Escambia and Niceville meet in battle of Florida Panhandle powers

The contest is arguably one of the top games of the year on the Florida Panhandle

Escambia quarterback Nino Freeman (No. 2) slips out of the backfield for positive yardage during Friday night's season opener against West Florida. / Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

They don’t get too much bigger than this when it comes to high school football games in the 850.

In what could make the arguargument as the Florida Panhandle game of the year, despite it only being Week 2, is when Escambia travels to Eagle Stadium to take on Niceville.

The storylines are everywhere for this highly anticipated matchup between regional powers.

Niceville (1-0) is coming off a thrilling 35-28 victory over Class 3A state title contender South Sumter last week, showing off its new addition via high school football free agency in running back Connor Mathews.

Niceville's ground game too much for South Sumter: 5 takeaways

RB Connor Mathews breaks away as he runs the ball during the Niceville South Sumter football game at Niceville. / Michael Snyder / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mathews, a Massachusetts commitment, was the workhorse in the victory and rushed for a game-high 235 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns.

The Eagles’ offense will need a cleaner game out of quarterback Kane Lafortune, who threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw three interceptions against the Raiders.

There’s no shortage of stout tacklers on Niceville’s defensive front seven, with three defenders recording 14 or more tackles in Week 1. Linebackers Harper Campbell and Jon Bocchino both notched 14 tackles, with Maddox Hayles leading the way with 15.

Escambia High School's Ladarian Clardy ( No.1) runs for positive yards during Friday night's season opener against West Florida High School. / Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Eagles’ defense will gear up for an Escambia offense that looked impressive in a 45-12 victory over West Florida last week.

A quarterback that’s all too familiar with Niceville is Escambia’s Nino Freeman, who left the Eagles and transferred in during the off-season. Freeman and two other quarterbacks saw time against West Florida, with the former throwing for 43 yards and a touchdown.

Billy Dunn and Clayton Sanders are two other passers that could see the field for Mike Bennett’s offense.

The Florida Panhandle’s most highly sought after high school football recruit, Ladarian Clardy, plays a role on both sides of the ball. The 4-star 2025 prospect hauled in a pass for 35 yards and a touchdown last week, along with making four tackles and forcing a fumble.

In taking a deeper dive into both of the team’s schedules, it could be feasible for either to run the table if they can win the early season pivotal matchup.

Niceville loaded up its 2024 slate of games and next week would host Pine Forest and also has tilts against Choctawhatchee (Sep. 20), Mosley (Oct. 11) and Lincoln (Oct. 18).

For the Gators, they face Mosley on Sep. 20 and then Pine Forest and Tate in the final two weeks of the season.

Whomever wins this game could be setting themselves up for the rest of season.

Vote: Florida Panhandle high school football Player of the Week (8/26/2024)

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl