South Santa Rosa County’s high school football teams are winless since September, with a combined record of 3-15. But Friday’s 10th meeting between the Dolphins of Gulf Breeze and Navarre’s Raiders is anything but meaningless.

“That’s what we have to play for,” first-year Raiders coach Chad Lashley said after Navarre (2-7) lost 14-7 at Crestview on Friday. “That’s going to be our playoff game. We definitely want to beat the Breeze.”
And this year, for the first time, the winner will earn a tangible reward: the Publix Beach Bowl Cup. Publix Supermarkets and Gulf Breeze News commissioned creation of a traveling trophy to be awarded to the team that wins the traditional regular-season finale for both schools. The victor will display the cup at its school until the next season’s contest. The scores of each year’s game will be engraved on the cup.

 

For more on this story, see the Nov. 13 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.