Choctawhatchee locks up 4th straight district with rout of Washington

Choctaw rides ground game to rout of Niceville

FORT WALTON BEACH — There was no grandiose celebration of a four-peat, nor was there even acknowledgement of it by Frank Beasley in the postgame huddle.

Instead, after Choctaw (6-2, 4-0) won its sixth straight game and locked up District 1-4A again with a 49-7 win over Booker T. Washington (6-2, 3-1), the Big Green put their head down because they know what's on the horizon.

Region 1-4A is a gauntlet with unbeaten Columbia ranked No. 1, undefeated St. Augustine No. 2, unbeaten Mosley at No. 3 and Ed White 7-2 narrowly ahead of the Big Green at No. 4. That'll likely change between now and the next weekend before the region brackets are revealed, but for now the Big Green can only control what they can control.

"We're not affected by who we have to play in the playoffs, and we'll get the job done," senior Carter Marracco said.

"We just have to play Choctaw football," added senior Zeke Burgess.

Choctaw football is felling rivals and winning districts these days, and in convincing fashion too. In its 4-0 district stretch, Beasley's crew has outscored foes 182-29 with four running clocks. The Big Green will try to bolster their resume as much as possible Nov. 4 against district foe Fort Walton Beach in "The Game," and then they'll see where the chips fall with Region 1 still running through the defending-champion Big Green.

"Our guys just come out here and practice and we get ready to play and we move about our business and focus on ourselves," Beasley said. "Our kids don't mind getting on a bus. They're used to it anything thrown at them."

On Thursday, Choctaw was prepared to shine in all three phases of the game.

Marracco opened the scoring on the first play with a 69-yard keeper out of the wildcat, followed by a 26-yard touchdown from the right arm of Baker Giles.

"We were talking about it all week." Marracco said of the opening play. "The O-line opened up a great hole, I faked it to Dante and one of the linebackers bit and I just ran through the hole."

Dante Whidbee followed with a 44-yard touchdown to make it 20-0, and then Burgess stepped in front of an out-route and took it 24 yards to the house for a 28-0 lead after Marracco's 2-point conversion.

"That was third-and-3, so I just played the sticks," Burgess said. "They threw an out-route on the sticks where I was supposed to be, and I took it to the pick-six."

A 23-yard touchdown connection between Giles and DJ Spence capped the first half scoring to start the running clock out of the halftime locker room.

In the second half, Amir Reese tacked on an interception in the end zone, Isaiah Collins rushed for an 11-yard touchdown and Jabron Ruffin had a pick-six to make it 49-0. Pair that with a blocked punt and a forced and recovered fumble after a pinned punt, and Choctaw made a 6-1 team look like a freshman squad. In fact, Washington only scored in the waning seconds after a full second half against Choctaw's No. 2s.

"Practices have been really intense," Beasley said. "Coaches have done a great job of getting our kids ready; we were down a lot of starters tonight on defense, I think four. And our guys stepped in and did some really great things against a potent offense. They've really scored at a high clip with some really good receivers, a good quarterback and a really big O-line. Credit to coach (Terrence) Brooks and the staff for getting the kids prepared."