Navarre wins the tale of two halves
It took 48 minutes to decide who would be king of the hill in Santa Rosa County when it came to high school football in Class 6A.
The Navarre Raiders trailed at intermission, but led when it counted 20-12.
Milton (8-4) took advantage of the first turnover of the night and went the 25 yards for the touchdown.
Andre Flakes capped the drive with a two yard plunge over the line.
After a blocked point after, Milton led 6-0.
Navarre immediately made it 7-6 after a 10 play drive when Andrew Rieves hit Christian Gill with a jump pass on fourth and goal from the Milton 3.
Milton would end the first half up 12-7 as Roy Wise fought his way over the final five yards to end a drive which saw big gains as Cody Lowe completed passes to Dejon Funderburk and Isaiah Jones.
Jones would rush for 21 yards to set up Wise’s touchdown with just 32.5 seconds remaining in the first half.
The second half belonged to the Raiders.
Navarre took the opening drive and scored when Rieves hit Gatlin Casey for a 12 yard touchdown as the Raiders went up 14-12.
The Raiders would block a Milton punt to set up the final touchdown of the night on an eight yard run by Rieves with 5:25 left in the third quarter.
Milton would challenge a couple of more times in the second half in an effort to tie the game, but each drive ended with a fumble or interception.
Navarre will advance to the Class 6A, Region I finals next week at home against Lake City Columbia. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Navarre.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton falls to Navarre 20-12