By ADAM PRUIETT    NWF Daily News
adamp@nwfdailynews.com

DESTIN - The Rocky Bayou Christian football team is officially undefeated.

In the first game in school history, the Knights made history with a landmark 25-12 victory Friday over Munroe Day.

"It definitely feels good winning, coming out and doing good, but we've got a long season and the games are going to get harder," said Billy Thomas, who scored twice for Rocky Bayou. "We've got to stay humble and play harder."

At a packed Destin Middle School, Rocky Bayou's defense was the story, intercepting four passes and recovering one fumble. But a close second was the team's special teams, which produced two touchdowns.

"We kind of try to hit hard," said a grinning Rocky Bayou coach John Reaves, "and it really paid off for us tonight."

Dion Wright scored the first touchdown in Rocky Bayou's history with a 75-yard kickoff return in the first quarter. Wright spun out of a tackle and zoomed past Munroe Day's approaching defense to the end zone.

Rocky Bayou (1-0) struggled to move the ball offensively, but luckily the Knights' defense put them in prime scoring position for two crucial touchdowns. On consecutive Munroe Day possessions in the second quarter, Rocky Bayou intercepted Cody Watson passes deep in Munroe territory.

Josiah Duffey's pick set up the Knights at the 15, and seven players later Thomas plowed in from the 3 to give Rocky Bayou a 13-12 lead.

Three plays later, James Waldron intercepted Watson to put Rocky Bayou at the 10. On the Knights' first play, a wide open Thomas snatched a go-ahead touchdown pass from Noah Mosley.

"I was nervous because I always drop them in practice, but it was a perfect throw," Thomas said.

Rocky Bayou's defense put the clamps on Munroe Day (0-1) in the second half, pitching a shutout as Wright and James Kaim both picked off Watson. Aaron Cain sealed the victory with a fumble recovery.

Rocky Bayou's defense picked up an offense that only registered 22 yards in the second half. The Knights did score one other touchdown on a 65-yard return by Kaim off a botched Munroe punt.

"I thought maybe I was going to get clobbered, but I caught the ball and looked up and I was pretty wide open," Kaim said.

By BRAD MILNER

Florida Freedom Newspapers
747-5065 / bmilner@pcnh.com

SAND HILLS - Bozeman's celebration of a blowout win over Rocky Bayou Christian on Friday ended soon after the teams shook hands.

The Bucks pasted the overmatched Knights 54-16 behind ample first-half scoring from a variety of new sources. They improved to 2-3 with their second straight win and second-highest winning margin in school history, but the outcome was to be expected, especially since the Bucks were the more experienced team as Rocky Bayou is in its first season of varsity football.

Next week will be a vastly different situation, when Bozeman travels to Tallahassee for a District 2-2B contest against Florida High.

Next week's game will be a battle for first place, with each team at 1-0 in the district. The scenario is new territory for the Bucks, as they secured their first district win in school history on Sept. 26 against Chipley.

Friday's rout served as a small stopover in preparation for that game. That's not to say Bozeman wasn't ready for Rocky Bayou. The Bucks were and it showed.

The Knights (1-4), losers of four in a row, found little room to work their Wing-T attack against Bozeman's first-string defense. Wingback James Kaim had only 25 yards rushing in the first half and 44 for the game, including two scores. The Knights had 180 total yards.

Rocky Bayou broke through with two long pass completions to Dion Wright from Justyn Lewis for 61 yards in the early going. Wright also grabbed a 40-yard catch to set up the Knights' final score in the fourth quarter.

Bozeman gained 285 yards of total offense in the first 24 minutes.

Staff Reports

It looked for a while like the Rocky Bayou Christian football team might give a scare to Graceville.

But then the fourth-ranked team in Class 1B asserted itself, and that was all she wrote.

Graceville won its fourth straight game by defeating the Knights 56-6 at Destin Middle School.

Rocky Bayou Christian (1-5), which has dropped five straight games after winning its opener, got a strong performance from James Kaim, who rushed for 100 yards on 19 carries.

Justyn Lewis scored on a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter for the Knights' only points.

Rocky Bayou coach John Reaves said his squad got off to a promising start in the first quarter, but Graceville converted a first down on a third-and-30 and things steadily got worse for the Knights.

Three interceptions were the biggest culprit.

"Normally, our passing game is one of our strong points," Reaves said. "Tonight it was our Achilles' heel."

Staff Reports

Despite a productive game on the ground, the Rocky Bayou Christian football team couldn't quite end its slide.

James Kaim ran for 138 yards and a touchdown Friday, but homestanding Maclay School defeated the Knights 21-7.

Along with Kaim, who did his damage on 26 carries, Dion Wright registered 61 yards rushing on four carries.

After being down 7-0 early, the Knights put together a 14-play drive that was capped by Kaim's 10-yard touchdown run.

Shannon Mosley and James Waldron both tallied double-digit tackles for Rocky Bayou, which dropped to 1-6 while Maclay improved to 6-1. The Knights have dropped six straight after winning their opener.

Rocky Bayou coach John Reaves said the difference in the game came down to about five plays.

Staff Reports

Rocky Bayou Christian football coach John Reaves said James Kaim was going to be a workhouse running back for the Knights.

Friday night's game against Florala was proof he meant every word of it.

Kaim scored three times, including the go-ahead touchdown, as Rocky Bayou picked up its second win of the season - and second in school history - with a 30-25 victory!

Kaim rushed for 201 yards on 25 carries. After the Knights (2-6) trailed 19-3, he followed a 4-yard touchdown with a 10-yarder as Rocky Bayou trailed 19-16.

Rocky Bayou went ahead on a 32-yard touchdown by Dion Wright off a fumble recovery.

Rocky Bayou lost the lead after a Florala (1-8) touchdown, but the Knights responded with a 2-yard score by Kaim. He set it up with a 51-yard run.

Kaim then sealed the victory with an interception for Rocky Bayou, which had 301 yards of total offense.