road for them isn’t as easy as they look to knock off Tate (5-2, 1-1 in 1-6A).
Pine Forest, which improved to 1-0 in district play last week, is not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, even though they sit at 2-4 overall with three weeks left in the season.
The Eagles also have a tough schedule, which will include a battle for the district title against Escambia on Oct. 24. Pine Forest will also play Pace and West Florida to end their season.
However, the 3-4 Escambia Gators, who are 2-0 in district play, are currently in the driver’s seat, coming off a three-game winning streak.
Outside of a district matchup on Oct. 24, the Gators face Crestview and Tate to finish the season.
As for District 2-4A, the Choctawhatchee Indians (8-0, 2-0 in 2-4A) will clinch back-to-back district titles with a win against Fort Walton Beach (2-5, 1-1 in 2-4A) on Oct. 24.
Joining Big Green in the projections is district rival, Rickards, who sits 2-6 (1-1 in 2-4A). Up next for the Raiders following their late bye is a district matchup with Arnold (2-5, 0-2 in 2-4A) and Lincoln (5-2, 2-0 in 2-5A).
The big surprise from the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) on Tuesday morning was seeing the Niceville Eagles (4-4, 1-1 in 1-5A) projected to make the postseason, with a projected road matchup against the #1 seed: Ponte Vedra.
For the Eagles, this is kind of a headscratcher around the Mid Bay News office, as Niceville has had one of the most rollercoaster-esque seasons in recent memory, with heartbreaking losses to Crestview (3-3) and last week’s 42-36 overtime loss to Mosley (6-1, 2-0 in 1-5A).
If you watched Final Approach to Gameday on our social media pages on Friday, you would have noticed Joshua Wilson from Florida HS Football saying the road for Niceville to make the playoffs came down to two outcomes: other teams in 5A take losses, and Niceville wins out the remainder of their schedule.
After last week, Niceville is still in total control of its playoff destiny.
After the week nine bye, Niceville hosts Milton (6-1, 1-1 in 1-5A) before hosting Navarre (0-7, 0-2 in 1-6A).
As for Milton, who is currently the sixth seed, their road to the playoffs is a bit tougher.
Along with a district matchup at Niceville on Oct. 24, the Panthers first have to make it through a matchup with West Florida High (4-3, 0-1 in 1-3A) on Oct. 17 and then the heated rivalry game against Pace (6-1, 2-0 in 1-6A) on Oct. 31.
Mosley is guaranteed a playoff spot since clinching the District 1-5A title on Oct. 16.
With Pace beating Crestview and Tate, they clinched the District 1-6A title on Friday, yet the big question remains: Who else gets in?
We will start with Tate, as their road is a bit easier. With a win over Navarre and a loss to Pace, the Aggies sit 5-2 overall and 1-1 in district play.
With a matchup against Escambia, who are getting hot at the right time, and a Crestview team that is starting to get its act together, the Aggies have a challenging yet manageable schedule if they take care of business.
For Crestview, things get a little messy.
Currently, the Bulldogs sit at 3-3 (1-1 in 1-6A), and their slow start might hurt them, regardless of whether they win the remaining games on their schedule. However, it is essential to note that their three losses are against playoff teams (Niceville, Choctaw, and Milton), which helps them in the strength of schedule metric.
Furthermore, outside of a matchup against Tate, Crestview also plays Escambia and Fort Walton Beach, all of which are home games for the Bulldogs.
However, with other 6A schools across the state having better resumes, the FHSAA currently has Tate and Crestview on the outside looking in.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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