Florida Panhandle High School Boys Soccer District Playoff Matchups (1/28/2025)
The district playoffs in the Florida panhandle are continuing this week for high school boys soccer. After an entertaining season, teams all across the Sunshine State are vying to see who is the best. These games are going to be action-packed with the winners advancing to the regional tournaments which start next week. This should be an exciting month of soccer with Class 1A-3A playing their state championships in 27 days and Class 4A-7A playing their state championships in 20 days. With that being said, here is the list of the district playoff matchups that are taking place in the Panhandle this week.
Class 1A
District Championship
The Rocky Bayou Christian Knights (Niceville, FL) are taking on the Community Christian Chargers (Tallahassee, FL) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. This season, Rocky Bayou is 9-8 which includes wins over Pine Forest and Walton. They are in great form as they went 5-2 to finish the regular season. The Charges enter this game at 8-4-1 with four shutout victories. They say that the "third time's the charm" as the Chargers look to defeat Rocky Bayou for the first time this season after losing their two previous matchups to them this season.
Class 2A
District Championship
The Maclay Marauders take on the Taylor County Bulldogs on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Marauders enter this game riding high after a phenomenal regular season. They are 15-1-2 with their most recent win coming at the expense of Franklin County in the district semifinals which took place yesterday. They won that matchup 7-0 which was their 10th shutout victory of the season. Senior striker, Zac Scovotto, is the driving force of their offense as he has 25 goals and 20 assists on the year. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are 10-7-3 on the year. They enter this game in excellent form having won four straight matchups including a 3-0 victory over Marianna yesterday in the district semifinals. They will come into this game with confidence as their last loss came on January 7 to Wakulla. This should be a fun one to watch as the Bulldogs also have a lethal goal scorer. Senior striker, Talan Aibejeris, has 24 goals and five assists this season.
Class 3A
District Semifinals
The semifinals are set as the South Walton Seahawks take on the Freeport Bulldogs on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Also on Tuesday at the same time, the Walton Braves will battle with the Pensacola Catholic Crusaders. South Walton is the one seed after they finished the regular season 12-3-5 which includes wins over Pace, Mosley, Tate and Gulf Breeze. They will look to rely on Martin Fajardo as he has been their most reliable threat as a goal scorer this season. He has 18 goals and eight assists so far this season. Meanwhile, Freeport is 6-6-3 on the year. For the Bulldogs to come out on top, they will have to rely on the defense to make stops as they fell to South Walton 6-1 earlier this season.
In the other matchup, Walton is 6-5-1 this season which includes a 2-1 victory over the Crusaders back in December. Their top scoring threat is Brayden Sampson who has 15 goals and one assist this season. The Crusaders enter this game with a 7-7-2 record overall. They enter this game with some confidence after defeating Bozeman 8-0 last week in the quarterfinals. The defense for Pensacola Catholic has improved in the previous four games as they have only allowed two goals while scoring 12 times.
Class 4A
District Championship
The West Florida Jaguars advanced to the championship game after they defeated Rickards yesterday 3-0. Meanwhile, the Vikings of Fort Walton Beach won 2-1 over Wakulla in a tightly, contested battle. The Jaguars started off the season hot when they won nine out of their first 11 matchups. Senior striker, Tyrin Joiner, is their top goal scorer with 19 goals and four assists on the season. Meanwhile, the Vikings are 11-5-1 on the year with key wins over South Walton, Bay and Niceville. Their attack is more team oriented instead of heavily relying on one player. Esteban Mendes and Wilmer Munoz are the two players to watch here as they have combined for 20 goal contributions this season.
Class 5A
District Semifinals
There might not be a tougher district in all of Florida than District 1 in the 5A class. Booker T. Washington (Pensacola, FL) headlines this region as not only one of the best teams in the state, but one of the teams in the entire country. They are 13-0-1 with nine shutouts. They have outscored the opposition 71-6, and they have seven games where they have scored more than five goals. They are led by the two-headed attack of Felipe Lawall and Evan McManus who have combined for 61 goal contributions this season. Their opponent is Pine Forest who is no slouch either. They enter the game with a 14-2-2 record with their two losses coming at the end of November and the beginning of December. The Eagles believe that they can win this as they exude confidence winning 11 out of 12 since their last loss. The player to watch for Pine Forest is Jesther Matamoros who has two hat-tricks in back-to-back games. This will be an exciting matchup that takes place tonight at 7:30 p.m.
After losing only twice prior to January, Gulf Breeze has stumbled as of late by losing four out of their last five. This puts their record at 12-6-3, but do not let that fool you. They are still one of the most talented teams in the panhandle. Will Woodward will be the player to watch as he has 11 goals and 14 assists on the season. Their opponent is Choctawhatchee who enters this matchup at 9-3-3 who have one three straight, including a 2-0 win over the Dolphins on January 15. Since their last loss which was a 6-0 defeat to Booker T. Washington, the Indians 5-0-1 with 28 goals scored. This should be a high-octane matchup this evening.
Class 6A
District Semifinals
The last of these matchups in the district playoffs are between Milton and Niceville with the other matchup being between Tate and Navarre. The Eagles enter the game with a 7-5-4 record which includes a win over Choctawhatchee and Pace. The two leading goal scorers are Camrin Pearson and Matthew Frey. Pearson has 9 goals and six assists while Frey has seven goals and four assists. The Milton Panthers enter this game with a 7-8-2 record, but they believe they can win this matchup after defeating Pace 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Their offense runs through Jackson Burt who can lead this team to victory. He has 18 goals and 10 assists this season including the two in the win over Pace.
The Navarre Raiders, who are led by 15 seniors, are having one of their best seasons in recent memory. They are 14-3-1 on the year with wins over Pace, Milton and Rocky Bayou Christian. They are on a four game win streak while outscoring the opposition 11-0 in this stretch. The Raiders will look to get revenge on Tate who defeated them in a 4-3 thriller in the opening game of the season. They will look to feed the ball to Vincent Nagorko and Jostin Navarro early and often as they have combined for 34 goal contributions this season. Meanwhile, the Tate Aggies come into this game after defeating Crestview 10-2 on Saturday. They are 10-6-1 on the year which includes wins over Navarre, Bay, Pace and West Florida. Junior attacker, Tyler Clarke, will be the one to potentially help see the Aggies get through to the district finals He has 18 goals and 11 assists on the season.