PACE, FLA- Due to a fantastic running game and much-improved defense performance, Pace High School (5-2, 1-1 4S District One) enjoyed an impressive 38-9 victory against Tate High School (1-6, 0-3 4S District One) at Pace Patriot Stadium. With the win, the Patriots remain in third place in the 4S District One Conference, trailing Navarre High School (6-1, 2-0 4S District One) and Gulf Breeze High School (4-3, 2-0 4S District One). Meanwhile, Tate is stuck in last place in the 4S District One Conference, trailing Milton High School (2-5, 1-2 4S District One) for fourth place.
As previously mentioned, the Patriots’ rushing attack and defense proved to be too much for the Aggies to handle. As a team, Pace recorded 34 rushing attempts for 303 rushing yards and four touchdowns, while averaging 8.9 YPC. As expected, Sophomore Running Back Ben Tyner was the workhorse in Pace’s offense, taking nine carries for 121 yards, a touchdown, and 13.4 YPC, which was highlighted by his 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. In addition to Tyner, eight other Patriots received carries, including Sophomore Nash Pires (1/27/0), Junior Brayden Gates (4/92/1), Junior Xakery Wiedner (4/39/1), and Senior Jayson Alford (2/9/0).
In spite of Pace’s impressive running game, it’s worth noting that Sophomore Quarterback Nick Simmons struggled mightily against the Aggies, running for just 13 yards on nine carries. Simmons managed to score on an eight-yard touchdown run, though, and did complete 4-of-7 pass attempts for 75 passing yards. Similar to Pace’s 44-7 week seven win over Pensacola, Patriots’ Head Coach Kent Smith opted to give Junior Backup Quarterback Ethan Diamond playing time in the 29-point win. Although Diamond failed to complete his lone pass attempt and lost two yards on two carries, Diamond appears to look more comfortable with progressing through his reads and leading the Patriot offense.
Although Pace’s offense simply overpowered Tate’s defense, the Patriot defense did a great job of minimizing the Aggies’ Sophomore Quarterback Taite Davis. Before his week eight tilt against Pace, Davis completed just 82-of-138 pass attempts for 812 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and five interceptions. Against Pace, Davis managed to complete 18-32 pass attempts for 200 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, courtesy of Junior Defensive Back Deryn Jones.
When throwing the football, Davis managed to spread the ball around the field, completing passes to seven different receivers, including Sophomore Receivers Diego Dukes (3/60/1) and Christian Neptune (6/89/0). It’s worth noting that Tate struggled to get their rushing attack going, as the Aggies were held under 100 rushing yards as a team, despite Junior Running Back Andre Colston’s 90 yards on twelve carries.
lead two scoring drives in the first quarter, including a touchdown drive to give Tate a 9-7 lead late in the first quarter.
Part of the reason why Davis and the Tate offense played poorly was due to the increased amount of pressure and different formations Pace used against the Aggies. Between Junior Linebacker Jackson Ward’s fifteen total tackles and Sophomore Defensive Lineman Karmello Smith’s first sack of the season, the Patriot Defense notched six tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hurries. In reference to this, Davis threw many rattled passes, resulting in three passes defended by the Patriot secondary, and two lost fumbles, which was recovered by Sophomore Linebacker Nathaniel Lyons Jr, who returned it 56 yards for a touchdown. The other fumble was recovered by Senior Defensive Lineman Andrew Fendley, his first fumble recovery of the 2022-2023 season.
After enduring his first missed extra-point attempt in last week’s game against Pensacola, Senior Kicker and Punter Riece Griffith enjoyed a bounce-back performance, converting on all five of his extra-point attempts and his lone 42-yard field-goal attempt. In reference to this, Griffith is now 32-33 on extra-point attempts and 4-4 on field-goal attempts this season, solidifying himself as the top kicker in the 4S District One Conference. Sophomore Joseph Skipworth (2/43/0) managed the Kick Return duties while Wiedner (1/12/0) did the Punt Returns, both setting the Patriot Offense up with nice field position throughout the game.
4S District One Conference Standings
| School Name | *W-L | *Pct. | *PF | *PA | W-L | Pct. | PF | PA | Strk |
| Navarre | 2-0 | 1.000 | 72 | 47 | 6-1 | 0.857 | 241 | 141 | 5 W |
| Gulf Breeze | 2-0 | 1.000 | 70 | 49 | 4-3 | 0.571 | 190 | 166 | 1 L |
| Pace | 1-1 | 0.500 | 66 | 44 | 5-2 | 0.714 | 242 | 142 | 2 W |
| Milton | 1-2 | 0.333 | 69 | 76 | 2-5 | 0.286 | 161 | 216 | 1 L |
| Tate | 0-3 | 0.000 | 36 | 97 | 1-6 | 0.143 | 103 | 232 | 5 L |
*Denotes Conference Play