Week one turned out to be a pretty good week picking wise…at least on the prep level. I was 7-1 in my choices with the only game I picked wrong being the Baker-Bozeman contest. The Bucks surprised the Gators, and almost everyone else with the win. Don’t worry Baker fans you have a chance for pay back later in the season.

This week starts a night early with Walton traveling to Tallahassee to take on FAMU High. The Rattlers are the defending state champs in Class 1B. The Braves have several great athletes, but I don’t know if they have enough to stay with the home team.

I’ll take the Rattlers in this one 31-17.

Baker at Franklin County: Baker will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to the Bucks and Franklin County is the perfect opponent.

Last week Franklin County lost the first varsity football game in school history to South Walton 24-6.

Cameron Domangue should show improvement in his second game at quarterback as the Gators take to the road.

The Gators should be a little better than the Seahawks this year, and that’s why I’m picking Baker 28-0.

Crestview at Niceville: In the spring game the teams played to 7-7 tie. Both teams are coming off big wins agaisnt outmanned opponents in their respective openers.

Will Josh McDorman and Niceville’s spread offense have as much success against the Bulldogs as they did against West Gadsden? Probably not, but Crestview will find the going much tougher as well.

I’m going with the home team in this onel; Niceville 21-14.

Washington at Choctawhatchee: Another game where both teams are coming off big wins against outmatched opponents.

The Wildcats will provide a real test for the Indians. Jace Blanchard will need to be sharp again and LeKendrick Ingram will need another nice game.

Washington will be one of the more athletic teams Choctaw sees this year, but I’m still going with Choctaw.

Indians 27-21.

Rutherford at Fort Walton Beach: Both teams enter the game looking for their first win of the season.

Rutherford couldn’t do anything against visiting Navarre last week. And the Vikings turned the ball over too many times in their 31-14 loss to Milton.

Sophomore quarterback Luke Barnes said he learned a lot against the Panthers, and Viking coach Mike Owens believes him.

The Rams are athletic, but the Vikings are better than the score of last week’s game indicates.

I’m picking Fort Walton Beach 27-6.

Holmes County at Freeport: The Bulldogs and Blue Devils have one thing in common this year, they’ve both lost to Walton. The Braves pounded Holmes County in the Kickoff Classic and then came back and easily beat Freeport.

The Blue Devils opened the regular season with an open date, and that could work to their advantage.

The Bulldogs are trying to find a winning hand. Playing at home should help, but I don’t know if it will be enough.

My take is Holmes County 14-12.

Navarre at West Florida: The Raiders are out to show last year’s District 2-4A championship wasn’t a fluke. They got off to a nice start with a 28-0 win over Rutherford.

West Florida struggled against Washington and probably doesn’t have the fire power to stay with Austin Grimm and the Raider offense.

The Raiders continue to be road warriors with a 35-3 win.

Wewahitchka at South Walton: The Seahawks scored 24 points against Franklin County last week as the Gators opened the season with an open date.

The Gators always play a pretty good brand of ball and will test South Walton on both sides of the line.

If the Seahawks can establish the run the way they did last week they might pull out the win. But I don’t think that will happen.

Wewa 28-13.

So, what do you think? How close will I come in Week 2. Let me hear from you and tell me why you agree or disagree with these picks.

The Chcotawhatchee football team was impressive in its 40-3 season opening win over Gulf Breeze.

Jace Blanchard was outstanding at quarterback spreading the wealth to 10 receivers. And LeKendrick Ingram gives the Indians a running back that can break a game open at any time.

Choctaws defense was strong too. Trey Neely scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery. And the Tribe kept the Dolphin offense of balance most of the night.

If the Indians continue to improve this could be a special season. All the ingredients are there for Choctaw to battle for the District 2-4A title, and possibly more.

This week Choctaw hosts Washington and the Indians will need to step it up a notch. The Wildcats will be a faster and more physical team than the Dolphins, and I doubt seriously if this game will be as one-sided as the easy win of GBHS.

A win Friday against a quality Washington team could send a statement to other teams that the Indians are for real.

Welcome to week one of the high school football season.

Friday everyone starts with a clean slate in their quest for a shot at the playoffs and run at a state title. Nobody’s playoff hopes will be derailed in game one, but by the time the final seconds tick off we might have a better idea of how teams will do when district play starts in a few weeks.

So here I go, I’ve made my picks on the Panel of Experts, and now I’ll elaborate a little and throw in my projected score for each game.

Fort Walton Beach at Milton: I took the Panthers in this one and I think the final will be 24-13. If the Vikings are healthy they might make the trip to Santa Rosa County and come away with a win, but two or three key players are missing and I don’t think they can shut down Dustin Land and the Milton offense.

Gulf Breeze at Choctawhatchee: This one hurts (from the perspective of an old Dolphin). The Indians take this one 24-0. Gulf Breeze will be starting a quarterback that has never taken a varsity snap. Chris Martin and friends on the Choctaw defense plan on introducing the young signal caller to varsity ball in a not-so-friendly way.

Lake City Academy at Crestview: This one shouldn’t be close. The Bulldogs won 42-0 last year, and look for a similar score this year. Granted, Crestview is breaking in several new starters, but this is just the kind of game young players need to get their feet wet. Dont’ be surprised to see a running clock in the second half. Crestview 38-0.

West Gadsden at Niceville: Another blowout special. The Eagles soar 35-7 in their first official game in the spread offense. Senior quarterback Josh McDorman will pass on the Panthers all night long in a big win.

South Walton at Franklin County: The Seahawks finally had something to smile about earlier this week with the return of a couple of key players. They’ll be smiling even more after their trip to Franklin County.

Even an undermanned South Walton squad should be too much for Franklin County playing in its first varsity football game. The Seahawks take this one going away 31-10.

Bozeman at Baker: The Bucks will get a look at the new spread offense run by the Gators, and they won’t like it. Look for Baker to use quarterback Cameron Domangue’s running ability to set up the occasional pass. Although unproven, the Baker line should dominate. Perhaps the biggest factor is the Gators are on a mission for teammate Travis Peoples who died in an accident earlier this summer.

Gators chomp the Bucks 28-6.

Freeport at Walton: The battle of Walton County turned upset last year when Jim Anderson’s boys from Freeport pulled the 13-12 upset. Can Anderson and the Bulldogs pull another rabbit out of their hats? Not likely…Tarrell Bramlet and the Braves offense have too much fire-power this year.

It’s back to reality as Walton wins going away 42-0.

Navarre at Rutherford: The Raiders open the season as defending district champs for the first time in team history. And while the game with the Rams isn’t a district contest, Navarre wants to get off to a quick start in preparation for District 2-4A play.

Coach Larry Olson should have his team ready. Look for quarterback Austin Grimm to have a nice game and the Raider defense to give the Rams problems.

Navarre wins 24-7.

 There you have it. My take on week one.

What do you think?

There are certain smells I associate with football Friday nights in Northwest Florida.

Nothing beats the smell of boiled peanuts at the Nut Hut at Jack Foster Stadium in Crestview. And every stadium is filled with the wonderful scent of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, or freshly popped popcorn.

For some strange reason, I even enjoy the smell of sweaty football players.

There is one smell I can’t stand at a game or anywhere else, and that’s cigarette smoke. Yes, I’m sensitive to it. I don’t like the thought of someone’s second-hand smoke choking off my fresh air and getting into my lungs.

Fans that smoke inside our high school stadiums are not only breaking the law (every stadium in Florida is a non smoking area), but also forcing the players, cheerleaders and other fans to breath their stale and polluted air.

So before you light up Friday night please be considerate of others. We’ll all breath easier, and so will you.

Anybody that knows me will tell you I’m old school. Some people will tell you I’m just plain old, but we won’t go there now.

If you’ve read the Daily News the last seven years you know I’m a proud member of the first winning football team at Gulf Breeze High School in 1974. However, when I arrive at a game involving the Dolphins I’ll shoot straight down the middle. I believe I give up the right to be a fan when I use my press pass to get into a game.

Having grown up in Northwest Florida I always thought this is one of the hotbeds for prep sports in the country. Writing for papers in Georgia and Tennessee confirmed that opinion.

At one time I dreamed of covering the Super Bowl and the World Series. With the passing of time I’ve come to realize that thousands of stories have been written guys like Peyton Manning and Ken Griffey Jr., but the story I do on your son or daughter might be one of the highlights of their athletic career. That’s the thing that makes covering high school sports special for me.

In the days ahead I’ll try to inform and challenge you. This blog is user friendly so let’s keep it friendly. Please don’t say anything behind an alias that you wouldn’t be willing to say to someone’s face.

And so let he bloging begin.

Being old school, my first question is, are today’s athletes as tough as those of us who played 30 years ago? Let me know what you think.